The cultural symbolic meaning of the zodiac dragon

'

Dragon, as the aggregation and accumulation of a unique culture of our Chinese people, has taken root and is deeply hidden in the subconsciousness of each of us. Not only people’s daily life, birth, old age, sickness and death are almost all marked with dragon culture, but also the dragon culture. From a perspective, the aesthetic consciousness of dragon culture has penetrated into all fields and aspects of our social culture.

Dragon, in China, is connected with everything in the world.

In traditional Chinese culture, the dragon is a symbol of power, nobility, and honor, as well as a symbol of luck and success.

The reason why the dragon has this cultural symbolic meaning is related to legends and myths. The dragon is in the sky when the sky is soaring and driving the fog, when going to the sea to chase the waves, and when in the world, it calls the wind and the rain. But more importantly, it is because of the dragon. For thousands of years, the "exclusive patent" that has often become Chinese slaves and the supreme ruler of feudal society is synonymous with imperial power. Therefore, the emperor compares himself to the "true dragon emperor", and their bodies are called "dragon bodies" and "clothes they wear". They are called "Dragon Robe", the chair they sit on is called "Dragon Chair", and the cars and boats they ride are called "Dragon Nine" and "Dragon Boat"... In short, everything related to their daily lives is named "Dragon". The prerogative of supremacy.

The history of dragon and imperial power is also very long, starting from the time of the Yellow Emperor.

In the age of legend, the Emperor Huang, who had the blood of a dragon, once visited everywhere to observe the sentiments of the people. He asked people to mine the tongs of the first mountain, and then transport them to the foot of Jingshan to cast a tripod to commemorate his brilliant victory in the battle against Chiyou. After a period of time, the tripod was finally finished, and the Yellow Emperor held a celebration ceremony in Jingshan to celebrate the completion of the tripod. Not only were the gods from all walks of life invited to the ceremony, but also the people from all directions. Everyone wanted to see what the tripod made by Huangdi looked like. When the hour came, probably the emperor personally unveiled it. I saw a bronze cauldron with a height of more than three feet and a mouth as big as a cylinder shining bright golden light before the gods and people. Everyone admired them and looked forward to look closely. The body of the cauldron was engraved. A vigorous swimming dragon shuttles through a cloud of auspicious clouds, surrounded by ghosts and gods from all directions and all kinds of rare birds and animals. It can be described as diverse and vivid.

When the people and the gods were admiring the giant cauldron and the patterns on it in a reverent mood, suddenly thick clouds in the sky blocked the sun, and the sky soon became dark. Everyone thought it was going to rain , and realized that a golden light penetrated thickly. The cloud, a dragon in golden armor came from breaking through the cloud, its tail and lower body were supported in the cloud, its head was leaning on the treasure tripod, and the long dragon beard hung down to the ground along the tripod's feet. Huang Di understood that he had fulfilled his mission in the world. God sent a dragon to pick him up to the sky. He jumped, stepped on the dragon's back, and flew back to the heaven. The people in the world are reluctant to let a virtuous and wise monarch like the Yellow Emperor go back. Everyone pulled the dragon's whiskers and refused to let go. As a result, many dragon's whiskers were torn down, and the Huangdi and Shenlong left. It is said that this dragon's whisker fell on the ground and gave birth to many small and slender grasses. People will call this grass "dragon's beard" in the future.

The famous monarchs of the legendary era mostly have an unexplainable and elusive relationship with dragons. During Yao's reign, there were great famines and floods everywhere in the world. In order to save the people, he ordered Gun to control the water. Gun stole the soil of the Emperor of Heaven and adopted a "blocking" method to control the water. To no avail, he was killed by the angry Emperor in Yushan, and the Candle Dragon happened to be the patron saint here. The landlord Yushan couldn't get the sun, and he relied on a candle held in the candle dragon's mouth to illuminate all the year round, so Gun's body did not rot for three years. The Emperor of Heaven feared that Gun would resurrect and find his own revenge. He did nothing about authenticity. He dispatched a god named "Wu Dao", probably the "sword and axe hand" in the sky, holding the treasure of the sword to the dead of Gun. , When Wu Dao opened Gun’s belly, he suddenly blamed a horned dragon with a pair of pointed and sharp horns. After a few churns and jumps on the nearby hillside, he suddenly became a big dragon. It is Gun's son--Yu. It's strange to say that after Yu was born, Gun's body rolled down Yuyuan and turned into a dragon that "raised its beard and vibrated its scales and repaired on the waves."

