| Azure Dragon | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Qīnglóng sculpture on the eaves tile | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 青龍 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 青龙 | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Blue-green Dragon | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Thanh Long | ||||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 青龍 | ||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 청룡 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 靑龍 | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 青龍, 青竜 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | せいりゅう | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
.svg)
TheAzure Dragon (simplified Chinese:青龙;traditional Chinese:青龍;pinyin:Qīnglóng) is one of theDragon Gods who represent the mounts orchthonic forces of theFive Regions' Highest Deities (五方上帝;Wǔfāng Shàngdì). It is also one of theFour Symbols of theChinese constellations, which are the astral representations of the Wufang Shangdi. The AzureDragon represents theeast and thespring season.[1] It is also sometimes referred to as theBlue-Green Dragon,Green Dragon, or theBlue Dragon (苍龙;蒼龍;Cānglóng).
The Dragon is frequently referred to in the media,feng shui, other cultures, and in various venues as the Green Dragon and the Avalon Dragon.[2] His cardinal direction's epithet is "Blue-Green Dragon of the East" (东方青龙;東方青龍;Dōngfāng Qīnglóng or东方苍龙;東方蒼龍;Dōngfāng Cānglóng).
This dragon is also known asSeiryū in Japanese,Cheongryong in Korean andThanh Long in Vietnamese.
As with the other threeSymbols, there are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon) within the Azure Dragon. The names and determinative stars are:[3][4]
| Mansion no. | Name (pinyin) | Translation | Determinative star |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 角 (Jiǎo) | Horn | Spica |
| 2 | 亢 (Kàng) | Neck | κ Vir |
| 3 | 氐 (Dǐ) | Root | α Lib |
| 4 | 房 (Fáng) | Room | π Sco |
| 5 | 心 (Xīn) | Heart | Antares |
| 6 | 尾 (Wěi) | Tail | μ Sco |
| 7 | 箕 (Jī) | Winnowing Basket | γ Sgr |
In theRomance of the Tales of the Tang [zh], theWhite Tiger's star is reincarnated as the fictionalized GeneralLuo Cheng, who servesLi Shimin. The Azure Dragon's Star is reincarnated as GeneralShan Xiongxin, who servesWang Shichong. The two generals are sworn brothers ofQin Shubao,Cheng Zhijie andYuchi Gong. After death, their souls are said to possess heroes of the Tang dynasty andGoguryeo, such asXue Rengui andYŏn Kaesomun.
The Azure Dragon appears as adoor god at Taoist temples. He was represented on the tomb of Wang Hui (stone coffin, east side) at Xikang in Lushan. Arubbing of this was collected byDavid Crockett Graham and is in theField Museum of Natural History.[5][6] The dragon featured on theChinese national flag in 1862–1912, and on theTwelve Symbols national emblem from 1913 to 1928.
.jpg)
In Japan, the Azure Dragon is one of the four guardian spirits of cities and is believed to protect the city ofKyoto on the east.[7] The west is protected by theWhite Tiger, the north is protected by theBlack Tortoise, the south is protected by theVermilion Bird, and the center is protected by theYellow Dragon.[7] In Kyoto, there are temples dedicated to each of these guardian spirits. The Azure Dragon is represented in theKiyomizu Temple in eastern Kyoto. Before the entrance of the temple there is a statue of the dragon, which is said to drink from the waterfall within the temple complex at nighttime. Therefore, each year a ceremony is held to worship the dragon of the east. In 1983, theKitora Tomb was found in the village ofAsuka. All four guardians were painted on the walls (in the corresponding directions) and a system of the constellations was painted on the ceiling. This is one of the few ancient records of the four guardians.
In Korea, the murals of theGoguryeo tombs found at Uhyon-ni inSouth Pyongan province features the Azure Dragon and the other mythological creatures of the four symbols.[2]
The Azure Dragon is associated with the East SeaDragon King Ao Guang, who is the Dragon King Sagara inBuddhist literature.
Media related toAzure Dragon at Wikimedia Commons