The East Sea (), one of the

Four Seas The Four Seas () were four bodies of water that metaphorically made up the boundaries of ancient China. There is a sea for each for the four cardinal directions. The West Sea is Qinghai Lake, the East Sea is the East China Sea, the North Sea is ...

, is identified as the body of water east of the mainland according to ancient

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

. In

Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 ...

, the Four Seas are a metaphor for the boundaries of China. It contains modern day

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

as well as the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

and

Bohai Sea The Bohai Sea ( zh, c=渤海, p=Bó Hǎi, l=Bo Sea) is a gulf/inland sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects via the Bohai Strait. It ...

. In

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

, East Sea is the domain of

Ao Guang Ao Guang (; or ) is the Dragon King of the East Sea in Chinese folklore. He featured prominently in different works including '' Fengshen Yanyi'' and ''Journey to the West''. Legends ''Fengshen Yanyi'' According to ''Fengshen Yanyi'', after ...

, the ''Donghai Longwang'' (東海龍王), or "the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea", who is responsible for controlling its storms and tides. Supposedly, the Dragon King resides in a large "Dragon Palace", the ''Donghai Longgong'' (東海龍宮), located at its bottom. In the

Classic of Mountains and Seas The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shanhai jing'' (), formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed si ...

（《山海经》）, the Dragon King of the East China Sea is the god of the rain department, but it maintains a greater special freedom, and human rainfall is completed by the dragon King of other rivers, lakes and Wells, and rarely needs the East Sea Dragon King to rain himself. The power of maritime jurisdiction is owned by the dragon King, and the Heavenly Court is generally autonomous. Ruling the sea of the East China Sea, dominating rain, thunder, floods, tides, tsunamis, etc. In China, the eastern Wei is respected, and according to the

Zhouyi The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...

《周易》, the East is Yang, so it is natural that the Dragon King of the East China Sea ranks first.

References

Asia in mythology Places in Chinese mythology Seas of the Pacific Ocean {{China-myth-stub

See also

References