In Chinese mythology, ''Longmen'' ( "Dragon Gate") is located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain. The

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

states that while many

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

swim upstream against the river's strong current, few are capable or brave enough for the final leap over the waterfall. If a carp successfully makes the jump, it is transformed into a powerful

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

. The legend is so famous that throughout China, a common saying is that "a student facing his examinations is like a carp attempting to leap the Dragon Gate."

Legends

According to tradition, a carp that could swim upstream and then leap the falls of the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

at Dragon Gate (''Longmen'') would be transformed into a dragon. This motif symbolizes success in the civil service examinations. The Dragon Gate is located at the border of

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

and

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

where the Yellow River flows through a cleft in the

Longmen mountains The Longmen Mountains (), also tautologically referred to in English-language publications as the Longmenshan Mountains, are a mountain range in Sichuan province in southwestern China. Geography The range runs in a roughly northeast to southwest ...

, supposedly made by

Yu the Great Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was credited with "the first successful state efforts at flood control", his establishment of the Xia dynasty, which inaugurated Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic ru ...

, who cut through the mountain. According to one account, forceful water brought many carp down the river, and the carp could not swim back. The carp complained to Yu the Great. His wife, the

Jade Emperor In the Chinese mythology, myths and Chinese folk religion, folk religion of Chinese culture, the Jade Emperor or Yudi is one of the representations of the Primordial Divinity (Tai Di), primordial god. In Taoist theology, he is the assistant of ...

's daughter, explained to her father on behalf of the carp. The Jade Emperor promised that if those carp could leap over the Dragon Gate, then they would become mighty dragons. Thus, all the carp competed at a yearly competition to leap the Longmen falls; those who succeeded were immediately transformed into dragons and flew off into the sky. Pictures of carp attempting to leap the ''Longmen'' falls have been enduringly popular in China and other parts of Asia such as Japan (known as ''Tōryūmon''). There are other Dragon Gates (''Longmen'') in China's rivers, typically with steep narrows, and the mythological geography does not depend upon an actual location. Many other waterfalls in China also have the name Dragon Gate and much the same is said about them. Other famous Dragon Gates are on the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. In ancient times, such as in the Records ...

where it passes through the Lung Sheu Mountains and at Tsin in Shanxi Province. The "flying carp" or "

silver carp The silver carp or silverfin (''Hypophthalmichthys molitrix'') is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish, a variety of Asian carp native to China and eastern Siberia, from the Amur River drainage in the north to the Xi Jiang River drainage in ...

" (''Hypophthalmichthys molitrix'') is native to China and other parts of Asia.

Idiom

The fish's jumping feature is set in such a proverbial idiom as "Liyu (Carp) jumps over the Dragon Gate" () an idiom that conveys a vivid image symbolizing a sudden uplifting in one's social status, as when one ascends into the upper society or has found favor with the royal or a noble family, perhaps through marriage, but in particular through success in the

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

. The idiom is often used to encourage students or children to achieve success through hard work and perseverance.

References

*Christie, Anthony (1968). ''Chinese Mythology''. Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing. . * Eberhard, Wolfram (2003

986 (German version 1983) Year 986 ( CMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 17 – Battle of the Gates of Trajan: Emperor Basil II leads a Byzantine expeditionary force (30,000 men ...

, ''A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought''. London, New York: Routledge. *Parsons, Glenn & Stell, Ehlana & Hoover, Jan. (2016)
Estimating Burst Swim Speeds and Jumping Characteristics of Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) Using Video Analyses and Principles of Projectile Physics
''ERDC/TN ANSRP-16-2''. Retrieved 29 October 2018. *Yang, Lihui, ''et al.'' (2005). ''Handbook of Chinese Mythology''. New York: Oxford University Press.

External links

{{Chinese mythology Places in Chinese mythology Mythological mountains Asia in mythology

Legends

Idiom

See also

References

External links