180 replies to this topic

[General_Zhaoyun]

There are theories that the dragon is a chimera (composite animal) of various animal totems/standards of northern Chinese tribes. It has been interpreted as having the whiskers, tail and scales of a fish, the antlers of a stag, the snout of a boar, the claws of a bird of prey, the mane of a horse and the body of a snake.

It's interesting to know the fictious chinese dragon as made up of many parts of several animals. I'm just curious to find out the origin of such beliefs and where it came from.

[thirdgumi]

I think the earlist trace of dragon would be the scuptures of Hong Shan culture, archeologist believe that those are the earlist trace of Chinese dragon.

http://www.zgcy.gov.cn/hswh/4.bmp
http://www.zgcy.gov.cn/hswh/3.bmp
http://www.zgcy.gov.cn/hswh/2.bmp
http://www.zgcy.gov.cn/hswh/1.bmp
They shows the evolution of dragon like figures in Hong Shan culture. (the page is here: [url="http://www.zgcy.gov.cn/hswh/ydl.htm"]http://www.zgcy.gov.cn/hswh/ydl.htm)[/url]

[General_Zhaoyun]

Uhmm.. looks interesting that the original dragon was different from the chinese dragons of today.. :P

[Yun]

A page about the dragon in Japanese culture:

http://www.onmarkpro...ml/dragon.shtml

BTW the Konghou (Chinese harp) in the picture for Qiuniu actually has a phoenix (feng) head, and not a dragon's. And Chiwen is frequently misidentified as a Qilin.

[Ghost_of_Han]

Chiwen

Chiwen likes to gaze into the distance and his appearance is often carved on pinnacles.

Isn' that a Qilin? I'm almost possitive.

There are theories that the dragon is a chimera (composite animal) of various animal totems/standards of northern Chinese tribes. It has been interpreted as having the whiskers, tail and scales of a fish, the antlers of a stag, the snout of a boar, the claws of a bird of prey, the mane of a horse and the body of a snake.

Heres a thread that goes into just a ta more detail about this. History of the Chinese Dragon Thread

[TMPikachu]

I've heard here and there of the idea that the European wrecking serpent of Christian Europe could have come from China, or just Asia in general.

The Greeks, or the Romans, I'm not sure, had a word 'like' Dragon ( I guess it's serpent) but that was only used to refer to snakes.

Traders going west could have been responsible for this cultural exchange.

Where does the fire breathing come from? Well, hell is fiery, so Christians could have added their own bit to the monsters migrating westward.
I also remember a picture of a serpentine, Sino-esque Dragon being shown, that had some real old date on it, found in some part of Europe.

Has anyone heard similiar stories?

[General_Zhaoyun]

Hey.. but the European dragons look so different from the chinese dragons.. are you sure they come from China?

[Kulong]

Never heard of such a thing.

There are numerous "coincidences" such as this in human history. Until PROVEN otherwise, it's nothing but a coincidence.

[Temujin]

well Dragons in Europe have indeed an asian origin, it was due to the famous draco-standards the Steppe nomads like Sarmatians and Parthians used. Sarmatians had a huge impact on the late Roman/early Byzantine Empire, especially those serving as mercenaries in britain before the "dark ages".

[Bryan]

So would you say that there are links between the Nordic serpents/dragons as well?

[Gubook Janggoon]

In my opinion, dragons used to really exist and that is why they appear in so many cultures...just my own crazy idea though...

[TMPikachu]

So would you say that there are links between the Nordic serpents/dragons as well?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmm, not really. Serpents are snakes, snakes are found all over the place. If the nordic serpents had feet, but they don't.

[Temujin]

So would you say that there are links between the Nordic serpents/dragons as well?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

well, i'm not sure what you meant by nordic dragon. the dragon was probably the most popular in england, where the dragon has been introduced by the Sarmatian auxiliary stationed there.