Dragon King
Dragon King | |||||||
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![]() Dragon King of the Seas ( | |||||||
Chinese name | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 龙 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Dragon King Dragon Prince | ||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 龙 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Dragon God | ||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||
Vietnamese alphabet | Long Vương | ||||||
Chữ Hán |
The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the lóng in Chinese culture.
There are also the cosmological "Dragon Kings of the Four Seas" (
Besides being a water deity, the Dragon God frequently also serves as a territorial tutelary deity, similarly to Tudigong "Lord of the Earth" and Houtu "Queen of the Earth".[1]
Singular Dragon King
[edit]The Dragon King has been regarded as holding dominion over all bodies of water,[a] and the dispenser of rain,[3] in rituals practiced into the modern era in China. One of his epithets is Dragon King of Wells and Springs.[4]
Rainmaking rituals
[edit]Dragon processions have been held on the fifth and sixth moon of the lunar calendar all over China, especially on the 13th day of the sixth moon, held to be the Dragon King's birthday, as ritualized supplication to the deity to make rain.[3] In Changli County, Hebei Province a procession of sorts carried an image of the Dragon King in a basket and made circuit around nearby villages, and the participants would put out in front of their house a piece of yellow paper calligraphed with the text: "The position [=tablet] of the Dragon King of the Four Seas
In the past, there used to be Dragon King miao shrines all over China, for the folk to engage in the worship of dragon kings, villages in farm countries would conduct rites dedicated to the Dragon Kings seeking rain.[6]
Daoist pantheon
[edit]Within the Daoist pantheon, the Dragon King is regarded the zoomorphic representation of the yang masculine power of generation. The dragon king is the king of the dragons and he also controls all of the creatures in the sea. The dragon king gets his orders from the Jade Emperor.[citation needed]
Dragon Kings of the Five Regions
[edit]Dragons of the Five Regions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Historically there arose a cult of the Five Dragon Kings. The name Wufang longwang (
Description
[edit]The Azure Dragon or Blue-Green Dragon (
Broad history
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/%E5%9B%9B%E6%B5%B7%E9%BE%8D%E7%8E%8B.jpg/220px-%E5%9B%9B%E6%B5%B7%E9%BE%8D%E7%8E%8B.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/%E6%B0%B4%E9%99%86%E7%94%BB%E5%AE%9D%E5%AE%81%E5%AF%BA_%E5%9B%9B%E6%B5%B7%E9%BE%99%E7%8E%8B%E8%AF%B8%E7%A5%9E%E4%BC%97.jpg/220px-%E6%B0%B4%E9%99%86%E7%94%BB%E5%AE%9D%E5%AE%81%E5%AF%BA_%E5%9B%9B%E6%B5%B7%E9%BE%99%E7%8E%8B%E8%AF%B8%E7%A5%9E%E4%BC%97.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Yangjian_taisui%281609%29.jpg/220px-Yangjian_taisui%281609%29.jpg)
Dragons of the Five Regions/Directions existed in Chinese custom,[12] established by the Former Han period (Cf. §Origins below)[12] The same concept couched in "dragon king" (longwang) terminology was centuries later,[13] the term "dragon king" being imported from India (Sanskrit naga-raja),[14] vis Buddhism,[8] introduced in the 1st century AD during the Later Han.[15]
The five "Dragon Kings" which were correlated with the Five Colors and Five Directions are attested uniquely in one work among Buddhist scriptures (sūtra), called the Foshuo guanding jing (
The dragon king cult was most active around the Sui-Tang dynasty, according to one scholar,[20] but another observes that the cult spread farther afield with the backing of Song dynasty monarchs who built Dragon King Temples (or rather Taoist shrines),[7] and Emperor Huizong of Song (12th century) conferred investiture upon them as local kings.[21] But the dragon king and other spell incantations came to be discouraged in Buddhism within China, because they were based on eclectic (apocryphal) sutras and the emphasis grew for the orthodox sutras,[22] or put another way, the quinary system (based on number 5) was being superseded by the number 8 or number 12 being held more sacred.[23]
During the Tang period, the dragon kings were also regarded as guardians that safeguard homes and pacify tombs, in conjunction with the worship of Lord Earth.[24] Buddhist rainmaking ritual learned Tang dynasty China by
The concept was transmitted to Japan alongside esoteric Buddhism,[e] and also practiced as rites in Onmyōdō during the Heian Period.[25][26]
Five dragons
[edit]- (Origins)
The idea of associating the five directions/regions (wufang;
