In recent years, the issue of dragon archetypes has attracted widespread attention and is known as an important research field in ancient Chinese history, mythology and art archaeology.
There are various interpretations of the mysterious creature of dragons, some saying that snakes, pigs, horses, fish, dragons, dogs, clouds, rainbows, dinosaurs, lizards, crocodiles, hippos, buffaloes, lightning, stars, pine trees, and their superimposes.
However, these claims are all well-founded. In ancient books, there are many sayings such as "the dragon is a worm", "Yu is a yellow dragon", "the dragon is like a horse", "painting a dragon is not an anti-dog", and "fish is a dragon".
Archaeological excavations often resemble pigs, snakes, lizards, salamanders, and crocodiles. In addition, through folklore surveys, it can be known that the Yi people once took pangolins, geckos, and small flower snakes as dragons, and in the legends of the Bai nationality, there are names such as sow dragon, hen dragon, sheep's horn dragon, tadpole dragon, etc., and the Dong people are prevalent in dragon and snake worship, and the Tibetan "dragon god" is said to have a snake tail or fish tail.
However, the coexistence of these claims proves that they are superficial and one-sided, and they ignore that the dragon is a deity with a unified and stable personality. The stable character of the dragon is in fact present in the above description.
In other words, combining the common details of these descriptions, it is not difficult for us to understand the truth about the dragon. Comparing various sources, we can see that the so-called "dragon" is an animal with a tail, mainly living in water, and good at changing.
It is not so much a specific animal as it represents a mystery hidden among several species. The excavated relics from the prehistoric period before the dragon merchants reflect its original form: large heads and small tails, and twisted into circles.
Regardless of their head features, the various dragons are similar in form, and they take on the form of the embryonic form of all mammals. This form of a large head and a small tail, with a coil and a tail, living in the amniotic fluid of the mother's abdomen is a common characteristic of all embryos, and they are transforming into new life forms.
Qiu Ruizhong's article "The Origin of the Dragon" argues that the ancients called the embryo "dragon" and worshiped it because the embryo represents the origin and commonality of life. In animal embryos, one can see the unborn forms of both humans and animals, which brings a new dimension to totemic beliefs.
The mammalian totem of the peoples regard the totem embryo as the object of worship, and the non-mammalian totem of the peoples compares the totem to the embryo and gives it a new divinity.
In addition, people also looked for inspiration in objects with embryonic forms, making the "dragon" a divine deity.
The dragon, this divine abstract concept of conception, reproduction and change, has established correspondence with various animals in different national cultures. For example, in Bai mythology, there is"Sow Dragon"、"Hen Dragon"、"Ecatosaurus"、"Tadpole dragon"and so on.
Behind this is the support of zoological knowledge. In the animal kingdom, the highest level is vertebrates, including six classes: roundmouth, fish, amphibian, reptilian, bird, and mammal. Although viviparity is only a distinct feature of mammals, in the embryo of each individual of mammals, the evolutionary history of the entire biological system, including the Roundmouth, Fishes, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Birds, is repeated.
This is the evolution of dragons in different national cultures, and they are pregnant with the meaning of divinity such as reproduction and change.
1.Animal commonalities from the embryo In the early stages of embryonic development, mammals, ichthya, amphibians, reptiles, and even humans all have similarities in their embryos, such as cleft cheeks on the side of the neck and communication between the lungs and ventricles.
Thus, the early embryo presents some degree of commonality with fish, frogs, snakes, and birds. 2.Peculiarities of the human embryo Although early embryos share similar characteristics, humans are distinguished from other mammals by walking upright and the disappearance of their tails.
Whereas, in human embryos, the presence of the tail lasts until birth, and then disappears. This suggests that the dragon's emphasis on the "long hyena" and tail reflects the recognition of vertebrate commonality in the embryo.
3.Dragon Archetypes and Embryo Worship Based on the idea that dragon archetypes are embryos, we can refer to primitive dragon worship as "embryo worship." The early dragon gods were actually deities with embryonic personalities.
For example, the dragon belongs to the "Chen" of the twelve branches, which may have originated from the consistent association of dragons and pregnancy among the ancients. The original meaning of "Chen" is to indicate the initiation of life, which can refer to both the "pregnancy" of pregnancy and the "earthquake" of vibration.
The ancients also believed that "earthquake" is a representative of the launch of all things, and matched the dragon with the earthquake. Dayu is believed to have been born because his mother swallowed "Pogong", and the meaning of this legend can also be understood as an embryonic dragon.
Dayu is depicted as the "Yellow Dragon", and "Pogong" and "embryo" are words with the same phonetic meaning, representing the original form of life, but the side of the surface is different. In addition, the ancients also said that the meaning of dragon is "moe" and "the origin of things", which happens to be in line with the characteristics of embryos.
The god of change, who can freely transform into a snake or a worm; has a feminine personality and is often referred to as the Mother of Dragons or the Dragon Lady; It represents the plague, which will become a black and white snake; The god of water is the object of prayer for rain, and the sacrifice usually begins at the beginning of summer when the dragon sleeps.
These characteristics of the dragon god of this religion just reflect the main content of the dragon worship of the ancient Chinese people, and show that the dragon god of the Chinese nation has an embryonic character, and is the god of fertility and change.
The most common signs of the Chinese dragon are fish, snakes, frogs and other aquatic creatures, why is that?
These four animals are seen as symbols of life, representing reproduction, change, motherhood, and the origin of life. The water, rain and worship attributes of the Huaxia dragon originated from early divination, such as asking the dragon about the rain and whether he was sick or under the influence of the dragon.
In addition, the ancient Chinese mythology about Hauni also reflects these characteristics in a concentrated manner.