Qiulong

Qiulong () or qiu was a Chinese dragon that is contradictorily defined as "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".

Name

This Chinese dragon name can be pronounced ''qiu'' or ''jiu'' and written or .

Characters

The variant Chinese characters for the ''qiu'' or ''jiu'' dragon are and , which combine the "insect radical" with phonetics of and . This radical is typically used in Chinese characters for insects, worms, reptiles, and dragons (e.g., , , and ). Compare the word ''jiu'' ( or "twist; entangle; unite") that is written with the "silk radical" and the same alternate phonetics as ''qiu'' or .

''Qiu'' or is also an uncommon Chinese surname. For example, Qiuranke Zhuan "The Legend of the Curly-whiskered Guest" is a story by the Tang dynasty writer Du Guangting (850–933 CE), and Qiu Zhong was the courtesy name of the Qing dynasty painter Li Fangying.

In Japanese, the kanji "Chinese characters" or are sometimes used for the '' mizuchi'' "river dragon".

Etymologies

Sinological linguists have proposed several etymologies for the ''qiu'' or ''jiu'' dragon.

Bernhard Karlgren reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciations of ''qiu'' < *''g'yŏg'' or ''jiu'' < *''kyŏg'' for and . This latter word combines the "horn radical" and 's ''jiu'' phonetic.

Carr follows Karlgren's reconstructions and suggests ''qiu'' < *''g'yŏg'' or ''jiu'' < *''kyŏg'' is "part of a 'twist; coil; wrap' word family" that includes:
*''qiu'' < *''g'yôg'' "long and curved; curled up horn"
*''jiu'' < *''klyŏg'' "curving branch; twist"
*''miu'' < *''mlyŏg'' or ''jiu'' < *''klyŏg'' "bind; wind around; wrap; twist"
*''liu'' < *''glyôg'' or ''lu'' < *''glyôk'' "join forces; unite"
*''jiao'' < *''klôg'' "glue; unite"
*''liao'' < *''glyôg'' "tie around; strangle"

This "twisting; coiling" etymology can explain both the meanings "horned dragon; twisted horns" and "curling; wriggling" below.

Schuessler reconstructs Old Chinese ''qiu'' < *''giu'' or ''jiu'' < *''kiu'' for or "horn-shaped; long and curved" and , and cites Coblin's comparison of "horned dragon" with Written Tibetan ''klu'' "Nāga, serpent spirit". Schuessler compares ''jiu'' < *''kiuʔ'' "to twist, plait" and concludes the "most likely etymology is 'twisting, wriggling'".

Meanings

Chinese dictionaries give three ''qiu'' or meanings: "dragon without horns", "dragon with horns", and "curling; coiling".

Hornless dragon

Several Chinese classic texts and commentaries from the Han dynasty identified as a "hornless dragon; dragon without horns", which is interpreted as "young dragon; immature dragon".

The 2nd century BCE ''Chuci'' uses seven times, which is more frequently than any other classical text. The standard Sibu Beiyao edition gives the character as instead of . ''Qiu'' is a dragon name in four contexts. The first uses ; "I yoked a team of jade dragons to a phoenix-figured car, And waited for the wind to come, to soar up on my journey." The second uses ; "Where are the hornless dragons which carry bears on their backs for sport?" In both contexts, commentary of Wang Yi (d. 158 CE) says ''qiu'' means "hornless dragon" and ''long'' means "horned dragon". The third uses referring to the legendary Shun as Chong Hua ; "With a team of azure dragons, white serpents in the traces, I rode with Chong Hua in the Garden of Jasper." Wang notes ''qiu'' and ''chi'' are types of ''long'' "dragons". The fourth uses alone; "With team of dragons I mount the heavens, In ivory chariot borne aloft."

The 121 CE ''Shuowen Jiezi'' dictionary gives inconsistent definitions of . Some early editions define , while later editions define . Carr notes the discrepancy of three ''Shuowen'' definitions for "hornless dragon": , , and . The ''Shuowen Jiezi'' scholar Zhu Junsheng (1788–1834 CE) explains that male "dragons" have horns and female ones do not, and among young dragons, has one horn, has two, and is hornless.

