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Japanese dragon
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Japanese dragons are diverse legendary creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China, Korea and India. Like these other Asian dragons, most Japanese ones are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. The modern Japanese language has numerous "dragon" words, including indigenous tatsu from Old Japanese ta-tu, Sino-Japanese ryu or ryo ? from Chinese lóng ?, naga ??? from Sanskrit naga, and doragon ???? from English dragon.
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Japanese dragons are diverse legendary creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China, Korea and India. Like these other Asian dragons, most Japanese ones are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. The modern Japanese language has numerous "dragon" words, including indigenous tatsu from Old Japanese ta-tu, Sino-Japanese ryu or ryo ? from Chinese lóng ?, naga ??? from Sanskrit naga, and doragon ???? from English dragon.
Indigenous Japanese dragons
The ca. 680 CE Kojiki and the ca. 720 CE Nihongi mytho-histories have the first Japanese textual references to dragons. "In the oldest annals the dragons are mentioned in various ways," explains de Visser (1913:135), "but mostly as water-gods, serpent- or dragon-shaped." The Kojiki and Nihongi mention several ancient dragons:
- Yamata-no-Orochi ???? "8-branched giant snake" was an 8-headed and 8-tailed dragon slain by the god of wind and sea Susanoo. He discovered the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (legendary sword of the Imperial Regalia of Japan) in one of its tails.
- Watatsumi ?? "sea god" or Ryujin ?? "dragon god" was the ruler of seas and oceans, and described as a dragon capable of changing into human form. He lived in the undersea Ryugu-jo ??? "dragon palace castle", where he kept the magical tide jewels.
- Toyotama-hime ??? "Luminous Pearl Princess" was Ryujin's daughter. She purportedly was an ancestress of Emperor Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor.
- Wani ? was a sea monster that is translated as both "shark" and "crocodile". Kuma-wani ?? "bear (i.e., giant or strong) shark/crocodile" are mentioned in two ancient legends. One says the sea god Kotoshiro-nushi-no-kami transformed into an "8-fathom kuma-wani" and fathered Toyotama-hime, the other says a kuma-wani piloted the ships of Emperor Chuai and his Empress Jingu.
- Mizuchi ? or ? was a river dragon and water deity. The Nihongi records legendary Emperor Nintoku offering human sacrifices to mizuchi angered by his river engineering projects.
These myths about Emperor Jimmu descending from Toyatama-hime evidence the folklore that Japanese Emperors are descendants of dragons. Compare the ancient Chinese tradition of dragons symbolizing the Emperor of China.
Dragons in later Japanese folklore were influenced by Chinese and Indian myths.
- Kiyohime ?? "Purity Princess" was a teahouse waitress who fell in love with a young Buddhist priest. After he spurned her, she studied magic, transformed into a dragon, and killed him.
- Nure-onna ?? "Wet Woman" was a dragon with a snake's body and a woman's head. She was typically seen while washing her hair on a riverbank and would sometimes kill humans when angered.
- Zennyo Ryuo ???? "goodness-like dragon king" was a rain-god depicted either as a dragon with a snake on its head or as a human with a snake's tail.
- In My Lord Bag of Rice, the Ryuo "dragon king" of Lake Biwa asks the hero Tawara Toda ???? to kill a giant centipede.
- Urashima Taro rescued a turtle which took him to Ryugu-jo and turned into the attractive daughter of the ocean god Ryujin.
- Inari, the god of fertility and agriculture, was sometimes depicted as a dragon or snake instead of a fox.
Sino-Japanese dragons
Chinese dragon mythology is central to Japanese dragons. Japanese words for "dragon" are written with kanji "Chinese characters", either simplified shinjitai ? or traditional kyujitai ? from Chinese long ?. These kanji can be read tatsu in native Japanese kun'yomi and ryu or ryo in Sino-Japanese on'yomi.
Many Japanese dragon names are loanwords from Chinese. For instance, the Japanese counterparts of the astrological Four Symbols are:
- Seiryu < Qinglong ?? "Azure Dragon"
- Suzaku < Zhuque ?? "Vermilion Bird"
- Byakko < Baihu ?? "White Tiger"
- Genbu < Xuanwu ?? "Black Tortoise"
Japanese Shiryu ?? "4 dragon [kings]" are the legendary Chinese Longwang ?? "Dragon Kings" who rule the four seas.
Some authors differentiate Japanese ryu and Chinese long dragons by the number of claws on their feet. "In Japan," writes Gould (1896:248), "it is invariably figured as possessing three claws, whereas in China it has four or five, according as it is an ordinary or an imperial emblem."
During World War II, the Japanese military named armaments after Chinese dragons. The Koryu ?? < jiaolong ?? "flood dragon" was a midget submarine and the Shinryu ?? < shenlong ?? "spirit dragon" was a rocket kamikaze aircraft.