The Huainanzi (2nd cent. BC) describes the five colored dragons (azure/green, red, white, black, yellow) and their associations (Chapter 4: Terrestrial Forms),[29][30][31] as well as the placement of sacred beasts in the five directions (the Four Symbols beasts, dragon, tiger, bird, tortoise in the four cardinal directions and the yellow dragon.[27][32][33]
And the Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals attributed to Dong Zhongshu (2nd cent. BC) describes the ritual involving five colored dragons.[34]
Attestations of Five Dragon Kings
[edit]Consecration Sutra
[edit]The apocryphal[19] Foshuo guanding jing (
The text gives the personal names of the kings. To the east is the Blue Dragon Spirit King (
Divine Incantations Scripture
[edit]The wangfang ("five position") dragon kings are also attested in the Taishang dongyuan shenzhou jing (
Ritual process
[edit]An ancient procedural instruction for invoking five-colored dragons to conduct rainmaking rites occurs in the Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, under its "Seeking Rain" chapter (originally 2nd century B.C.). It prescribes earthenware figurines of greater and lesser dragons of a specific color according to season, namely blue-green, red, yellow, white, black, depending on whether it was spring, summer, late summer (jixia ), autumn, or winter. And these figures were to be placed upon the alter at the assigned position/direction (east, south, center, west, or north).[41]
This Chinese folk rain ritual later became incorporated into Daoism.[40] The rituals were codified into Daoist scripture or Buddhist sūtras in the post-Later Han (Six Dynasties ) period,[12] but Dragon King worship did not come into ascendancy until the Sui-Tang dynasties.[20] The rain rituals in Esoteric Buddhism in the Tang dynasty was actually an adaptation of indigenous Chinese dragon worship and rainmaking beliefs, rather than pure Buddhism.[40]
As a point of illustration, a comparison can be made against Buddhist procedures for rainmaking during the Tang dynasty. The rainmaking tract in the Collected Dhāraṇī Sūtras[g] (Book 11, under the chapter for "Rain Prayer Altar Method, qiyu tanfa;
Dragon Kings of the Four Seas
[edit]Each one of the four Dragon Kings of the Four Seas (
They appear in the classical novels like The Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West, where each of them has a proper name, and they share the surname Ao (敖, meaning "playing" or "proud").
Dragon of the Eastern Sea
[edit]His proper name is Ao Guang (敖廣 or 敖光), and he is the patron of the East China Sea.
Dragon of the Western Sea
[edit]His proper names are Ao Run (敖閏), Ao Jun (敖君) or Ao Ji (敖吉). He is the patron of Qinghai Lake.
Dragon of the Southern Sea
[edit]He is the patron of the South China Sea and his proper name is Ao Qin (敖欽).
Dragon of the Northern Sea
[edit]His proper names are Ao Shun (敖順) or Ao Ming (敖明), and his body of water is Lake Baikal.
Japan
[edit]As already mentioned, Esoteric Buddhists in Japan who initially learned their trade from Tang dynasty China engaged in rainmaking ritual prayers invoking dragon kings under a system known as shōugyōhō or shōugyō [no] hō, established in the Shingon sect founded by the priest Kūkai, who learned Buddhism in Tang China. It was first performed by Kūkai in the year 824 at Shinsen'en, according to legend, but the first occasion probably took place historically in the year 875, then a second time in 891. The rain ritual came to be performed regularly.[44][45][46]
The shōugyōhō ritual used two mandalas that featured dragon kings. The Great Mandala that was hung up was of a design that centered around Sakyamuni Buddha, surrounded by the Eight Great Dragon Kings , the ten thousand dragon kings, Bodhisattvas (based on the Dayunlun qingyu jing
Also, there was the "Five Dragons Festival/ritual" (Goryūsai.
In Japan, there also developed a legend that the primordial being Banko (Pangu of Chinese myth) sired the Five Dragon Kings, who were invoked in the ritual texts or saimon read in Shinto or Onmyōdō rites, but the five beings later began to be seen less as monsters and more as wise princes.[52]
Worship of the Dragon God
[edit]Worship of the Dragon God is celebrated throughout China with sacrifices and processions during the fifth and sixth moons, and especially on the date of his birthday the thirteenth day of the sixth moon.[3] A folk religious movement of associations of good-doing in modern Hebei is primarily devoted to a generic Dragon God whose icon is a tablet with his name inscribed on it, utilized in a ritual known as the "movement of the Dragon Tablet".[53] The Dragon God is traditionally venerated with dragon boat racing.
