Etymology of the ‘Dragon’ (龍) Ideogram!
My first impression - when observing the earliest available Chinese-language ideograms representing the contemporary ‘龍’ (long2) pictogram – is that over three-thousand years ago (during the Shang Dynasty 1600-1946 BCE) its structure resembled what seems to be a ‘Seahorse’. This animal possesses a horse’s head with what might be ‘horns’, whiskers around flared nostrils and a coiling, serpentine-body. Furthermore, just like the Chinese interpretation of a ‘Dragon’ – a ‘Seahorse’ lives within water and gracefully traverses its depths – occasionally seizing hold of anchoring objects with its tail whilst standing stock-still for extended periods of time. Of course, as the ideogram developed overtime, the basic interpretation seems to have evolved to express what might be a typical ‘lizard’, such as a Gecko, Chameleon, or Iguana, etc. This issue is complicated by the fact that various ‘Dinosaur’ fossils have been discovered throughout China, often in dried-out river or sea-beds. This led to the cultural idea being formed that giant, water-borne (Serpentine) creatures existed within large bodies of water – but as nobody had ever seen such an animal in real life – this must be due to these animals being ‘elusive’ and ‘difficult’ to find!
In a very real sense, the idea of a ‘Dragon’ being an elusive ‘water-borne’ creature, is just as relevant to a ‘Dragon’ being a ‘Seahorse' – as the average Chinese person was just as unlikely to have encountered either entity during their lifetime. This means that the two paths of material reality (i.e. the ‘Seahorse’ and the ‘Dinosaur’ fossil) have been able to merge with one another – and form the basis for the Chinese mythological creature that is considered to be a contemporary ‘Dragon’. This is compounded by out-of-date versions of ‘Traditional Chinese Medicine’ (TCM) using ‘Seahorses’ within certain medicinal concoctions – a practice rejected within modern China. As an expert in Chinese ideogram construction – I found the ‘龍’ to be rather odd. On the one-hand the ideogram is known to be ‘ancient’ – whilst on the other-hand it seems to carry a very simplistic, almost ‘modern’ (‘phonetic’) interpretation. How should this ideogram be read today? I will explain:
The contemporary ideogram represents a serpent’s body:
a) Upper-Right = ‘Tail’ (⺊- bu3)
b) Lower-Right = ‘Legs’ (己 - ji3 & 三 – San1)
c) Upper-Right = ‘Eyes’ and ‘Crown’ (立 – li4)
d) Lower-Left = ‘Whiskers’ and ‘Fanged-Mouth’ (月 – yue4)
This is how every schoolchild in China is taught to read this ideogram – although generally speaking primarily through the simplified ideogram of ‘龙’. What I find interesting is that the inner structure of ‘龍’ (long2) has no relation to a ‘Serpent’, ‘Dragon’ or indeed any other animal (living, extinct or mythical) – as I shall now explain.
1) ⺊(bu3) = Divination - a crack in a turtle plastron (or ox-scapula) used by a shaman to interpret the past, present and future in ancient China. The basis of the trigrams and hexagrams in the ‘Change Classic’ (Yijing) – known in the West as the ‘Book of Changes’ (I Ching). A hot metal poker was placed on the bone – causing the ‘cracks’. Overtime, certain derived patterns became associated with specific interpretations.
2) 己 (ji3) = Pertaining to the self, the personal and the 6th of the 10th Divine-Sky Stems (traditionally used for dating Dynasties, reigns and important events). This ideogram can be used as a Surname and is sometimes used to refer to a defensible walled-compound. Included in this section of the ‘Dragon’ ideogram is ‘三 (San1)’ – which is the traditional way of expressing the number ‘3’. This number is considered ‘complete’, ‘full’ and ‘lucky’ within ancient Chinese thinking (together with any multiples of ‘3’) and serves as the basis for the Eight Trigrams found in the ‘Classic of Change’ (Yijing).
3) 立 (li4) = A man standing-up (not sitting down) – with the floor beneath him (such ancient concepts are assumed to be ‘male’). This can also carry the meaning of ‘standing up for a cause’ and even to ‘take the throne’ through decisive (and virtuous) action. Such a concept affirms ‘life’ and ‘being alive’. Legal documents can be drawn-up and standards of civilised behaviour (and interaction) established.
