The Yellow
Dragon ( is the zoomorphic incarnation of the
Yellow Emperor of the center of the universe in
Chinese religion and
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...
.
The Yellow Emperor or Yellow Deity was conceived by
Fubao Fubao (), a woman from the Youjiao clan, was, according to Chinese mythology sources, the mother-in-law of the inventor of silk, Leizu; mother of Huang Di the Yellow Emperor; and, wife of Shaodian. However, the mythological genealogy varies. Fubao i ...
, who became pregnant after seeing a yellow ray of light turning around the
Northern Dipper (in
Chinese theology the principal symbol of
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
). Twenty-four months later, the Yellow Emperor was born and was associated with the color yellow because it is the color of the earth (''
Dì'' ), the material substance in which he incarnated.
The Yellow Dragon is a part of
''Wuxing'' and the
Four Symbols
The Four Symbols (, literally meaning "four images"), are four mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. These four creatures are also ref ...
as the embodiment of the
element of earth.
Myths of Fuxi and Huangdi
According to legends, the Yellow Dragon already manifested hornless to
Fuxi, emerging from the
River Luo, and instructed him with the elements of
writing
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols.
Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
. When he appeared before Fuxi, he filled a hole in the sky made by the monster
Gonggong.
The
Yellow Emperor was said to have turned into the form of the Yellow Dragon at the end of his life to ascend to
Heaven. Since the Chinese consider him to be their ancestor, they sometimes refer to themselves as "children of the dragon" (also see:
Nine sons of the dragon
The nine sons of the dragon are Chinese dragons who are the mythological sons of the Dragon King. There are many variations in the different descriptions of the nine sons, including in basic facts like their names, but all versions state that the ...
). This legend also contributed towards the use of the
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 animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most ...
as a symbol of imperial power.
The
Chinese national flag from 1889–1912 is also called the ''Yellow Dragon Flag'' ().
Other uses
In East Asian culture, the Yellow Dragon is the fifth symbol completing the
Sixiang (Four Symbols). This deity is the center of the cosmos and it represents the
element earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
, the Chinese
quintessence, as well as the changing of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
s.
The Yellow Dragon does not appear in
Japanese mythology: the fifth element in the
Japanese elemental system is the void, so there cannot be an animal representing it. However, some consider the ''Ōryū'' as the Japanese counterpart of the Yellow Dragon since they share some similarities.
See also
*
Four Symbols
The Four Symbols (, literally meaning "four images"), are four mythological creatures appearing among the Chinese constellations along the ecliptic, and viewed as the guardians of the four cardinal directions. These four creatures are also ref ...
*
Azure Dragon
*
Yinglong
References
Citations
Sources
*
{{Chinese constellation
Chinese dragons
Four Symbols