Yu inherited his father’s will and finally surrendered the flood and gained the admiration of the people. Later, the elderly Shun obeyed the will of the people and gave the throne to Yu, and Yu became the founding monarch of the Xia Dynasty. This may also be "the emperor is a true dragon." One of the historical basis of "The Son of Heaven".

Another cultural symbolism of the dragon is outstanding and extraordinary. The dragon is a divine object, comparable to extraordinary people, so people often refer to those who have noble ambitions, good behaviors, great ability, talents and accomplishments as "dragons." When Zhuge Liang and Ge Kongming had not yet come out of thatched cottage in Nanyang, he was better than Guan Zhong Leyi and called Mr. Wolong, which meant that he had the three ambitions of Honghu but had no talent.

In Chinese, dragons and insects are relative. Whatever insects are, snakes are also. Snakes, also known as long worms, can be seen everywhere, with a wide variety of species, and they are commonplace, not surprising, not expensive. "Dragon and Snake Mix" means that good things and bad things are mixed together, which is difficult to distinguish. This is a biologically unexplainable phenomenon-the prototype of the dragon, or the basic biological animal of the dragon, is the snake. The dragon and the snake are not brothers, at least they are of the same clan (the snake is also called "dragon"), but the dragon Once separated from the snake, he would not take a look at the snake quietly, and even to show that he was not the same as the snake, he would "behead" the snake. The most typical Han emperor Liu Bang cut white snake story, saying Liu's mother Liu old woman with a dream dragon intercourse, pregnancy gave birth to Liu, his little ambition, a wild were in the way, in case of a constrictor out of the way, immediately cut snake sword , Breaking the belly to take the courage, spread as a good talk, people think it is good at the time. At the time of the great chaos in the world at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang took the opportunity to raise troops in Peixian County, flatten the heroes, and established the Han Empire, achieving the foundation of the Liu family for 400 years in the Han Dynasty.

The dragon still symbolizes being outstanding and extraordinary. In ancient times, those wise men were also called "dragons". According to legend, Confucius went to see Li Dan, the founder of Taoism, and did not speak a word for three days after returning. The disciples were very surprised and asked him: "My husband met Li Dan, how did you teach him?" Confucius said, "I see. What I arrived at was a dragon that changed endlessly along with Yin and Yang, and I was dumbfounded, how could I teach him! "It means that all words are superfluous, and the old man is the dragon among people, a rare great sage.

In addition, Zhuge Kongming was called "Mr. Wolong" when he was not on his debut, and Cai Yong, a doctor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, drunk over a hundred catties and fell on the roadside. Everyone called him "Drunk Dragon." Therefore, anyone who is moral, talented, or skilled in writing, or is a clean official, or has outstanding behavior, can be compared to a "dragon".

As the saying goes, "Hope your child will become a dragon" does not hope that your child will become a monster with long scales on his head, and the dragon will never see the end, but hope that the child will be promising and be able to stand out and do a career in the future. Among the popular new children's songs in recent years, there is a song ""100 points is a dragon"", which also means this. In addition, we often hear news on radio, television, newspapers and magazines about "Dragon and Tiger List" and what is "Dragon and Tiger List"? "The New Tang Book · Biography of Ouyang Zhan" said that when Ouyang Zhanzhong entered the ranks, he was on the same list with Han Yu, Li Guan, Wang Ya, Cui Qun and other famous people in the world. At that time, it was called "Dragon and Tiger List", which means celebrity and celebrity. Superstars gather here, and the "dragon" here reflects the winners.

The "dragon and phoenix match" pattern has been widely circulated after the Tang Dynasty. It not only symbolizes the authority of emperors and empresses, but also symbolizes the happy union between all human husbands and wives, and it also symbolizes the harmony of yin and yang of all spiritual and material things in the world. It can be said that the dragon and phoenix pattern is the most representative image symbol of the Chinese nation, and it is a wonderful artistic image.