A few later sources, such as the c. 1011 CE ''Guangyun'' rime dictionary, concur with early ''Shuowen Jiezi'' editions and define as "hornless dragon", but most dictionaries define a contrast set between "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".

Horned dragon

The c. 139 BCE ''Huainanzi'' "Peering into the Obscure" chapter (6) mentions twice. First, "The Fable of the Dragons and the Mud-Eels" uses it with ; "When the red hornless dragon and the green horned dragon roamed the land of Chi , the sky was limpid and the earth undisturbed." The commentary of Gao Yu (fl. 205 CE) notes ''qingqiu'' and ''chichi'' are types of , but without mentioning horns. Second, a description of Fu Xi and Nüwa, who are represented as having dragon tails, uses ''qingqiu'' with ; "They rode the thunder chariot, using winged dragons as the inner pair and green dragons as the outer pair."

The c. 100 BCE ''Shiji'' "Records of the Grand Historian" biography of Sima Xiangru quotes his poem entitled . Like the ''Huaiananzi'', it contrasts with }, which Watson translates "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".

Ge Hong's 4th century CE has four references. It mentions: "As to the flying to the sky of the ''k'iu'' of the pools, this is his union with the clouds", "If a pond inhabited by fishes and gavials is drained off, the divine ''k'iu'' go away", and "The ts'ui k'iu (kingfisher-''k'iu'') has no wings and yet flies upwards to the sky", "Place the shape (i.e. an image of this dragon) in a tray, and the kingfisher-''k'iu'' (shall) descend in a dark vapoury haze".

The c. 230 CE '' Guangya'' dictionary defines (written with a rare "frog"-radical graphic variant) as "horned dragon" and as "hornless dragon". This semantic contrast is repeated in later dictionaries such as the 997 CE '' Longkan Shoujian'' and the c. 1080 CE '' Piya'', which says: "If a dragon has scales, he is called ''kiao-lung'' (); if wings, ''ying-lung'' (); if a horn, ''k'iu-lung'' (); and if he has no horn, he is called ''ch'i-lung'' ()."

In traditional Chinese art, dragons are commonly represented with two horns. According to the 2nd century CE '' Qian fu lun'', the dragon's "horns resemble those of a stag". The 1578 CE '' Bencao Gangmu'' materia medica prescribes , "For convulsions, fevers, diarrhea with fever and hardened belly. Taken continuously it lightens the body, enlightens the soul and prolongs life."

Curling

''Qiu'' can mean "curling; twisting; coiling; wriggling; writhing" in Chinese compounds. For instance:
*
*
*
*

Besides the four "hornless dragon" examples above, three ''Chuci'' contexts use ''qiu'' in words describing dragons "coiling; wriggling; writhing". Two use to describe the Azure Dragon constellation: "I rode in the ivory chariot of the Great Unity: The coiling Green Dragon ran in the left-hand traces; The White Tiger made the right hand of my team"; "To hang at my girdle the coiling Green Dragon, To wear at my belt the sinuous rainbow serpent." One uses with : "They lined water monsters up to join them in the dance: How their bodies coiled and writhed in undulating motion!"

Mythic parallels

The ancient Chinese is analogous with the Mountain Horned Dragon lizard and several legendary creatures in Comparative mythology.

Assuming trans-cultural diffusion, MacKenzie suggests that the Chinese "horned-dragon, or horned-serpent" derives from the Egyptian Osiris "water-serpent". The Chinese Hui people have a myth about a silver-horned dragon that controls rainfall.

In Babylonian mythology, the deity Marduk supposedly rode a horned dragon when he defeated Tiamat, and it became his emblem. In Persian mythology, the hero Garshasp killed an ''Aži Sruvara'' "horned dragon". In Greek mythology, the two-headed Amphisbaena dragon was represented with horns.

References

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

External links

entry
Chinese Etymology
and {{lang, zh-hant, 虬 entry page
1716 CE Kangxi Dictionary

Chinese dragons