Shenlong

This article is about the Chinese mythological dragon. For other uses, see Shenlong (disambiguation).

Shenlong, also Shen-lung, (simplified Chinese: 神龙; traditional Chinese: 神龍; pinyin: shén lóng, literally "god dragon" or "spirit dragon", Japanese: 神竜 Shinryū) is a spiritual dragon from Chinese mythology who is the master of storms and also a bringer of rain. He is of equal significance to other creatures such as Tianlong, the celestial dragon.

The spiritual dragons are azure-scaled and govern the wind, clouds and rain, on which all agricultural life depends.[1][2] Chinese people would take great care to avoid offending them, for if they grew angry or felt neglected, the result was bad weather, drought, flood or thunderstorms.

Despite that, Shenlong appears to signify a special ranking in the splendid robes and regalia of Chinese emperors. He was also five-clawed and therefore an imperial dragon.

References

  1. ↑ Shuker, Karl. (1995). Dragons. A Natural History. Simon & Schuster, New York 1995, ISBN 0-684-81443-9, p. 89
  2. ↑ Guter, Josef. (2004). Lexikon der Götter und Symbole der Alten Chinesen. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-937715-04-5, p. 106

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