Indo-Japanese dragons
When Buddhist monks from other parts of Asia brought their faith to Japan they transmitted dragon and snake legends from Buddhist and Hindu mythology. The most notable examples are the naga ??? or ? "Naga; rain deity; protector of Buddhism" and the nagaraja ??????? or ?? ”Nagaraja; snake king; dragon king". De Visser (1913:179) notes that many Japanese naga legends have Chinese features. "This is quite clear, for it was via China that all the Indian tales came to Japan. Moreover, many originally Japanese dragons, to which Chinese legends were applied, were afterwards identified with naga, so that a blending of ideas was the result." For instance, the undersea palace where naga kings supposedly live is called Japanese ryugu ?? "dragon palace" from Chinese longgong ??. Compare ryugu-jo ??? "dragon palace castle", which was the sea-god Ryujin's undersea residence. Japanese legends about the sea-god's tide jewels, which controlled the ebb and flow of tides, have parallels in Indian legends about the naga's nyoi-ju ??? "cintamani; wish-fulfilling jewels".
Some additional examples of Buddhistic Japanese dragons are:
- Hachidai ryuo ???? "8 great naga kings" assembled to hear the Buddha expound on the Lotus Sutra, and are a common artistic motif.
- Mucharinda ?????? "Mucalinda" was the Naga king who protected the Buddha when he achieved bodhi, and is frequently represented as a giant cobra.
- Benzaiten ??? is the Japanese name of the goddess Saraswati, who killed a 3-headed Vritra serpent or dragon in the Rigveda. According to the Enoshima Engi, Benzaiten created Enoshima Island in 552 CE in order to thwart a 5-headed dragon that had been harassing people.
- Kuzuryu ??? "9-headed dragon", deriving from the multi-headed Naga king ????? or ?? "Shesha", is worshipped at Togakushi Shrine in Nagano Prefecture.
Dragon temples
Dragon lore is traditionally associated with Buddhist temples. Myths about dragons living in ponds and lakes near temples are widespread. De Visser (1913:181-184) lists accounts for Shitenno-ji in Osaka, Gogen Temple in Hakone, Kanagawa, and the shrine on Mount Haku where the Genpei Josuiki records that a Zen priest saw a 9-headed dragon transform into the goddess Kannon. In the present day, the Lake Saiko Dragon Shrine at Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi has an annual festival and fireworks show.
Temple names, like Japanese toponyms, frequently involve dragons. For instance, the Rinzai sect has Tenryu-ji ??? "Heavenly Dragon Temple", Ryutaku-ji ??? "Dragon Swamp Temple", Ryoan-ji ??? "Dragon Peace Temple". According to legend (de Visser 1913:180), when the Hoko-ji ??? or Asuka-dera ??? Buddhist temple was dedicated at Nara in 596, "a purple cloud descended from the sky and covered the pagoda as well as the Buddha hall; then the cloud became five-coloured and assumed the shape of a dragon or phoenix".
The Kinryu-no-Mai ???? "Golden Dragon Dance" is an annual Japanese dragon dance performed at Senso-ji, a Buddhist temple in Asakusa. The dragon dancers twist and turn within the temple grounds and outside on the streets. According to legend, the Senso Temple was founded in 628 after two fishermen found a gold statuette of Kannon in the Sumida River, at which time golden dragons purportedly ascended into heaven. The Golden Dragon Dance celebrates the temple founding and allegedly provides good fortune and prosperity.
Dragon shrines
Japanese dragons are associated with Shinto shrines as well as Buddhist temples.
Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima or Itsukushima Island in Japan's Inland Sea was believed to be the abode of the sea-god Ryujin's daughter. According to the Gukansho and The Tale of Heike (Heinrich 1997:74-75), the sea-dragon empowered Emperor Antoku to ascend the throne because his father Taira no Kiyomori offered prayers at Itsukushima and declared it his ancestral shrine. When Antoku drowned himself after being defeated in the 1185 Battle of Dan-no-ura, he lost the imperial Kusanagi sword (which legendarily came from the tail of the Yamata no Orochi] dragon) back into the sea. In another version, divers found the sword, and it is said to be preserved at Atsuta Shrine. The great earthquake of 1185 was attributed to vengeful Heike spirits, specifically the dragon powers of Antoku.
Ryujin shinko ???? "dragon god faith" is a form of Shinto religious belief that worships dragons as water kami. It is connected with agricultural rituals, rain prayers, and the success of fisherman.
Dragons in modern culture
Dragons are a familiar motif in Japanese art and architecture, literature, and popular culture. Some alphabetically-arranged examples include:
Other Asian dragons
External links
- , A to Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism
- , The Circle of the Dragon
- , Dragonorama
- , Encyclopedia of Shinto
- , Steve Renshaw and Saori Ihara
- , Japanese Architecture & Art Net User System
- , Kyoto National Museum
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