''Chiwen'' () is a

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many Outline of life forms, animal-like forms such as Bixi (my ...

, and in

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of ...

is one of the 9 sons of the dragon. He is depicted in

imperial roof decoration Chinese imperial roof decorations or roof charms or roof-figures () or "walking beasts" () or "crouching beasts" () were statuettes placed along the ridge line of official buildings of the Chinese empire. Only official buildings (palaces, governm ...

s and other ornamental motifs in traditional

Chinese architecture Chinese architecture ( Chinese:中國建築) is the embodiment of an architectural style that has developed over millennia in China and it has influenced architecture throughout Eastern Asia. Since its emergence during the early ancient era, t ...

and art. The name for this dragon is (), which compounds () and (). () and (), both literally meaning "hornless-dragon head", are similar architectural ornaments or waterspouts, comparable with Western

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry wa ...

s, but are not related to the mythological character. ''Chiwen'' is alternatively written , using the homophonous

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

(). The () and () are additional birdlike roof decorations. The ''chiwen'' is listed second or third among the (), Nine Dragons (), which are traditional mythological creatures that have become traditional Chinese feng shui architectural decorations. Each one of the nine dragons has a protective function. The Nine dragons are also used in many place names in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, such as

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and ...

, literally meaning "nine dragons" in Cantonese (), as well as numerous lakes, rivers and hamlets in

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

. According to the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

() "The ''ch'i-wen'', which like swallowing, are placed on both ends of the ridgepoles of roofs (to swallow all evil influences)." Welch describes ''chiwen'' as "the dragon who likes 'to swallow things'".

This is the fish-like, hornless dragon with a very truncated body and large, wide mouth usually found along roof ridges (as if swallowing the roof beams). His presence on roofs is also said to guard against fires. A paragraph in the Tang dynasty book ''Su Shi Yan Yi'' () by Su E () says that a mythical sea creature called the ''chi wen'' was put on the roofs of buildings during the Han dynasty to protect the structures from fire hazards. This dragon is still found on the roofs of traditional Chinese homes today, protecting the inhabitants from fires.

In Fengshui theory, a ''chiwen'' or ''chiwei'' supposedly protects against not only fires, but also floods and typhoons. The

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

borrowed these names for architectural roof decorations as

Sino-Japanese vocabulary Sino-Japanese vocabulary, also known as refers to Japanese vocabulary that had originated in Chinese or were created from elements borrowed from Chinese. Some grammatical structures and sentence patterns can also be identified as Sino-Japanese. S ...

. '' Shibi'' "ornamental roof-ridge tile" is more commonly used than ''chifun'' or ''shifun'' . In

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhist traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of ye ...

, the ''

Shachihoko A – or simply – is a sea monster in Japanese folklore with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp covered entirely in black or grey scales.Joya. ''Japan and Things Japanese.'' Taylor and Francis, 2017;2016;, doi:10.4324/9780203041130. ...

'' (a mythical fish with a carp's arched tail, tiger's head, and dragon's scales) roof decoration is believed to cause rain and protect against fire. This is a

kokuji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subseque ...

"Chinese character invented in Japan" that can also be read ''shachi'' for "

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

References

External links

The Nine Dragon Scroll
The Circle of the Dragon Architecture in China Chinese architectural history Chinese culture Chinese dragons Chinese words and phrases Traditional East Asian Architecture

References

See also

External links