Tianlong (; lit. "heavenly dragon") is a flying

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 ...

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 ...

, a star in

Chinese astrology Chinese astrology is based on traditional Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar. Chinese astrology flourished during the Han dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD). Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theor ...

, and a

proper name A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa''; ''Jupiter''; ''Sarah''; ''Walmart'') as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, pl ...

Word

The term ''tianlong'' combines ''tian'' "heaven" and ''long'' "dragon". Since ''

tian Tian () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and cosmology. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their highest god as '' Shangdi'' or ''Di'' (, ...

'' literally means "heaven; the heavens; sky" or figuratively "Heaven; God; gods", ''tianlong'' can denote "heavenly dragon; celestial dragon" or "holy dragon; divine dragon". Tianlong is homophonous with another name in Chinese folklore. Tianlong "Heavenly Deaf" (with the character ''long'' "deaf" combining the "ear radical" and a ''long''

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...

element) and ''Diya'' "Earthly Dumb" are legendary attendants to Wenchang Wang , the patron deity of literature.

Meanings

From originally denoting "heavenly dragon", ''Tianlong'' semantically developed meanings as

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

"heavenly Nāgas" or "Devas and Nāgas", "centipede", and "proper names" of stars, people, and places.

Dragons

Among

Chinese classic texts The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian tradi ...

, ''tian'' "heaven" and ''long'' "dragon" were first used together in

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

(1122 BCE – 256 BCE) writings, but the word ''tianlong'' was not recorded until the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(207 BCE – 220 CE). The ancient ''

Yijing 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 ...

'' "Book of Changes" exemplifies using ''tian'' "heaven" and ''long'' "dragon" together. ''Qian'' "The Creative", the first

hexagram , can be seen as a compound polygon, compound composed of an upwards (blue here) and downwards (pink) facing equilateral triangle, with their intersection as a regular hexagon (in green). A hexagram (Greek language, Greek) or sexagram (Latin l ...

, says: Commentaries on these explain: The earliest usage of ''tianlong'' "heavenly dragon", according to the ''

Hanyu Da Cidian The ''Hanyu Da Cidian'' (), also known as the Grand Chinese Dictionary, is the most inclusive available Chinese dictionary. Lexicographically comparable to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', it has Historical linguistics, diachronic coverage of ...

'', is in the ''Xinxu'' "New Prefaces" by Liu Xiang (79–8 BCE). It records a story about Zigao, the

Duke of Ye Shen Zhuliang (), Duke of Ye () or Gao, Duke of Ye () (c. 529 BCE – after 478 BCE), was a general and Prime minister (Chu State), Prime Minister of the Chu (state), Kingdom of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. Shen ...

, who professed to love dragons. After he carved and painted dragon images throughout his house, a [] heavenly dragon [or ''fulong'' in some editions] came to visit, but Ye was scared and ran away. The '' Fangyan'' dictionary by Yang Xiong (53 BCE – 18 CE) has another early usage of ''tian'' and ''long''. It defines '' panlong'' "coiled dragon" as , syntactically meaning either "Dragons which do not yet ascend to heaven" or "Heavenly Dragons which do not yet ascend".

Asterisms

''Tianlong'' Heavenly Dragon names both the Western

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

Draco and a star in the

Chinese constellation Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as "officials" ( Chinese ''xīng guān''). The Chinese asterisms are generally smaller than the constellations of Hellenisti ...

Azure Dragon The Azure Dragon ( zh, c=青龍, p=Qīnglóng) is one of the Dragon King, Dragon Gods who represent the mount or Chthonic deities, chthonic forces of the Wufang Shangdi, Five Regions' Highest Deities (). It is also one of the Four Symbols o ...

. ''Tianlongza'' "Heavenly Dragon Seat/Constellation" is the Chinese translation of Draco (from Latin "Dragon"), a constellation near the north celestial pole. The (1578 CE) '' Bencao Gangmu'' pharmacopeia's entry for ''long'' "dragon" describes "a pearl under its chin", and Read notes,

The constellation Draco has the appearance of guarding and encircling the northern pole which is the centre of the movement of the fixed stars. The Chinese paintings of the Dragon straining after a mystical "Pearl" undoubtedly relate to this relationship to the North Pole Star, though other explanations are given for this.