In coastal regions of China, Korea, Vietnam, traditional legends and worshipping of whales (whale gods) have been referred to Dragon Kings after the arrival of Buddhism.[54]
Buddhism
[edit]Some Buddhist traditions describe a figure named Duo-luo-shi-qi or Talasikhin as a Dragon King who lives in a palace located in a pond near the legendary kingdom of Ketumati. It is said that during midnight he used to drizzle in this pond to cleanse himself of dust.[55]
Artistic depictions
[edit]- Longwang in art
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The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas at the Grand Matsu Temple in Tainan.
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The four Dragon Kings at the Temple of Mazu in Anping, Tainan.
See also
[edit]Part of a series on |
Chinese folk religion |
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Explanatory notes
[edit]- ^ In a modern local ritual (cf. Changli County), the inscription reads "[...] Dragon King of the Four Seas, Five Lakes, Eight Rivers and Nine Streams (in sum, the lord of all the waters) [...]".[2]
- ^ Yellow Emperor is sometimes considered an incarnation of the Yellow dragon.[10]
- ^ The title gives wulong or five dragons, but the figure with a pair of hands growing out of eye socket is Yangjian taisui aka Yang Yin (Investiture of the Gods) , and the other figures are the azure dragon, tiger, and vermillion bird from the Four Symbols.
- ^ Unique, as far as Monta is aware.[16] It gives the names of the for the dragon kings of the five colors and five directions.[17]
- ^ Cf. below on ritual practices.[clarification needed]
- ^ Or "The Most High Dongyuan Scripture of Divine Spells"
- ^ Translated by Atikūṭa
阿 地 瞿多.
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Nikaido (2015), p. 54.
- ^ a b Overmyer (2009), p. 20.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Tom (1989), p. 55.
- ^ Overmyer (2009), p. 21.
- ^ Naoe, Hiroji [in Japanese] (1980). Zhōngguó mínsúxué
中國 民俗 學 . Lin Huaiqing林 懷 卿 (tr.). Tainan: Shiyi Shuju. pp. 109–110. - ^ Takeshi Suzuki (2007) "Ryūō shinkō
竜王 信仰 " Sekai daihyakkajiten, Heibonsha;竜王 信仰 Sekai daihyakkajiten, 2nd. ed., via Kotobank< - ^ a b c Wang, Fang (2016). "6.2 Anlan Dragon King Temple: Not-in-Capital Palace of the Qing Dynasty". Geo-Architecture and Landscape in China's Geographic and Historic Context: Volume 2 Geo-Architecture Inhabiting the Universe. Springer. p. 211. ISBN 9789811004865.
- ^ a b Aratake, Kenichiro [in Japanese] (2012), Amakusa shotō no rekishi to genzai
天草諸島 の歴史 と現在 , Institute for Cultural Interaction Studies, Kansai University, pp. 110–112, ISBN 9784990621339 - ^ Zhang (2014), p. 81 on Vietnamese custom; p. 53 on Lord Earth veneration with five dragon kings as ancillaries.
- ^ Fowler (2005), pp. 200–201.
- ^ Zhang (2014), p. 53.
- ^ a b c Monta (2012), p. 13.
- ^ Monta (2012), pp. 13–15.
- ^ Tan Chung (1998). "Chapter 15. A Sino-Indian Perspective for India-China Understanding". In Tan Chung; Thakur, Ravni (eds.). Across the Himalayan Gap: An Indian Quest for Understanding China. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts/Gyan Publishing House. p. 135. ISBN 9788121206174.
- ^ Lock, Graham; Linebarger, Gary S. (2018). "Orientation". Chinese Buddhist Texts: An Introductory Reader. Routledge. ISBN 9781317357940.
- ^ a b Monta (2012), p. 15.
- ^ a b c Yamaguchi, Kenji (2014-03-20). "Chūgoku minzokugaku Tō-dai onshin 'Gotei' kō: Mitama shinkō no genryū"
中國 民俗 學 唐 代 瘟神「五 帝 」考 ―御霊 信仰 の源流 ―. The study of nonwritten cultural materials. 10: 225–225. - ^ a b Monta (2012), pp. 13, 15.
