Chinese Dragon (Long)

Origin and tradition

The Chinese dragon, or long, is associated with water, rain, auspicious power, and imperial symbolism. Its long body differs from the winged dragon familiar in European stories. The meanings of a festival dragon, a rain-bringing being, and an imperial emblem overlap without being identical.

Illustration in this atlas

A long, wingless, scaled dragon with four clawed legs, branching horns, flowing whiskers, and a pearl among clouds. This plate selects a familiar long-dragon composition; features and claw counts vary by period and artistic context.

References and further reading

1. en.wikipedia.org — Chinese dragon
2. metmuseum.org — 40747
3. resources.metmuseum.org — The Dragon and the Pearl The Metropolitan Museum Journal v 26 1991.pdf

These references offer further reading. Accounts and depictions vary; the atlas illustration is interpretive artwork, rather than historical or scientific evidence.