4) 月 (yue4) = Moon, month, and date, etc. However, when ‘月’ is used as a left-hand particle in an ideogram (as is the case within ‘龍’), the meaning can be radically altered. This means that ‘月’ can be used as a substitute for ‘⺼’ – with ‘⺼’ being a contraction of ‘肉’ (rou4). The ideogram ‘肉’ (rou4) refers to the ‘ribs’ and ‘torso’ (including the ‘back’) of an animal – specifically a ‘rack of ribs’ in the sense of ‘fresh meat’ – perhaps ‘sliced’ and reading for cooking and consumption. Due to the apparent haphazard construction of ‘龍’ (long2) - I remain unconvinced that this convention applies in this instance.
Conclusion:
The reading of the ‘external’ or ‘surface’ meaning of this hexagram is a purely superficial construction. That is, something of a contrivance that may have been the product of a slow evolution over a great length of time. Whereas as extant artwork (and early Chinese ideograms) suggest that the original ‘Dragon’ was a ‘Seahorse’, as the written Chinese language increased through complexity, the outer structure of a ‘Seahorse’ had to be altered to include the development of an ‘internal’ (constituent) reorganisation involving meaningful particles. What this usually implies is that the ‘outer’ meaning of a developed ideogram is reinforced (and magnified) by a very clever use of ‘internal’ departmentalism – a process which is completely lacking in this instance. Five particles have been hastily thrown together with no attention to building a coherent ‘inner’ structure that matches the over-all meaning of the ideogram being portrayed.
How can a ‘Dragon’ be the consequence of a cracked fortune-telling bone (⺊- bu3), the ‘self’ - or the 6th Stem of the Divine-Sky (己 - ji3), a man standing-up from the floor (立 - li4), a shining Moon - or rack of ribs (月 - yue4)? In this regard, the only meaning that can be gleamed must be ephereal in nature and explained in the following manner.
i) The idea of ‘divination’ might refer to a device that links the material world to the spiritual world.
ii) The concept of a ‘self’ is linked to neatly arranging (individual) threads on a loom – threads which were previously ‘entangled’ -
but that have now been disentangled and placed in the correct position waiting for weaving to take place. When three straight lines are taken into account, then this equates to the concept of the 'Divine-Sky' (Qian) Trigram (which is doubled to form the corresponding Hexagram) as found in the 'Classic of Change' (Yijing). This represents the concept of 'Yang' or 'bright' energy which serves as a natural balance to the Moon and its Yin energy. The number '3' (and all multiples of '3') is considered 'pure' and beyond reproach.
iii) A man standing-up can also refer to a person taking their rightful place in society – and has been linked in ancient China to a rightful heir ascending to the (Dragon) throne.
iv) The Moon refers to nighttime, darkness, hiding and obscuration – all attributes ascribed to the character of a Dragon.
Furthermore, the Moon also refers to ‘Yin’ – or the absence of ‘light’. Yin is another way of referring to a) water, and b) the flexibility a Dragon would need to traverse the dark depths without being seen.
©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2024.
English Language Reference:
Tracking down the dragon throughout history
https://www.ecns.cn/m/news/culture/2024-02-09/detail-ihcxnqiu4984808.shtml
Chinese Language References:
龙[lóng]
https://baike.baidu.com/item/龙/191720?fr=ge_ala
龍的意思及取名寓意
http://www.haoming123.cn/dict/15753.html
龙代表六大象征意义
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1777612431055918927&wfr=spider&for=pc
a) Upper-Right = ‘Tail’ (⺊- bu3)
b) Lower-Right = ‘Legs’ (己 - ji3 & 三 – San1)
c) Upper-Right = ‘Eyes’ and ‘Crown’ (立 – li4)
d) Lower-Left = ‘Whiskers’ and ‘Fanged-Mouth’ (月 – yue4)
This is how every schoolchild in China is taught to read this ideogram – although generally speaking primarily through the simplified ideogram of ‘龙’. What I find interesting is that the inner structure of ‘龍’ (long2) has no relation to a ‘Serpent’, ‘Dragon’ or indeed any other animal (living, extinct or mythical) – as I shall now explain.
1) ⺊(bu3) = Divination - a crack in a turtle plastron (or ox-scapula) used by a shaman to interpret the past, present and future in ancient China. The basis of the trigrams and hexagrams in the ‘Change Classic’ (Yijing) – known in the West as the ‘Book of Changes’ (I Ching). A hot metal poker was placed on the bone – causing the ‘cracks’. Overtime, certain derived patterns became associated with specific interpretations.
