What animals inspired the ancients to draw the image of the dragon, and when did the dragon originat

The image of the dragon originated in the Neolithic period 8,000 years ago. According to historical records and archaeological discoveries, dragons were born with camel heads, horse faces, tiger noses, bull ears, leopard eyes, antlers, lion temples, snake bodies, fish scales and eagle claws. It can be long and short, can be quiet and bright, can fly to the sky to call for wind and rain, can dive into the bottom of the sea to make waves, and is also a guarantee of smooth wind and rain.

As an animal that has never appeared in nature, it is the product of the vague worship of the forces of nature by primitive ancestors.

The dragon is an artistic sublimation of the image of the crocodile, which has become the consensus of most scholars. Some people even affirm that as the totem of the Chinese nation, the "dragon" should be based on the Yangtze crocodile.

The Chinese alligator, known as "Dragon" or "Dragon" in ancient times, commonly known as "Earth Dragon" and "Pig Dragon Po", is a unique animal in China and one of the only two temperate freshwater alligators in the world. According to the fossil record, they are found in nearly half of China, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in Wuhan, in large numbers. The Chinese alligator has a relatively fierce appearance, amphibious living habits, and often semi-hidden places like secret whereabouts, which will make the ancients have both fear and awe of it, making it a dignified and mysterious animal in the eyes of the public, so it has become the inevitable choice of the main water god image.

In fact, this illusory dragon statue has all the basic characteristics of a Chinese alligator: it is covered in scales; a long chin with a raised nose on the top of the head; tapered teeth with sharp edges; large, round, bulging eyes; a long, thick tail; strong limbs and five-fingered claws; Horizontal stripes on the abdomen. In order to compensate for the defects of the bald head and pointed tail of the Chinese alligator, which is harmful to the image of the god, the ancients gave full play to their imagination and added horns, whiskers and tail fins to its body, and transformed the prominent spines arranged longitudinally on the back into serrated dorsal fins, elongating the body and presenting an imposing and decorative effect.

Thus, this alligator was shaped into a legendary image of a dragon that could soar through the clouds.

The word "dragon" in the oracle bone inscription is very pictographic: "The head has horns, the mouth is large, the body has patterns, and the body is curved." Mr. Yang Zhongjian, a famous paleontologist in China, believes that from the pictographic features of dragons, it can be inferred that except for the horns on the head, "they are all the images of crocodiles".

In fact, the spiny protrusions on the heads of elderly crocodiles are often noticeable, which may be the reason why the ancients mistook the angle.

Most people believe that it is the Chinese crocodile, which originated in the Neolithic Age, and the dragon is the worship of the natural forces of the ancients, bringing together the creatures that exist in the natural world to form the initial image of the dragon.

The Chinese crocodile is considered to be the artistic sublimation of the dragon, which originated during the period of the Yellow Emperor, who collected the totems of the tribes to form a dragon due to the unification of the tribes at that time.

Dragons originated in the early Neolithic period, no less than eight thousand years from today. Symbolizing the power of the universe and nature, it combines the characteristics of antlers, bull's mouth, sheep's whiskers, snake body, and eagle claws in the shape.

First of all, the dragon is the crocodile, that is, the Yi Yangtze crocodile is the prototype, and then the dragon is the snake, that is, the black-tailed snake is the prototype, and the image of the dragon originated in the Neolithic Age 8,000 years ago.

There are many theories about the image of the dragon: one says that it is a crocodile, one says that it is a snake, some people think that it is a pig, and there is even a saying that the earliest dragon is the lightning in the sky when it rains. Most experts now believe that the dragon is a totemic complex with a snake as the main body.

It has the body of a serpent, the head of a pig, the horns of a deer, the ears of an ox, the whiskers of a sheep, the claws of an eagle, and the scales of a fish. This view presents a picture of life in ancient societies: in ancient clan societies, the Yellow River valley with snakes as its totem.

The Huaxia clan defeated the other clans and formed a huge clan tribal alliance, while absorbing the totems of the other clans and combining them into dragons.

Totem. In 1987, a Yangshao culture more than 6,000 years ago was excavated in Henan Province.

In the early tombs, a dragon made of mussel shells was unearthed next to the male tomb owner, which is the earliest dragon we have seen so far.

The image of the dragon is a combination of: a fang, antlers, shrimp legs, a fish's mouth, a turtle's neck, a snake's body, fish scales, a mirage, a fish's spine, a tiger's paw, an eagle's claw, and a fish's tail. The dragon is a mythical creature living in the sea in the ancient legend of Erya countries such as China, and is the chief of the insect, taking the clouds and rain, and is the master of eternal harmony, and is often used to symbolize auspiciousness.

The dragon is one of the most representative traditional cultures of East Asian peoples such as the Han people, and the legend of the dragon and other dragon cultures are very rich.

When the ancient clans were strong, the Huaxia tribe in the Yellow River Valley, with the snake as the totem, defeated the other clans and formed a huge clan alliance, which absorbed the totems of other clans and combined them into a dragon diagram. The dragon has the body of a snake, the head of a pig, the horns of a deer, the ears of a deer, the annoyance of a sheep, the claws of a library, and the scales of a fish. The spring equinox ascends to the sky, the autumn equinox dives into the abyss, and these images of dragons, which have been developed in the late period, are more complex than the original dragons.

In the pre-Qin period, the dragon was not seen as a symbol of China, but as a kind of demonic ominousness, but the phoenix was loved.

Six. Nine kinds, ancient Chinese said: dragons give birth to nine kinds, each different.

Ying Long] 1.A winged dragon in ancient legend. Legend has it that when Yu ruled the flood, there was a dragon to draw the land into a river with its tail to make the water flow into the sea.

2.In ancient legends, the god who is good at making clouds and making rain.

Dragon] Tianchengxuan.

There are two theories about the dragon:

One of the most popular dragons in Chinese legends. Also known as the tail of the worm, is a kind of sea beast, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty when someone said, saying that the dragon is a water spirit, can prevent fire, it is recommended to put it on the roof to avoid fire;

The second is said to be the second son of the nine sons of the dragon, and the cloud in the ancient book: "The second is called the kiss, the sex is good, and the head of the beast on the house is also." ”

Jiaolong] another example: Jiaoqiu (Jiao and 虬. Qiu: A small dragon with horns in ancient legends. Also refers to aquariums in general); Jiao (Jiaolong. 螭: Legend has it that it is an animal of the genus Jiaolong); Jiao (Jiao Long and Jiao Niu).

Explanation of the horned and beardless dragon of ancient legends. Qu Yuan's "Tianwen": "The Dragon Bear".

Song "Rui Ying Tu": "Dragon Horse Shenma, the essence of the river, eight feet five inches high, long neck, wings, trim drooping hair, nine tones of sound. See you when you have the Ming King.

The dragon is the legendary beast, "the god horse", "the horse is more than eight feet long", "the two-horned one".

Candle Dragon] a mythical beast in ancient Chinese mythology. Also known as candle yin, also written as dragon. The human face and dragon body, with a candle in the mouth, illuminate in the gloom in the northwest where there is no sun. Legend has it that he was extremely powerful, and when he opened his eyes, the sky was bright, that is, daytime; When you close your eyes, it's dark, it's night.