{"id":1979,"date":"2024-03-14T16:47:23","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T20:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.proantic.com\/antiques-art-design-magazine\/?p=1979"},"modified":"2024-03-18T07:12:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T11:12:00","slug":"chinese-dragon-force-and-imperial-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.proantic.com\/antiques-art-design-magazine\/chinese-dragon-force-and-imperial-power\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chinese Dragon: May the Force and Imperial Power Be With You"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dragon\u2014long <\/strong><\/em>\u9f8d<\/strong> in Chinese\u2014is far more than one of the 12 Chinese zodiacal signs.\u00a0 It is the prevailing symbol for China and runs deep in the Chinese culture. The dragon is a complex assemblage of multiple cultural facets in a long Chinese history. In Chinese arts, the ubiquitous scene of a dragon going after a flaming pearl is our starting point to explore dragon stories and symbolism. You are about to discover how the dragon went from being a constellation to a guardian and the emblem of the Chinese emperor.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/a>

Chinese painted armchair c. 1900 boasting dragons with pearls in their mouths as well as a facing dragon on the top rail. \u00a9 <\/span>Galerie LMG<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Chasing the Flaming Pearl<\/h2>\n

A dragon is playing with a pearl among clouds, chasing it. Because the scene takes place in the sky and the pearl is surrounded by flamelike swirls, we are tempted to think the pearl represents the sun or the moon and the dragon swallowing the pearl could induce a solar or lunar eclipse. Yet, more than a celestial body, this pearl symbolizes wisdom, knowledge, and perpetual changes<\/strong> (and the potential that goes with them). Once imperial authority adopted the dragon as its symbol, the pearl also became the emperor’s irrefutable wisdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A determined dragon is going after a flaming pearl. Its sinuous body circles the cup, vanishing and appearing amidst clouds. From a set of six porcelain cups and saucers from the Yongzheng period (1722-1735). \u00a9 <\/span>Menken Works of Art<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The dragon-pearl combination seems to make a beginning during the early Tang dynasty (618-907 CE). However, examples of a vigorous dragon (without a pearl) circling a jar or vessel were found dating from the 2nd-1st century BCE. We have to admit that a dragon has extraordinary ornamental qualities<\/strong>. It fills any kind of space thanks to its long shape and can embellish all kinds of surfaces.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pair<\/a>

Pair of Nanking crackle vases with two five-clawed dragons and a flaming pearl. \u00a9 <\/span>AD 126<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Approaching the Chinese dragon iconography with the dragon and a flaming pearl<\/a> is compelling in many ways. The dragon is the most popular subject of ceramics in China<\/strong> and out of all dragon representations, a dragon or several dragons cavorting through clouds or confronting each other to catch a pearl is the most common one. This pervasive dragon scene perfectly illustrates the symbolic complexity<\/strong> of the awe-inspiring beast. It is at the junction of the dragon of Chinese folktales (related to water, fertility, and nature) and the mythological dragon (a supreme and cosmic power).<\/p>\n

The Dragon, Master of Rain and Waters<\/h2>\n

Typically, in its endless chase after the pearl, a dragon is seen emerging and disappearing in the mist or wrapping around clouds, various shapes of water in the air, connecting the earth and the sky. The rain is its condensed breath. A tornado in Chinese is called “the wind whirled by the dragon”, longjuanfeng<\/em> \u9f8d\u6372\u98a8. The dragons command the rain and control the waters. It explains why in the folk tradition they are particularly associated with rivers and lakes\u201440 Chinese rivers contain the word “dragon”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Chinese<\/a>

There are numerous Chinese paintings and prints depicting mountains and rivers, a favored habitat for dragons. This 20th-century artwork is clearly inspired by the classic “A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains” by Wang Ximeng (1096\u20131119). Mixed media on paper mounted on silk. \u00a9<\/span> Crozon Antiquit\u00e9s<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The dragon is nature.<\/strong> More specifically, the forces of nature<\/strong> (or we could say the supernatural principle driving it) and the unpredictably and transformations of the world around us. Water is the strongest element of nature to represent both life and death. Humans cherish the source of water on earth and dread weather perils. Northern China, prone to droughts and the disastrous floods of the Yellow River, has a prolific tradition of legends involving dragons.<\/p>\n

The control of water by legendary King Yu is a quintessential myth demonstrating the power and metamorphosis of dragons as well as the appropriation of their powers by the rulers. Yu the Great<\/strong> with his father Gun supposedly created the first Chinese dynasty, the Xia (roughly 21st-17th century BCE). Without going into the details of the story, in a search to control a flood of the Yellow River<\/strong> after a deluge, two kinds of dragons came into play. First, when Gun died, a dragon\u2014who is also his son Yu\u2014came out of his body and became human. Later on, Yu received the help of a yinglong<\/em> dragon (a winged dragon, which is relatively rare for a Chinese dragon) to mark with its tail the channel where the overflowing water should go.<\/p>\n

The Dragon as a Guardian: From the Constellations to the Four Symbols<\/h2>\n

The dragon also designates a group of seven constellations<\/strong> in the Chinese sky. They appear in the east in spring, which explains the association of the creature with this season and why it is said that for the spring equinox, the dragon rises up to the sky, and goes back hiding in the waters for the fall equinox. Thus, the dragon represents the spring season<\/strong> with the nurturing rains and lengthening warmer days. The dragon rises like the sun.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"19th-century<\/a>

19th-century lacquered tray during the Qing dynasty. The sun shines above three five-clawed dragons with the flaming pearl. The four bats in the corners are here for good fortune. In mandarin, “bat” and “happiness” are homonyms, pronounced fu<\/em>. \u00a9 Galerie La Belle Epoque<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Maybe because of this association with the eastern quadrant of the sky, the dragon is identified as a directional figure<\/strong>. Liu An, who died 122 BCE, achieved a complex\u00a0 cosmology work. In the Tianwen<\/em> chapter of his Huainanz<\/em>i book, the universe is divided in five directions (four cardinal points and the center). Each direction is protected by a guardian. The four cardinal points are known as the “four symbols” represented by these guardians:<\/span><\/p>\n