2) 己 (ji3) = Pertaining to the self, the personal and the 6th of the 10th Divine-Sky Stems (traditionally used for dating Dynasties, reigns and important events). This ideogram can be used as a Surname and is sometimes used to refer to a defensible walled-compound. Included in this section of the ‘Dragon’ ideogram is ‘三 (San1)’ – which is the traditional way of expressing the number ‘3’. This number is considered ‘complete’, ‘full’ and ‘lucky’ within ancient Chinese thinking (together with any multiples of ‘3’) and serves as the basis for the Eight Trigrams found in the ‘Classic of Change’ (Yijing).
3) 立 (li4) = A man standing-up (not sitting down) – with the floor beneath him (such ancient concepts are assumed to be ‘male’). This can also carry the meaning of ‘standing up for a cause’ and even to ‘take the throne’ through decisive (and virtuous) action. Such a concept affirms ‘life’ and ‘being alive’. Legal documents can be drawn-up and standards of civilised behaviour (and interaction) established.
4) 月 (yue4) = Moon, month, and date, etc. However, when ‘月’ is used as a left-hand particle in an ideogram (as is the case within ‘龍’), the meaning can be radically altered. This means that ‘月’ can be used as a substitute for ‘⺼’ – with ‘⺼’ being a contraction of ‘肉’ (rou4). The ideogram ‘肉’ (rou4) refers to the ‘ribs’ and ‘torso’ (including the ‘back’) of an animal – specifically a ‘rack of ribs’ in the sense of ‘fresh meat’ – perhaps ‘sliced’ and reading for cooking and consumption. Due to the apparent haphazard construction of ‘龍’ (long2) - I remain unconvinced that this convention applies in this instance.
Conclusion:
The reading of the ‘external’ or ‘surface’ meaning of this hexagram is a purely superficial construction. That is, something of a contrivance that may have been the product of a slow evolution over a great length of time. Whereas as extant artwork (and early Chinese ideograms) suggest that the original ‘Dragon’ was a ‘Seahorse’, as the written Chinese language increased through complexity, the outer structure of a ‘Seahorse’ had to be altered to include the development of an ‘internal’ (constituent) reorganisation involving meaningful particles. What this usually implies is that the ‘outer’ meaning of a developed ideogram is reinforced (and magnified) by a very clever use of ‘internal’ departmentalism – a process which is completely lacking in this instance. Five particles have been hastily thrown together with no attention to building a coherent ‘inner’ structure that matches the over-all meaning of the ideogram being portrayed.
How can a ‘Dragon’ be the consequence of a cracked fortune-telling bone (⺊- bu3), the ‘self’ - or the 6th Stem of the Divine-Sky (己 - ji3), a man standing-up from the floor (立 - li4), a shining Moon - or rack of ribs (月 - yue4)? In this regard, the only meaning that can be gleamed must be ephereal in nature and explained in the following manner.
i) The idea of ‘divination’ might refer to a device that links the material world to the spiritual world.
ii) The concept of a ‘self’ is linked to neatly arranging (individual) threads on a loom – threads which were previously ‘entangled’ -
but that have now been disentangled and placed in the correct position waiting for weaving to take place. When three straight lines are taken into account, then this equates to the concept of the 'Divine-Sky' (Qian) Trigram (which is doubled to form the corresponding Hexagram) as found in the 'Classic of Change' (Yijing). This represents the concept of 'Yang' or 'bright' energy which serves as a natural balance to the Moon and its Yin energy. The number '3' (and all multiples of '3') is considered 'pure' and beyond reproach.
iii) A man standing-up can also refer to a person taking their rightful place in society – and has been linked in ancient China to a rightful heir ascending to the (Dragon) throne.
iv) The Moon refers to nighttime, darkness, hiding and obscuration – all attributes ascribed to the character of a Dragon.
Furthermore, the Moon also refers to ‘Yin’ – or the absence of ‘light’. Yin is another way of referring to a) water, and b) the flexibility a Dragon would need to traverse the dark depths without being seen.
©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2024.
English Language Reference:
Tracking down the dragon throughout history
https://www.ecns.cn/m/news/culture/2024-02-09/detail-ihcxnqiu4984808.shtml
Chinese Language References:
龙[lóng]
https://baike.baidu.com/item/龙/191720?fr=ge_ala
龍的意思及取名寓意
http://www.haoming123.cn/dict/15753.html
龙代表六大象征意义
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1777612431055918927&wfr=spider&for=pc