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The four Dragon Kings (??; pinyin
Pinyin

Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most commonly used Romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu is the Chinese Language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"....
: Lóng Wáng
Wang

Wang may refer to:Name:* Wang , one of two surnames with distinct Chinese characters.* Titles in Chinese nobility* A title in Korean nobility...
) are, in Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology

File:Nine-Dragons1.jpgChinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written form....
, the divine rulers of the four sea
SEA

See also: Sea and seasThe three-letter acronym SEA may refer to:People/organizations/businesses*Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group....
s (each sea corresponds to one of the cardinal directions). Although Dragon Kings appear in their true forms as dragons
Chinese dragon

The China dragon or Oriental dragon is a mythical creature in East Asian culture with a China origin. It is visualized these days as a long, scaled, snake-like creature with four legs and five claws on each ....
, they have the ability to shapeshift into human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 form. The Dragon Kings live in crystal
Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
 palace
Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop....
s, guarded by shrimp
Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, Decapoda crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh water and seawater. Adult shrimp are Filter feeder benthic animals living close to the bottom....
 soldiers and crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
 generals.

Besides ruling over the aquatic life, the Dragon Kings also manipulate cloud
Cloud

A cloud is a visible mass of Drop or frozen crystals floating in the Celestial body atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body....
s and rain
Rain

Rain is liquid precipitation . On Earth, it is the condensation of atmospheric water vapor into droplet heavy enough to fall, often making it to the surface....
.






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The four Dragon Kings (??; pinyin
Pinyin

Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most commonly used Romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu is the Chinese Language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"....
: Lóng Wáng
Wang

Wang may refer to:Name:* Wang , one of two surnames with distinct Chinese characters.* Titles in Chinese nobility* A title in Korean nobility...
) are, in Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology

File:Nine-Dragons1.jpgChinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written form....
, the divine rulers of the four sea
SEA

See also: Sea and seasThe three-letter acronym SEA may refer to:People/organizations/businesses*Scientists and Engineers for America, a pro-science political advocacy group....
s (each sea corresponds to one of the cardinal directions). Although Dragon Kings appear in their true forms as dragons
Chinese dragon

The China dragon or Oriental dragon is a mythical creature in East Asian culture with a China origin. It is visualized these days as a long, scaled, snake-like creature with four legs and five claws on each ....
, they have the ability to shapeshift into human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 form. The Dragon Kings live in crystal
Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
 palace
Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop....
s, guarded by shrimp
Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, Decapoda crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh water and seawater. Adult shrimp are Filter feeder benthic animals living close to the bottom....
 soldiers and crab
Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
 generals.

Besides ruling over the aquatic life, the Dragon Kings also manipulate cloud
Cloud

A cloud is a visible mass of Drop or frozen crystals floating in the Celestial body atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body....
s and rain
Rain

Rain is liquid precipitation . On Earth, it is the condensation of atmospheric water vapor into droplet heavy enough to fall, often making it to the surface....
. When enraged, they can flood
Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land, a deluge. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
 cities. According to The Short Stories on the Tang
Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an Dynasties in Chinese history preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire....
 People (???? Tangren Chuanqi), the Qian Tang Dragon King did just that when he found out his niece had been abused by her husband. Qian Tang also ate the abusive husband.

The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea (Donghai
Donghai (Chinese mythology)

East Sea is identified as the body of water east of the mainland, according to ancient Chinese history geography. It contains modern day East China Sea as well as the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea....
) is said to have the largest territory.

Dragon Kings appeared commonly in literature. Detailed descriptions were given of the finery of their crystal palaces. In the Chinese classical novel Journey to the West
Journey to the West

Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Originally published anonymously in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty, and even though no direct evidence of its authorship survives, it has been ascribed to the scholar Wu Cheng'en since the 20th century....
, a Dragon King is one of the main characters in the tenth chapter.

  • Dragon of the East: Ao Guang
  • Dragon of the South: Ao Qin
  • Dragon of the West: Ao Run
  • Dragon of the North: Ao Shun


The four Dragon Kings also appeared in Fengshen Yanyi
Fengshen Yanyi

Fengshen Yanyi , also known as Fengshen Bang , is one of the major Vernacular Chinese novels written in the Ming Dynasty. The story deals with the decline of the Shang Dynasty and rise of the Zhou Dynasty, intertwining numerous elements of Chinese mythology, including gods and goddesses, Eight Immortals, and spirits....
. But their names are different from those in Journey to the West. See also Dragon King (disambiguation)
Dragon King (disambiguation)

Dragon King can refer to:* the four Dragon Kings of Chinese mythology* a formal title of the Dragon King * Onaga, a Mortal Kombat character also known as the Dragon King,...


Temples

There are numerous temples dedicated to Dragon Kings in China. One temple in Beijing
Beijing

is a metropolis in northern China and the Capital of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the four municipality of China, which are equivalent to province in China's Political divisions of China....
 was built during the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty

The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was both the continuation of the Mongol Empire and the Mongol founded historical state in Mongolia and China, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368....
 and renovated in the early 21st century. Chao-Tian Palace of Beigang Township, Yunlin, devoted to the Goddess Mazu, also has human-shaped statues for the four Dragon Kings, each riding on a dragon. In contrast to the Dragon Kings, Mazu, although also a deity of sea, is a mother
Mother

A mother is a biological and/or Maternal bond female parent of an offspring. Because of the complexity and differences of the social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to define a mother in a universally accepted definition....
ly figure who never wreaks havoc.

See also

  • Nagaraja
    Nagaraja

    Nagaraja is a Sanskrit word from Naga and raj meaning King of Snakes. It is applied to three main deities, Anantha, Vasuki & Takshak....
  • Huang Long
    Huang Long (mythology)

    Huang Long is a hornless dragon who once emerged from the River Luo and presented the legendary Emperor Fu Xi with the elements of writing. According to legend, when it appeared before Fu Xi, it filled a hole in the sky made by the monster Kung Kung....