- ^ a b c Sun, Wen (4 December 2019). "Texts and Ritual: Buddhist Scriptural Tradition of the Stūpa Cult and the Transformation of Stūpa Burial in the Chinese Buddhist Canon" (PDF). Religions. 10 (65). MDPI: 4–5. doi:10.3390/rel10120658.
- ^ a b c Zhang (2014), p. 44.
- ^ Doré, Henri [in French] (1917). Researches into Chinese Superstitions. First Part. Superstitious Practices. Vol. V. Translated by M. Kennelly; D. J. Finn; L. F. McGreat. Shanghai: T'usewei Printing Press. p. 682.
- ^ Zhang (2014), p. 45.
- ^ Faure (2005), pp. 76–77.
- ^ Anzhai shenzhou jing (
安宅 神 咒經, "Sūtra of the divine formula for pacifying a house"). The spell invokes the white and black dragon kings, and three by name,[20] but the names don't really match those given by the Foshuo guanding jing. - ^ Faure (2005), p. 72 (abstract); pp. 76–77: "the gods of the Five Directions, called the Five Dragons (goryū
五龍 ) or the Five Emperors (gotei五 帝 ). " - ^ a b Drakakis, Athanathios (2010). "60. Onmōdō and Esoteric Buddhism". In Orzech, Charles; Sørensen, Henrik H.; Payne, Richard (eds.). Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia. BRILL. p. 687. ISBN 9789004204010.
- ^ a b Monta (2012), pp. 13–14.
- ^ Rites of Zhou, "Chapter 6: Office of Winter" (2nd centudry BC).[27]
- ^
劉 安 . (in Chinese) – via Wikisource. - ^ Liu An (2010). "Terrestrial Forms 4.19". The Huainanzi. Translated by John S. Major; Sarah A. Queen; Andrew Seth Meyer; Harold D. Roth. Columbia University Press. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-0-231-52085-0.
- ^ Huang Fushan (2000). Dōnghàn chènwěi xué xīntàn
東 漢 讖緯學 新 探 [A New Probe into the Study of Prophecy and wefttext (chenwei) in the Eastern Han Dynasty]. Taiwan xuesheng shuju. p. 129. ISBN 9789571510033. - ^
劉 安 . (in Chinese) – via Wikisource. - ^ Liu An (2010). "Celestial Patterns 3.6". The Huainanzi. Translated by John S. Major; Sarah A. Queen; Andrew Seth Meyer; Harold D. Roth. Columbia University Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-231-52085-0.
- ^ a b Monta (2012), p. 14.
- ^ Yamaguchi, citing the Daizōkyō zenkaisetsu daijiten: "[『
仏説 灌頂経 』は]仏典 ではあるが、 「中国 の俗 信仰 的 要素 が認 められる」(雄山閣 『大蔵経 全 解説 大 事典 』)".[17] - ^ Higashi, Shigemi [in Japanese] (2006). Yamanoue-no-Okura no kenkyū
山上憶良 の研究 . Kanrin shobō. pp. 824–825. ISBN 9784877372309. - ^ Trenson (2002), p. 468.
- ^ Ariga (2020), pp. 179–178.
- ^ Taishang donyuan shenzhou jing
太 上洞 淵 神呪 經 . Vol. 13 – via Wikisource. . - ^ a b c d Sakade (2010), pp. 61–65.
- ^ "... that is to say, canglong [blue-green dragon] to the east in spring, the red dragon tp the south in summer, the yellow dragon to the center in late summer (jìxià), white dragon to the west in autumn, and black dragon to the north in winter ..すなわち、
春 は蒼 龍 を東 に、夏 は赤 龍 を南 に、季夏 は黄 龍 を中央 に、秋 は白龍 を西 に、冬 は黒 龍 を北 にそれぞれ配置 するとされている".[34] - ^ Ariga (2020), p. 173.
- ^ Raiyu 's edited work Hishō mondō
秘 鈔問答 quotes from this sutra: "As the Collected Dhāraṇī Sūtras, 11 states, this altar should have a single-walled and four-gated boundary be made around its field. And on the East gate of the altar, the gate officer should be crafted out of mud, in the embodiment of the dragon king 其壇界 畔 作 一 重 而開四 門 。壇 之 東門 将 以泥土作 、龍王 身 ".[42] - ^ Trenson (2002), p. 455.
