Chinese dragon

thingiverse

In China, dragons are a central part of many myths, legends, and customs. Here are some key points about dragon stories in China: * **Dragon origins**: In one story, a woman named Shayi gives birth to ten sons after being touched by a tree trunk floating in the water while fishing. The tree trunk turns into a dragon who asks to see his sons, and all but the youngest run away. * **Rainmaking rituals**: Dragons are closely associated with rain, and prayers invoking dragons to bring rain are common in Chinese texts. During times of drought, villagers will make clay figurines of dragons and have young men and boys pace and dance among them to encourage the dragons to bring rain. * **Dragon kings**: The concept of dragon kings emerged during the Eastern Han dynasty, when Buddhist stories of the serpent rain-god Nāga became popular. Taoists eventually invented their own dragon kings, and such stories developed in every major Chinese religion. * **Taoist dragon stories**: According to these stories, every body of water is ruled by a dragon king, each with a different power, rank, and ability. People began establishing temples across the countryside dedicated to these figures. * **Dragon dances**: Many traditional Chinese customs revolve around dragons, including the construction of an approximately sixteen-foot-long dragon from grass, cloth, bamboo strips, and paper, which is paraded through the city as part of a dragon dance during various holidays. * **Dragon boat races**: During the Duanwu festival, several villages or even a whole province will hold a dragon boat race, in which people race across a body of water in boats carved to look like dragons, while a large audience watches on the banks.