The Chinese dragon, or long,differs greatly from the European concept of a dragon- although prone to rage, long are generally fairly benevolent. They are guardians of water and may be kings of their domains. As such, certain rituals, like the dragon dance, feature the dragon. Each tale about dragons, despite variations, relates to the landscape.
Many of the myths described in the books are ancient and have been told for many generations- therefore, each tale may have different variations. However, in many of those that are retold, specific places are mentioned. For example, in Dragons, Gods & Spirits, multiple water bodies and cities are mentioned in the tales. As David Abram notes in The Spell of the Sensuous, the setting of a story is integral to the tale, and that "without saying precisely where those events occurred... may alone render the telling powerless" (182).
Sounds like you chose a very interesting topic to research. Many myths and mythical creatures have always been interesting to everyone, and I didn't know some of these facts about dragons in Chinese myth. I also like how you connected your research book with one of the classes study papers.
ReplyDeleteChinese dragons seem different than the ones in Game of Thrones. I always assumed that the Chinese ones were pretty much the same as the European ones. It is cool how the dragons could be kings of an area or or a guardian of something other than treasure. Also, it is cool how they relate it to the landscape because the stories were told orally.
ReplyDelete