- ^ Trenson (2018), p. 276.
- ^ a b c Ariga (2020), pp. 175–174.
- ^ Iwata (1983) "Ch. 3 Goryūō kara gonin no ōji e
第 三 章 五 龍王 から五 人 の王子 へ", p. 125. - ^ Trenson (2018), p. 277, n13, n14.
- ^ a b c Monta (2012), pp. 18–19.
- ^ Ruppert (2002), pp. 157–158.
- ^ Monta (2012), pp. 6–7.
- ^ Faure (2005), pp. 82–85.
- ^ Zhiya Hua (2013). Dragon's Name: A Folk Religion in a Village in South-Central Hebei Province. Shanghai People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-7208113299.
- ^
李 善 愛 (1999). "護 る神 から守 られる神 へ :韓国 とベトナムの鯨 神 信仰 を中心 に".国立 民族 学 博物館 調査 報告 . 149: 195–212. - ^ Ji Xianlin; Georges-Jean Pinault; Werner Winter (1998). Fragments of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamiti-Nataka of the Xinjiang Museum, China. De Gruyter. p. 15. ISBN 9783110816495.
Sources
[edit]- Ariga, Natsuki [in Japanese] (March 2020). "Kongō-ji zō 'Ryūō-kōshiki' no shikibun sekai: shakuronchūshaku to kiugirei wo megutte"
金剛寺 蔵 『龍王 講 式 』の式 文 世界 :釈 論 注釈 と祈 雨 儀礼 をめぐって [The study of Ryūō-kōshiki at Kongō-ji Temple : Consideration into the influence of Syakumakaenron and its commentaries and the rituals to pray]. Jinbun / Gakushuin University Research Institute for Humanities-journal. 18: 166–180. hdl:10959/00004813. - Faure, Bernard R. (June 2005). "Pan Gu and his descendants: Chinese cosmology in medieval Japan"
盤 古 及其後代 :論 日本 中古 時代 的 中國 宇宙 論 . Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies. 2 (1): 71–88. doi:10.7916/D8V40THT. pdf @ National Taiwan Normal University - Fowler, Jeanine D. (2005). An Introduction to the Philosophy and Religion of Taoism: Pathways to Immortality. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1845190866.[dead link]
- Iwata, Masaru [in Japanese] (1983). Kagura genryū kō
神楽 源流 考 . Meicho shuppan. - Monta, Seiichi [in Japanese] (2012-03-30), "Nihon kodai ni okeru gohōryū kankei shutsudo moji shiryō no shiteki haikei"
日本 古代 における五方龍関係出土文字史料の史的 背景 (PDF), Bukkyō Daigaku Shūkyō Bunka Myūjiamu Kenkyūj Kiyō, 8 - Nikaido, Yoshihiro (2015). Asian Folk Religion and Cultural Interaction. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3847004851.
- Overmyer, Daniel L. (2009). Local Religion in North China in the Twentieth Century the Structure and Organization of Community Rituals and Beliefs (PDF). Leiden, South Holland; Boston, Massachusetts: Brill. ISBN 9789047429364. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
- Ruppert, Brian O. (November 2002). "Buddhist Rainmaking in Early Japan: The Dragon King and the Ritual Careers of Esoteric Monks". History of Religions. 42 (2): 143–174. doi:10.1086/463701. JSTOR 3176409. S2CID 161794053.
- Sakade, Yoshinobu [in Japanese] (2010). Nihon to dōkyō bunka
日本 と道教 文化 . Kadokawa shoten. - Tom, K. S. (1989). Echoes from Old China: Life, Legends, and Lore of the Middle Kingdom. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824812859. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- Trenson, Steven (2018). "Rice, Relics, and Jewels" (PDF). Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 35 (2): 269–308. JSTOR 26854486.
- Trenson, Steven (2002). "Une analyse critique de l'histoire du Shōugyōhō et du Kujakukyōhō : rites ésotériques de la pluie dans le Japon de l'époque de Heian" (PDF). Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie (in French). 13: 455–495. doi:10.3406/asie.2002.1191.
- Zhang Lishan (2014-03-31). Higashi ajia ni okeru Dokō shinkō to bunka kōshō
東 アジアにおける土 公 信仰 と文化 交渉 (Thesis). Kansai University. doi:10.32286/00000236.
External links
[edit]Media related to Dragon King at Wikimedia Commons