''Tianlong'' "Heavenly Dragon" is the 3rd star in ''Fangxiu'' "

Room (Chinese constellation) The Room mansion (房宿, pinyin: Fáng Xiù) is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the eastern mansions of the Azure Dragon The Azure Dragon ( zh, c=青龍, p=Qīnglóng) is one of the Dragon Ki ...

" and corresponds to the Western constellation

Scorpius Scorpius is a zodiac constellation located in the Southern celestial hemisphere, where it sits near the center of the Milky Way, between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. Scorpius is an ancient constellation whose recognition pred ...

. "Room" is the 4th of the

Twenty-eight mansions The Twenty-Eight Mansions (), also called or , are part of the Chinese constellations system. They can be considered as the equivalent to the Zodiac, zodiacal constellations in Western astronomy, though the Twenty-eight Mansions reflect the move ...

in the Azure Dragon, which is one of the celestial

Four Symbols The Four Symbols are 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 referred to by a variety of other names, in ...

Wolfram Eberhard Wolfram Eberhard (March 17, 1909 – August 15, 1989) was a professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley focused on Western, Central and Eastern Asian societies. Biography Born in Potsdam, German Empire, he had a str ...

notes, "When the dragon star appeared in the sky it was customary to make a sacrifice supplicating for rain," and this springtime dragon festival occurs on the 2nd day of the 2nd month.

Centipede

The ''Bencao Gangmu'' entry for ''wugong'' "

centipede Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, ...

" lists ''tianlong'' "heavenly dragon" as an alternate name.

Li Shizhen Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518 – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi, was a Chinese acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is the author of a 27-year work, the '' Compendium of Materia ...

's commentary reviews earlier Chinese commentators and texts. The '' Zhuangzi'' says, "People eat meat, deer eat grass, [] giant centipedes savor snakes, hawks and crows relish mice." The ''

Huainanzi The ''Huainanzi'' is an ancient Chinese text made up of essays from scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, before 139 BCE. Compiled as a handbook for an enlightened sovereign and his court, the work attempts to defi ...

'' says, "The [] ascending snake can drift in the mist, yet it is endangered by the [] centipede." The '' Erya'' dictionary defines ''jili'' "thorns; puncture vine; bramble" as ''jieju'' "centipede; cricket"; which

Guo Pu Guo Pu (; AD 276–324), courtesy name Jingchun (), was a Chinese historian, poet, and writer during the Eastern Jin period, and is best known as one of China's foremost commentators on ancient texts. Guo was a Taoist mystic, geomancer, collec ...

's commentary says resembles a ''huang'' "locust" with a large abdomen, long horns, and which eats snake brains. Although ''jieju'' can also mean ''xishuai'' "cricket", Li concludes it means the snake-controlling ''wugong'' "centipede" that the ''Fangyan'' dictionary also calls ''maxian'' "horse/giant millipede" or ''juqu'' . According to Eberhard, centipedes were snake predators, and "the enmity between snake and centipede occurs in many folktales and customs."

Buddhist usages

In Chinese Buddhist terminology, ''tianlong'' means either "heavenly

Nāga In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

s (dragon gods)" or " Devas (heavenly gods) and Nāgas". First, ''tianlong'' means "heavenly dragon/nāga" as the first of four nāga classes in

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

tradition.(tr. Visser 1913:21-2) # ''Heavenly Nāgas'' (), who guard the Heavenly Palace and carry it so that it does not fall. # '' Divine Nāgas'' (), who benefit mankind by causing the clouds to rise and the rain to fall. # '' Earthly Nāgas'' () who drain off rivers (remove the obstructions) and open sluices (outlets). # '' Nāgas who are lying hidden'' () who guard the treasures of the " Cakravartin" () and blesses mankind. Hangzhou Tianlong "Heavenly Dragon from

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

" was a 9th-century Chan Buddhist master who enlightened Juzhi Yizhi by holding up one finger. The ''

Blue Cliff Record The ''Blue Cliff Record'' () is a collection of Chan Buddhist kōans originally compiled in Song China in 1125, during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and then expanded into its present form by Chan master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135; ).K. Sekid ...

