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Friday 24 March 2017

Dragon You haven't been bit till a dragon does it


Dragon You haven't been bit till a dragon does it
Tamora Pierce, Emperor Mage
#Dragon 

Originally shared by Shen Yun Official Account

Chinese 101 - 龍(lóng) Dragon

Did you know dragons in Chinese culture are distinctly different from their flying, fire-breathing Western counterparts?

They have the eyes of a rabbit, the antlers of a deer, mouth of a bull, head of a camel, belly of a clam, palms of a tiger, claws of an eagle, scales of a fish, and the body of a snake—can you imagine?

Original bronze inscriptions of the character 龍 were of its left side alone, which clearly showed the dragon's body and horns. Later the right side of the character was added: the upper right portion symbolized the dragon's sharp claws, while the lower right portion symbolized its fins and tail.

Chinese dragons can be further divided into good or evil ones. Good dragons possess extraordinary powers and enjoy helping those who are kind and devout, such as the White Dragon King's daughter in this year's Shen Yun performance. Evil dragons abuse their powers and terrorize the populace, such as the red dragon in last year's dance, Ne Zha and the Dragon (Ne Zha Stirs The Sea).

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