Vietnamese dragons ( 龍) are symbolic creatures in the
folkloreFolklore is the body of expressive culture, including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which...
and
mythologyMythology is the study of myths and or of a body of myths. For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story;...
of
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
. They were strongly influenced by
Chinese dragonChinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...
myths, comparable with other Oriental dragons. According to an ancient creation myth, the
Vietnamese peopleThe Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from what is now northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
are descended from a dragon and a fairy.
To Vietnamese people, the dragon brings rain, essential for agriculture. It represents the emperor, the prosperity and power of the nation. Like the
Chinese dragonChinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...
, the Vietnamese dragon is the symbol of
yangYang may refer to:* Yang, in yin and yang, the word for one half of the two opposing forces in Chinese philosophy, described as "bright positive masculine principle" in Chinese dualistic cosmology*Yang , Chinese surname...
, representing the universe, life, existence, and growth.
The legend
The 5th-generation grandson of
ShennongShennong , also known as the Yan Emperor or the Emperor of the Five Grains , is a ruler of China and culture hero who lived some 5,000 years ago, and taught ancient China the practices of agriculture. Appropriately, his name means "the Divine Farmer"...
,
Lạc Long QuânLạc Long Quân , according to the creation myth of the Vietnamese people, was the father of the Vietnamese people, and their first true king...
- king of the dragonkind living near the Đông sea, married a
goddessA goddess is a female deity. Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities in a pantheon. In some cultures goddesses are commonly associated with the Earth, motherhood, love, and the household, often reflecting the historical gender roles of that culture...
,
Âu CơÂu Cơ , according to the creation myth of the Vietnamese people, was an immortal mountain fairy who married Lạc Long Quân , and bore an egg sac that hatched a hundred children known collectively as Bach Viet, ancestors to the Vietnamese people...
who was the daughter of the birdkind king Đế Lai. Âu Cơ bore 100 eggs, which hatched into 100 sons. The first-born son became the king of Lạc Việt, the first dynasty of
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
, and proclaimed himself Emperor
Hùng VươngHùng Vương was the first king of Văn Lang or Lạc Việt . Legend tells of the dragon lord, Lạc Long Quân and the mountain fairy, Âu Cơ who had 100 children. As the parents belonged to different realms, they parted ways, each taking 50 of the 100 sons to their respective homes...
. The First was followed by Hùng Vương The Second, Hùng Vương The Third and so on, through 18 reigns. This is the origin of the Vietnamese proverb: "Con Rồng, cháu Tiên" ("Children of Dragon, Grandchildren of Gods").
Prehistory
The Vietnamese dragon is the combined image of crocodile, snake, lizard and bird. Historically, the Vietnamese people lived near rivers, so they venerated crocodiles as "Giao Long", the first kind of Vietnamese dragon.
There are some kinds of dragons found on archaeological objects. One group is that of the crocodile-dragons, with the head of a crocodile and the body of a snake. The cat-dragon excavated on a glazed terracotta piece in
Bac NinhBắc Ninh is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of the Bắc Ninh Province. The city is the cultural, administrative, and commercial center of the province. The city area is 80.82 square km, with a population of 150,331 . In January, 2006, the town of Bac Ninh was upgraded to city...
has some features of Dai Viet period dragon: it does not have a crocodile head, its head is shorter and it has a long neck, its wing and backfin are long lines, and its whiskers and fur are found in the Dai Viet dragon image.
Ngô DynastyThe Ngô Dynasty was a dynasty in Vietnam.Around the year 930 AD, as Ngô Quyền rose to power, northern Vietnam was a province and vassal state of China and was referred to as Giao Chỉ . Every year the governor/administrator of Giao Chỉ had to pay tribute and give offerings to China...
(938–965)
On the brick from this period found in Co Loa, the dragon is short, with a cat-like body and a fish's backfin.
Ly dynastyThe Lý Dynasty , sometimes known as the Posterior Lý Dynasty , was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Prior Lê Dynasty and ended in 1225 when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh...
(1010–1225)
The Ly dynasty is the dynasty which laid the foundation of Vietnamese
feudalFeudalism is a decentralized sociopolitical structure in which a weak monarchy attempts to control the lands of the realm through reciprocal agreements with regional leaders...
culture.
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
was widespread and Van Mieu, the first feudal university, was opened. The slender, flowing dragon of this period represents the King, and is literature dragon.
These dragons' perfectly rounded bodies curve lithely, in a long sinuous shape, tapering gradually to the tail. The body has 12 sections, symbolising 12 months in the year. On the dragon's back are small, uninterrupted, regular fins. The head, held high, is in proportion with the body, and has a long mane, beard, prominent eyes, crest on nose (pointing forwards), but no horns. The legs are small and thin, and usually 3-toed. The jaw is opened wide, with a long, thin tongue; the dragons always keep a
châu (gem/jewel) in their mouths (a symbol of humanity, nobility and knowledge). These dragons are able to change the weather, and are responsible for crops.
Tran dynasty (1225–1400)
The Tran dynasty dragon was similar to that of the
LyLy can refer to:* Ly the Fairy, a character from the video game Rayman 2: The Great Escape* Lý Dynasty of Vietnam* Ly * .ly, the Top-level domain for Libya* .ly, the default filetype extension of the GNU LilyPond sheet music format....
dynasty but looked more intrepid. The Tran dragon has new details: arms and horns. Its fiery crest is shorter. Its slightly curved body is fat and smaller toward the tail. There are many kinds of tail (straight and pointed tail, spiral tail) as well as many kinds of scale (a regular half-flower scale, slightly curved scale).