'' (tr. Cleary 1977:123-8) calls this "Chu Ti's One-Finger Ch'an"

kōan A ( ; ; zh, c=公案, p=gōng'àn ; ; ) is a narrative, story, dialogue, question, or statement from Chan Buddhism, Chinese Chan Buddhist lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen Buddhism, Buddhist practice in different way ...

. Second, ''tianlong'' translates

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

''deva-nāga'' "Devas and Nāgas", the 2 highest categories of the ''Tianlong Babu'' "8 kinds of beings that protect the

Dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...

". The lower 6 categories are ''yecha'' "

Yaksha The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...

; cannibalistic devils; nature spirits", ''gantapo'' "

Gandharva A ''gandharva'' () is a member of a class of celestial beings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, whose males are divine performers such as musicians and singers, and the females are divine dancers. In Hinduism, they ...

; half-ghost music masters", ''axiuluo'' "

Asura Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

; evil and violent demigods", ''jialouluo'' "

Garuda Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the D ...

; golden bird-like demons that eat dragons", ''jinnaluo'' "

Kinnara A kinnara (Sanskrit: Kiṃnara) is a creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. They are described as part human and part bird, and have a strong association with music and love. Believed to come from the Himalayas, they often watch ove ...

; half-human half-bird celestial music masters", and ''maholuluojia'' "Mahoraga; earthly snake spirits". ''Tianlong Babu'' is also the title of a 1963

wuxia ( , literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese literature, Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity ha ...

novel by

Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), was a Hong Kong wuxia novelist and co-founder of '' Ming Pao.'' Cha authored 15 novels between 1955 and 1972 and became one of the most pop ...

, translated as English ''

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils ''Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils'' is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It was first serialised concurrently from 3 September 1963 to 27 May 1966 in the newspapers ''Ming Pao'' in Hong Kong and '' Nanyang Siang Pau'' in Singapore. It has been ...

''. This Chinese title is further used by movies, television series, and a

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

Proper names

Tianlong is a common name in

Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ( zh, s=现代标准汉语, t=現代標準漢語, p=Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ, l=modern standard Han speech) is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912–1949). ...

. Tianlongshan "Heavenly Dragon Mountain", which is located near

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

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 ...

, is famous for the Tianlongshan Shiku Grottoes (). The commercial name Tianlong "Heavenly Dragon" is used by companies,

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a refr ...

, and gungfu schools. Japanese ''Tenryū'' or , a

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

from Chinese ''Tianlong'', is a comparable proper name. A famous example is '' Tenryū-ji'' "Heavenly Dragon Temple" in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, which is headquarters of the Tenryū-ji Branch of the

Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...

sect. Tenryū place names include a waterway (

Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shizuoka Prefec ...

), a city (

Tenryū, Shizuoka was a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Tenryū was founded on November 3, 1958. Population On April 1, 2005, the city had an estimated population of 22,643 and a population density, density of 124.65 person ...

), and a village (

Tenryū, Nagano is a Villages of Japan, village located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 1,275 in 712 households, and a population density of 12.1 persons per km2. The total area of the village is . Geography Tenryū i ...

). Further examples include

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

names ( Japanese cruiser ''Tenryū'' ), and personal names (

Genichiro Tenryu , better known as is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling. "Tenryu" was h ...

, a wrestler).

References

*Carr, Michael. 1990
"Chinese Dragon Names"
''Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area'' 13.2:87–189. *Cleary, Thomas and J. C. Cleary. 1977. ''The Blue Cliff Record''. Shambhala. *Eberhard, Wolfram. 1968. ''The Local Cultures of South and East China''. E. J. Brill. *Mair, Victor H. 1990. ''Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way, by Lao Tzu; an entirely new translation based on the recently discovered Ma-wang-tui manuscripts''. Bantam Books. *Read, Bernard E. 1934. "Chinese Materia Medica VII; Dragons and Snakes," ''Peking Natural History Bulletin'' 8.4:279–362. *Visser, Marinus Willern de. 1913
''The Dragon in China and Japan''
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425074916/http://fax.libs.uga.edu/GR830xD7xV8 , date=2018-04-25 . J. Müller. * Wilhelm, Richard and Cary F. Baynes. 1967. ''The I Ching or Book of Changes''. Bollingen Series XIX, Princeton University Press. *Yuan, Haiwang. 2006. '' The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese''. Libraries Unlimited. Chinese astrology Chinese dragons Chinese gods Dragon deities