Teng or Tengshe is a flying 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...

 in 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...

.

Names

This legendary creature

Legendary creature

A legendary creature is a mythological or folkloric creature.-Origin:Some mythical creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and have been believed to be real creatures, for example the dragon, the unicorn, and griffin...

's names include teng 螣 "a flying dragon" (or te 螣 "a plant pest") and tengshe 螣蛇 "flying-dragon snake" or 騰蛇 "soaring snake".

Teng

The Chinese character

Chinese character

Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

 螣 for teng or te graphically combines a phonetic element of zhen 朕 "I, we (only used by emperors)" with the "insect radical

Radical (Chinese character)

A Chinese radical is a component of a Chinese character. The term may variously refer to the original semantic element of a character, or to any semantic element, or, loosely, to any element whatever its origin or purpose...

" 虫. This radical is typically used in characters for insects, worms, reptiles, and dragons (e.g., shen

Shen (clam-monster)

In Chinese mythology, the shen or chen is a shapeshifting dragon or sea monster believed to create mirages.-Meanings:Chinese classic texts use the word shen to mean "a large shellfish" that was associated with funerals and "an aquatic monster" that could change its shape, which was later...

蜃 "a sea-monster dragon" or jiao

Jiaolong

Jiaolong or jiao is a polysemous aquatic dragon in Chinese mythology. Edward H. Schafer describes the jiao.Spiritually akin to the crocodile, and perhaps originally the same reptile, was a mysterious creature capable of many forms called the chiao . Most often it was regarded as a kind of lung – a...

蛟 "an aquatic dragon"). The earliest written form of teng 螣 is a (ca. 3rd century BCE) Seal script

Seal script

Seal script is an ancient style of Chinese calligraphy. It evolved organically out of the Zhōu dynasty script , arising in the Warring State of Qin...

 character written with the same radical and phonetic.

Teng 螣 has two etymologically cognate Chinese words written with this zhen 朕 phonetic and different radicals: teng 滕 (with the "water radical" 水) "gush up; inundate; Teng (state)

Teng (state)

The State of Teng was a small Chinese state that existed during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was located in the south of modern-day Shandong province. Its territory is now the county-level city of Tengzhou....

; a surname

Teng

Teng can refer to two distinct Chinese surnames.Most commonly, it is an alternate spelling of the Chinese surname Deng used especially in Taiwan based on the Wade-Giles transliteration of Mandarin Chinese. This spelling is used in many English language sources on China written before the...

" and teng 騰 (with the "horse radical" 馬) "jump; gallop; prance; mount; ascend; fly swiftly upward; soar; rise". This latter teng, which is used to write the 騰蛇 tengshe flying dragon, occurs in draconic 4-character idioms such as longtenghuyue 龍騰虎躍 (lit. "dragon rising tiger leaping") "scene of bustling activity" and tengjiaoqifeng 騰蛟起鳳 ("rising dragon soaring phoenix", also reversible) "a rapidly rising talent; an exceptional literary/artistic talent; a genius".

The (3rd-2nd centuries BCE) Erya dictionary (16, tr. Carr 1990:111) defines teng 螣 as tengshe 螣蛇 "teng-snake", and Guo Pu

Guo Pu

Guo Pu , courtesy name Jingchun , born in Yuncheng, Shanxi, was a Chinese writer.-Biography:Guo Pu was a Taoist mystic, geomancer, collector of strange tales, editor of old texts, and erudite commentator...

's commentary glosses it as a "[feilong

Feilong (mythology)

Feilong is a winged legendary creature that flies among clouds in Chinese mythology. The proper name Feilong applies to people, fictional characters, places, martial art techniques, military weapons, and a pterosaur.-Word:...

飛龍] flying dragon that drifts in the clouds and mist".
Some bilingual Chinese dictionaries translate teng as "wingless dragon", but this apparent ghost meaning

Ghost word

A ghost word is a meaningless word that came into existence or acceptance, not by being derived through long-standing usage, nor by being coined at need, but only as the result of an error. In the best-known examples such an error will have caused the word to be published in a dictionary or...

 is not found in monolingual Chinese sources. For instance, the Wiktionary

Wiktionary

Wiktionary is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158 languages...

 and the Unihan Database translation equivalent for teng 螣 is "mythological wingless dragon of" [sic]. This dangling "of" appears to be copied from Robert Henry Mathews

Robert Henry Mathews

Robert Henry Mathews was an Australian missionary and Sinologist, best known for his 1931 Chinese-English Dictionary . Revised American edition . Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674123502.-References:...

 (1931:894) Chinese-English dictionary "A wingless dragon of the clouds", which adapted Herbert Giles

Herbert Giles

Herbert Allen Giles was a British diplomat and sinologist, educated at Charterhouse. He modified a Mandarin Chinese Romanization system earlier established by Thomas Wade, resulting in the widely known Wade-Giles Chinese transliteration system...

's (1892:1352) dictionary "A wingless dragon which inhabits the clouds and is regarded as a creature of evil omen." While dragons are depicted as both winged and wingless (e.g., the lindworm

Lindworm

Lindworm in British heraldry, is a technical term for a wingless bipedal dragon often with a venomous bite.-Etymology:In modern Scandinavian languages, the cognate lindorm can refer to any 'serpent' or monstrous...