The Tran dragon symbolised the
martial artsMartial arts or fighting arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. While they may be studied for various reasons, martial arts share a single objective: to physically defeat other persons and to defend oneself or others from physical threat...
, because the Tran kings were descended from a
MandarinA Mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence....
commander. The Vietnamese had to fight Mongol invaders in this age.
Le dynastyThe Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....
In this period, the Vietnamese dragon's image was influenced by the Chinese dragon, because of
ConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia...
's expansion policy. Differing from those of the previous dynasty, dragons in this age are not only represented in a curved posture among clouds but also in others. These dragons were majestic, with lion-heads. Instead of a fiery crest, they have a large nose. Their bodies only curve in two sections. Their feet have five sharp claws.
Nguyễn dynasty
(1802–1883) During the early part of the Nguyen dynasty, the dragon is represented with a spiral tail and a long fiery sword-fin. Dragons were personified by a mother with her children or a pair of dragons. Its head and eyes are large. It has stag horns, a lion's nose, exposed canine teeth, regular flash scale, curved whiskers. Images of the Dragon King have 5 claws, while images of lesser dragons have only 4 claws.
(1883–1945) In this later period, the dragon image degenerated and became unrefined, losing its natural and majestic shape, and was seen as a signal of the decline in art of the last Vietnamese dynasty.
Dragon in literature
Some proverbs and sayings mention dragons but imply something else:
"Rồng gặp mây": "Dragon meets clouds" – In favourable condition.
"Đầu rồng đuôi tôm": "Dragon's head, shrimp's tail" – Good at first and bad at last; something which starts well but ends badly.
"Rồng bay, phượng múa": "Dragon flight, phoenix dance" – Used to praise the
calligraphyCalligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of writing . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
of someone who writes Chinese
ideogramAn ideogram or ideograph is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by familiarity with prior convention; others convey their meaning through pictorial resemblance to a physical object, and thus may also be referred to as pictograms.Examples of...
s well.
"Rồng đến nhà tôm": "Dragon visits shrimp's house" – A saying used by a host to (or of) his guest: the host portrays himself as a humble shrimp and his guest as a noble dragon.
"Ăn như rồng cuốn, nói như rồng leo, làm như mèo mửa": "Eating as dragon scrolls, talking as dragon climbs, working as cat vomits" – A criticism of someone who eats too much and talks a lot, but is lazy.
Vietnamese place-names, and other things, named after dragons
Ha Noi (Vietnamese: Hà Nội), the capital of
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
, was known in ancient times as Thăng Long (from
Thăng, meaning "to grow, to develop, to rise, to fly, or to ascend" and
Long, meaning "dragon"); the capital is still referred to by this name in literature. In 1010, King Lý Thái Tổ moved the capital from
Hoa LưHoa Lu is a district of Ninh Binh Province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam. Before 1010, Hoa Lu served as the capital of Dai Co Viet....
to Đại La, which decision was explained in his Chiếu dời đô (Royal proclamation of moving capital): he saw a Rồng vàng (yellow dragon) fly around on the clear blue sky, so he changed the name of Đại La to Thăng Long, meaning "Vietnam's bright and developed future". Furthermore, one of Thăng Long Four Defense Deity (Vietnamese:
Thăng Long Tứ Trấn) is Long Đỗ Deity (literally: dragon's navel- where is the center, the place that Earth and Sky meet each other- according to orient's view, the belly has a role which is as important as the heart is in western view). Long Đỗ Deity helped Lý Thái Tổ to build Thăng Long citadel.
Many place-names in Vietnam incorporate the word Long, or Rồng (also meaning dragon): Ha Long Bay (vịnh Hạ Long), the section of the Mekong river flowing through Vietnam contains 9 branches and is called
Cửu LongCửu Long was a province in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam. It was created in 1976 from the merger of Vinh Long Province and Vinh Binh Province...
(meaning nine dragons);
Hàm RồngThe Thanh Hoa Bridge, spanning the Song Ma river, is situated north east of Thanh Hóa, the capital of Thanh Hoa Province in Vietnam. The Vietnamese gave it the nickname Ham Rong . Between 1965 and 1972, during the Vietnam war, it was the objective of many unsuccessful attacks by US Air Force and...
bridge,
Long BiênLong Bien is an urban district of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.Vietnam Airlines has its headquarters in Long Bien....
bridge. Other things named after dragons include: Thanh Long (dragonfruit), vòi rồng (
waterspoutA waterspout is an intense columnar vortex that occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cumuliform cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water. While it is often weaker than most of its land counterparts, stronger versions spawned by mesocyclones do occur...
), xương rồng (Cactaceae), long nhãn (dragon eyes: Vietnamese cognate word for
longanThe longan The longan The longan in Chinese, Ash-fol (আঁশফল) in Bengali, lengkeng in Indonesia, mata kucing (literally...
fruit).
Other Asian dragons
- Chinese dragon
Chinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...
- Druk
The Druk is the "Thunder Dragon" of Bhutanese mythology and a Bhutanese national symbol. A druk appears on the Bhutanese Flag, holding jewels to represent wealth. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is called Druk Yul, or Land of Druk, and Bhutanese leaders are called Druk Gyalpo, Dragon Kings -...
- Japanese dragon
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...
- Korean dragon
Korean dragons are legendary creatures in Korean mythology and folklore. Although generally comparable with Chinese dragons in appearance and symbolic significance, Korean dragons have unique culture-specific properties that differentiate them from dragons in other cultures.- Korean dragons...
- Nāga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Naga people, an diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India* Naga , from Kashmir* Naga Regiment, of the Indian Army...
or Naga