Shenlong
Encyclopedia
Shenlong, also Shen-lung, ' onMouseout='HidePop("29428")' href="/topics/Japanese_language">Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

: 神竜 Shinryū) is a spiritual dragon
Chinese dragon
Chinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, Western and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...

 from Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...

 who is the master of storms and also a bringer of rain. He is of equal significance like Tianlong
Tianlong
Tianlong is a flying dragon in Chinese mythology, a star in Chinese astrology, and a proper name.-Word:The term tianlong combines tian 天 "heaven" and long 龍 "dragon"...

, the celestial dragon.

The spiritual dragons are azure-scaled and govern the wind, clouds and rain, on which all agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

life depends. Chinese people would take great care to avoid offending them, for if they grew angry or felt neglected, the result was bad weather, drought, flood or thunderstorms.

Apart from this Shenlong appears to a special ranking in splendid robes and regalia of Chinese emperors. He was also a five-clawed and therefore an imperial dragon.

Sources

  • Karl Shuker: Dragons. A Natural History. Simon & Schuster, New York 1995, ISBN 0-684-81443-9, p. 89
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