Although the dragon and phoenix in the oracle bone inscriptions are amorphous, why can we see that the dragon is a spiritual worm that flexes and stretches due to time, and the phoenix is ​​a beautiful long-tailed spiritual bird. On ancient bronzes, the image of the dragon shows the overall effect of hideousness, mystery and dignity. In the Han Dynasty, it used to seize the heavy face, unrestrained and powerful arcs, and delicate points to form the main theme of large structure and great momentum, breaking through the shackles of the mysterious and bizarre atmosphere. In the Tang Dynasty, it was endowed with a gentle and gentle personality, forming a magnificent, graceful, and youthful appearance. From the Song and Yuan to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the style of extravagance was emphasized, from exquisite craftsmanship to cumbersome stacking, but the dragon and phoenix patterns between them always maintained a simple, clear, concise, and vivid style, with a strong breath of life.

In practical applications, the dragon has always represented a kind of authority or power, and its divinity is increasing day by day.

Each part of the dragon has specific meanings: the protruding forehead represents wisdom and wisdom; the antlers represent the grassland and longevity; the bull ears represent the top spot; the tiger's eye represents majesty; the claws represent bravery; the sword eyebrows symbolize heroism; the lion nose symbolizes preciousness; and the goldfish tail Symbol of flexibility; horse teeth symbolize hard work and kindness. The Yunlong of the Shihua watch in front of Tiananmen, the Panyunlong stone pillars of the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong, and the dragon bed of the Forbidden City are all signs of imperial power in history. Phoenix birds are more secular and human, and less divine. As the old saying goes, "there is a phoenix to the instrument" and "the phoenix is ​​to fly". This kind of ideal bird has always been regarded as the embodiment of auspicious happiness, and it also symbolizes perfect love. The theme of "dragon and phoenix presents auspiciousness" is more imperial in court art. The dragon represents the emperor and the phoenix represents the female concubine. Today, the dragon and phoenix patterns have been recombined with the enthusiasm of thousands of people for artistic creation, and they have gained unlimited artistic life in the fields of architecture, sculpture, painting, and arts and crafts.

The outstanding performance of drawing dragon patterns is the "dragon robe" of the emperor. The color is bright yellow, the leaders are all stone blue pieces of gold embroidery, the embroidered gold dragon nine, with five-color clouds, one dragon on the front and back of the collar, one dragon on the left and right sides and the cross, one dragon on the right side of the sleeve, and eight treasures on the bottom The water turns left and right. The dragon robe is the supreme garment, which is exquisitely made and inspected for workmanship. For example, the production of dragon robe in the Qing Dynasty was precisely designed and made by the first master craftsman of the Ruyi Museum of the Qing Palace at that time. After the emperor personally approved it, he sent a messenger to Nanjing or Suzhou to supervise the production. Sometimes a piece of gown costs 190 days. Its special gowns are also twisted with peacock tail hair, spreading across the floor, and covered with thin lines, and then studded with large rice pearls, embroidered into dragons and phoenix or group flowers. The cost of labor and the extravagance of materials are appalling.

In ancient times, there were also dragon flags with dragon patterns. Longqi has been in existence since the Zhou Dynasty, and by the Song Dynasty there have been as many as 12 types of Longqi, such as Huanglongqi and Qinglongqi. Although there are many types of dragon flags, the patterns of all dragon flags are roughly similar. They are all cyan yellow flares, with colorful footsteps between red flames, and various images of dragons in different forms are painted. For example, the benlong play bead flag is a kind of dragon flag, which is painted with the pattern of a yellow dragon carrying a river map on its back, so it is also called the "Huanglong Negative Map Flag".

For his extravagant and glorious amusement needs, Sui Jian and Emperor Yang also built "dragon boats" and "dragon boat fleets." The construction and furnishing of its "dragon boat" is extremely luxurious. The "Dragon Tail Inkstone" named after "Dragon" is a treasure among She inkstones. It is named after Wuyuan's dragon tail stone. The inkstone is rigid and soft, moisturizing and clean, caressing the skin, without sound, the color is like jade, and the texture is brilliant, which provides a broad room for inkstone craftsmanship in accordance with their aptitude. According to the different shapes, colors and patterns of the stone materials, the inkstones are carefully designed and deliberately carved to create square inkstones and round inkstones with well-proportioned decorations, tall and straight swords, and exquisite sharpness.

