Dragon has for ever been a strange mythical creature which has been a part of life in eastern Asia. Originally it was adopted from the Chinese folk lore. Ancient dragon has been described and given a form of serpent with a scaly body except for the fact that unlike a serpent it has four legs and each foot has five claws.
Similar to China Europe too has dragon like mythical creatures though their meaning and physical appearance is quite different especially European dragon has a negative meaning.
Dragon in China has come to stand for both good and bad as far as Chinese history is concerned. But the fact remains that the dragon has auspicious power when we see the art form or the myths that is related to Chinese dragon.
The Chinese dragon has been honored and held in great awe by the Chinese people as the history suggests number of unique qualities of the dragon. It is believed that it is the Chinese male sign of yang. The other belief is that it is the carrier of rain and water to places where people are dependent on agriculture.
Did you know that Chinese dragon has a female counter part? Well it's true and it is called phoenix. But the western people seem to presume that the Chinese have formally adopted Chinese dragon as official symbol. In fact this is totally incorrect.
It is true that the Chinese dragon symbol was used to denote the emperor of China in the good old days. In fact during the Yuan Dynasty no civilian was even permitted to associate themselves with the symbol of the dragon. The Qing Dynasty however brought the Chinese dragon symbol back into action as it started appearing on the national flag during those times.
From a long time China has been trying very hard to persuade the west that the Dragon has no real connotation in modern day China as they feel that the western people believe that the Chinese dragon represents a war like situation. Therefore they have been hunting for something less threatening and have come up with giant panda as their official symbol.
The public of China is however still very fond of the Chinese dragon symbol and in fact many of them refer to themselves as descendants of the dragon with regards to their ethnic identity. The 1970s saw a trend where nations were ascribing themselves with a certain animal like the Mongols with the wolf and the Tibetans with the monkey.
The Chinese dragon symbol still holds a special place in modern Chinese society. More than anything else however it is used solely for decorative purposes. From advertisement campaigns to T-shirts, posters and tattoos the symbol of the dragon can be seen throughout the streets of China.
Similar to China Europe too has dragon like mythical creatures though their meaning and physical appearance is quite different especially European dragon has a negative meaning.
Dragon in China has come to stand for both good and bad as far as Chinese history is concerned. But the fact remains that the dragon has auspicious power when we see the art form or the myths that is related to Chinese dragon.
The Chinese dragon has been honored and held in great awe by the Chinese people as the history suggests number of unique qualities of the dragon. It is believed that it is the Chinese male sign of yang. The other belief is that it is the carrier of rain and water to places where people are dependent on agriculture.
Did you know that Chinese dragon has a female counter part? Well it's true and it is called phoenix. But the western people seem to presume that the Chinese have formally adopted Chinese dragon as official symbol. In fact this is totally incorrect.
It is true that the Chinese dragon symbol was used to denote the emperor of China in the good old days. In fact during the Yuan Dynasty no civilian was even permitted to associate themselves with the symbol of the dragon. The Qing Dynasty however brought the Chinese dragon symbol back into action as it started appearing on the national flag during those times.
From a long time China has been trying very hard to persuade the west that the Dragon has no real connotation in modern day China as they feel that the western people believe that the Chinese dragon represents a war like situation. Therefore they have been hunting for something less threatening and have come up with giant panda as their official symbol.
The public of China is however still very fond of the Chinese dragon symbol and in fact many of them refer to themselves as descendants of the dragon with regards to their ethnic identity. The 1970s saw a trend where nations were ascribing themselves with a certain animal like the Mongols with the wolf and the Tibetans with the monkey.
The Chinese dragon symbol still holds a special place in modern Chinese society. More than anything else however it is used solely for decorative purposes. From advertisement campaigns to T-shirts, posters and tattoos the symbol of the dragon can be seen throughout the streets of China.
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the meaning of Chinese symbols vary according to region and historical period. If you want to know more about Chinese New Year symbols click on the links to read more.
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