"The Eastern dragon is not the gruesome monster of medieval imagination, but the genius of strength and goodness. He is the spirit of change, therefore of life itself....... Hidden in the caverns of inaccessible mountains, or coiled in the unfathomed depth of the sea, he awaits the time when he slowly rouses himself into activity. He unfolds himself in the storm clouds; he washes his mane in the blackness of the seething whirlpools. His claws are in the fork of the lightning, his scales begin to glisten in the bark of rain-swept pine trees. His voice is heard in the hurricane, which, scattering the withered leaves of the forest, quickens a new spring." (Okamura: The Awakening of Japan).
During my numerous temple visits, the motif that aroused maximum curiosity was none other than the majestic Dragon. One will come across this mythical creature inside and outside the Dharma Halls - on the front pillars, the eaves, the canopy above the altar, the ceiling, interior pillars, the sides of the outer staircases and inner walls. The dragon holds a wisdom pearl (Chinthamani in Hinduism, wish-granting gem) in the mouth. I started my journey to understand his origin and came across many interesting historical facts!
Although the dragons possess similarities to the Chinese Dragons, Korean Dragons have unique culture-specific significance. The Buddhist scriptures adopted the snake spirit from Hinduism as a protector of the Buddha's teachings. In Hinduism, Lord Vishnu reclines on Ananta, the celestial snake floating on the ocean of eternal existence sheltered by his hoods. According to Hindu mythology, Ananta is believed to hold all the planets of the universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of the God Vishnu.
Lotus Sutra mentions a snake/Dragon king as being originally evil but came to protect the Dharma after being converted by Buddha. Korean Buddhism also has a wisdom dragon ship concept. The Dharma hall at the temple could be considered as a ship's cabin in which believers can cross the sea of the mundane world to the pure land. This depiction can be seen in some of the temples in Korea - Tongdosa, Bogwangsa and Silleuksa for example.
Dragons are characters in numerous Korean myths, serving many roles in Korea's folk, Confucian and Buddhist cultures.
The origin of the Chinese Dragon is believed to be a totemic integration with the snake as its principal inspiration. The Chinese dragon has the body of a snake, the head of a pig, the antlers of a deer, the ears of an ox, the beard of a goat, the scales of a fish, and the claws of an eagle. The Huaxia clan in the yellow river valley had the snake as its totem. A huge tribal union was formed by alliance with other clans under the leadership of the Yellow Emperor. The Huaxia Clan's snake was combined with the totems of other clans - pig, deer, ox, sheep, fish and eagle - and became the Dragon totem. This clan alliance later developed into the Chinese nation. The earliest dragon in China was unearthed from an ancient tomb in the Henan province and is 6000 years old!
There are three main species of dragons; the long, most powerful one and inhabits the sky; the li, which is hornless and lives in the ocean; and the jiao, which is scaly and resides in marshes and dens in the mountains. There are said to be nine distinct offshoots of the dragon. One of them being Pulao (Poroe in Korean) carved on the tops of bells and gongs. He cries out loudly when attacked by its enemy, the whale. The Seonamsa temple in Korea uses a striker that is shaped like a fish. The strikers at most temples are logs and is a reminder of an old tradition related to the whale.
In China, dragons became the symbols of imperial authority granted by heaven, and were thought to dispel harmful spirits. The five clawed dragon was the emblem of imperial power during the Han Dynasty since 206 B.C. In every aspect of the emperor's daily life, the dragon's image as an ornament was prevalent.
The shengxiao, or animals of the Chinese zodiac, is a method of numbering the years based on the names 0f 12 animals. In sequential order, they are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The Dragon is the only creature that does not exist in the real world. The Lunar calendar uses 10 heavenly stems and 12 earthly branches. Each person is assigned one of the 12 animals to correspond with, and represent, the earthly branch of the year in which he or she was born. 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac thus are used to number the years, and determine each person's zodiac sign. The years of the dragon are 1904, 1916, 1928 , 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, and 2012.
Ancient Chinese divided the stellar sky into 28 unequal regions, known as mansions. The lunar mansions were classified into four groups or quadrants. The eastern group was referred to collectively as the "blue dragon". The others being the white tiger, red bird and black tortoise. These four immortals guard the heavens. There are numerous folk customs and festivals influenced by the dragon culture for many national minorities of China.
Some of my Korean friends were born on the year of the Dragon, and I could see all of the positive traits that the Dragon symbolizes in their spirits. The dragon sprit of the east is endless and so are the spirits of the people from the Far East.
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