The use of dragon patterns to decorate clothing has a long history, but for a long time it was only a special product for the emperor's relatives and relatives, and it was mostly monopolized by the emperor, dragon son, and dragon grandson. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor believed that dragons are infinitely varied and magical. He liked the appearance of dragons very much, so he asked his minister Shi Huang to paint dragon images on his clothes and painted them with colorful colors. This was the first "dragon robe" in Chinese history. ". Because the emperor claimed or considered to be the "true dragon emperor", in his family, the dragon is an indispensable symbol: the emperor wears a dragon crown-a hat bordered by a double dragon pattern; wears a dragon robe-front and back Each chest has a raptor coiled into a ball, mixed with clouds; the waist is tied with a dragon belt-a belt with dragons as the main pattern, wearing dragons, phoenix jade... these we are in museums, in imperial tombs, and in folk art. I have seen it with my own eyes. As for the things used by the emperor, they are mostly related to dragons: dragon cases, dragon chairs, dragon beds, dragon boats, dragons, etc. The emperor’s discomfort called "the dragon's body is not safe", and the emperor is angry and called "the dragon face furious." The emperor's straight step also had a unique wound, called "dragon walking and tiger step".

Since it is a royal patent, other people can't get involved easily. Such an interesting event happened when Yingzong reigned in the Ming Dynasty, and later it was divided into dragon robe and python robe. During the Zhengde period, King Annan went to Beijing to pay tribute. Ming Yingzong saw that he was distracted and sincerely praised. When he was happy, he said that he would give him a dragon robe. The dragon robe symbolizes the country. How can it be easily given away? But there is no joking about Jundi, what should be done if the words spoken and the spilled water cannot be collected and returned? The ministers discussed the timeliness for a long time before they came up with a workaround that had the best of both worlds-subtracting one claw from the dragon on the robe, turning it into four claws, three claws forward, and one claw behind the dragon. The robe is almost the same as his speech. In fact, it is no longer a dragon. The five claws are dragons and the four claws are pythons. Annan took a "counterfeit" and went back to China happily.

Later, the emperor gave the closest and most powerful ministers a reward as a reward, and all the important ministers who wore the python robes were proud of it. Afterwards, even the servants and guards of the palace also put on the python robes, and the python robes have been worn by others. I can't look down on it, so audiences call people who mess around, play flags, and yell on the stage as "running tricks", which means that there is no real kung fu, but just a roast.

Interestingly, while opposing the imperial power, ordinary people also paid great attention to depriving dragons of royal patent rights. According to historical records, by the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the people’s uprisings were marked by the scripture flag and they wore self-made dragons. In the Song Dynasty, the Liao, Xia, Jin, and later Meng Yuan dynasties in the two Song dynasties absorbed the Han culture of the Central Plains, and the costumes of their leaders were also decorated with dragons; what’s more interesting is that there is a character in the "Water Margin" The name of the hero of the Green Forest was Shi Jin, and his name was "Nine Dragons". According to legend, nine dragons were tattooed on his body with ink lines. Most people in the body have a subconscious that shows off this part of the show, so the "print dragon" is also a part of the "clothing".

According to the legend of ancient Chinese mythology, Huangdi and Yandi are both "dragon sons". The descendants of Yanhuang and Huangtang are naturally the "descendants of the dragon". In the myths and legends of ethnic minorities, there are also many content that the ancestors were dragons. The most typical one is the ancestor story of the Ailao people that has been rumored since the Han Dynasty: ( 12 Zodiac http:///shengxiao/) (12 Zodiac http: ///shengxiao/)

Once upon a time, a young girl named Shayi lived at the bottom of Ailao Mountain. Once she went to the river to wash her clothes and saw a fish swimming around. He became very playful for a while, dripped into the river to catch it, and accidentally floated the quilt. The piece of wood that came down hit it, and soon after returning home, she became pregnant, and later gave birth to 10 sons. The children gradually grew up under her care. It was a good day to take the children to the river to play in the water. Suddenly a dragon jumped out of the water and asked her, "Are they the children you gave birth to me?" Sha Yi nodded and called. The children come over and meet their father. The children were so scared by the dragon’s strange appearance that they dispersed. Only the youngest child was not only not afraid of it, but curiously touched its horns and pulled its whiskers, and finally sat down on the dragon’s back. The dragon liked him very much. , Stick out his tongue to lick. Sha Yi mistakenly thought that the dragon was going to eat him, and yelled at the child on the back of the dragon in a hurry. The voice of Ailao was nearly nine, and the voice was nearly long. Long thought it was the child's name, so he called him Jiulong. Later, the ten brothers of Jiulong married the ten sisters of Houshan as their wives, and they multiplied and became a family of their own, and they promoted Jiulong as the patriarch.