 "a bipedal wingless dragon"), Chinese dictionaries note teng "flying serpents" are wuzu 無足 "footless; legless" (see the Xunzi below) not "wingless".

Tengshe

"The teng 螣 dragon", says Carr (1990:111), "had a semantically more transparent name of tengshe 騰蛇 'rising/ascending snake'." Tengshe is written with either teng 螣 "flying dragon" or teng 騰 "soaring; rising" and she 蛇 "snake; serpent"

From the original "flying dragon; flying serpent" denotation, tengshe acquired three additional meanings: "an asterism" in Traditional Chinese star names

Traditional Chinese star names

Traditional Chinese star names are the names of stars used in ancient Chinese literature, history, religion, mythology, folklore, Chinese opera and such methods of divination as astrology, horoscope and Feng shui...

, "a battle formation" in Chinese military history, and "lines above the mouth" in physiognomy

Physiognomy

Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...

First, Tengshe 螣蛇 Flying Serpent

Flying serpent (asterism)

Flying Serpent is an asterism in the Chinese constellation Encampment .The Jin Shu describes this asterism as: "Flying/Ascending Serpent, 22 stars north of the Ying "Camp" constellation, [a.k.a.] Heavenly Snake, chief of the water reptiles."...

 (or Tianshe 天蛇 "Heavenly Snake") is an asterism

Asterism (astronomy)

In astronomy, an asterism is a pattern of stars recognized on Earth's night sky. It may form part of an official constellation, or be composed of stars from more than one. Like constellations, asterisms are in most cases composed of stars which, while they are visible in the same general direction,...

 of 22 stars in the Chinese constellation

Chinese constellation

Chinese constellations are the way the ancient Chinese grouped the stars. They are very different from the modern IAU recognized constellations. This is because the IAU was based on Greco-Roman astronomy instead of Chinese astronomy....

 Shi 室 Encampment

Encampment (Chinese constellation)

The Encampment mansion is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the northern mansions of the Black Tortoise.-Asterisms:...

, which is the northern 6th of the 7 Mansions

Twenty-eight mansions

The Twenty-eight Mansions , ', ' or ' are part of the Chinese constellations system. They can be considered as the equivalent to the zodiacal constellations in the Western astronomy, though the Twenty-eight Mansions reflect the movement of the Moon in a lunar month rather than the Sun in a solar year...

 in the Xuanwu玄武 Black Tortoise constellation. These Tengshe stars spread across corresponding Western constellation

Constellation

In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....

s of Andromeda

Andromeda (constellation)

Andromeda is a constellation in the northern sky. It is named after Andromeda, the princess in the Greek legend of Perseus who was chained to a rock to be eaten by the sea monster Cetus...

, Lacerta

Lacerta

Lacerta is one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Its name is Latin for lizard. A small, faint constellation, it was created in 1687 by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius. Its brightest stars form a "W" shape similar to that of Cassiopeia, and it is thus...

, Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia (constellation)

Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology, who boasted about her unrivalled beauty. Cassiopea was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century Greek astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today...

, Cepheus

Cepheus (constellation)

Cepheus is a constellation in the northern sky. It is named after Cepheus, King of Aethiopia in Greek mythology. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations.-Stars:...

, and Cygnus

Cygnus (constellation)

Cygnus is a northern constellation lying on the plane of the Milky Way. Its name is the Latinized Hellenic word for swan. One of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross...

. In traditional Chinese art

Chinese art

Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a series of art...

, Xuanwu is usually represented as a tortoise surrounded by a dragon or snake.

Second, Tengshe names "a battle formation". The (643-659 CE) Beishi history of Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei

Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei

Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei , personal name Tuoba Jun , was an emperor of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei...

 Dynasty (r. 452-465 CE) describes a 454 CE battle. The Wei army routed enemy soldiers by deploying troops into over ten columns that changed between feilong "flying dragons", tengshe 螣蛇 "ascending snakes", and yuli 魚麗 "beautiful fishes" (alluding to Shijing 170).

Third, Tengshe "flying dragon" has a specialized meaning in Xiangshu 相術 "Chinese physiognomy", referring to "vertical lines rising from corners of the mouth".

Te

The earliest occurrence of 螣 means te "a plant pest" instead of teng "a flying dragon". The (ca. 6th century BCE) Shijing (212 大田) describes farmers removing plant pests called mingte 螟螣 and maozei 蟊賊 in fields of grain. These Shijing names rhyme, and Bernhard Karlgren

Bernhard Karlgren

Klas Bernhard Johannes Karlgren was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who pioneered the study of Chinese historical phonology using modern comparative methods...

 reconstructed them as Old Chinese

Old Chinese

The earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at a site near modern Anyang identified as Yin, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1200 BC....

 *d'ək 螣 and *dz'ək 賊. The Mao Commentary glosses four insects; the ming 螟 eats hearts, the te 螣 eats leaves, the mao 蟊 eats roots, and the zei 賊 eats joints. Compare these translations:

• We remove the insects that eat the heart and the leaf, And those that eat the roots and the joints (tr. James Legge
  James Legge
  James Legge was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong , and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University...
  
   1879:380)
• Avaunt, all earwigs and pests (tr. Arthur Waley
  Arthur Waley
  Arthur David Waley CH, CBE was an English orientalist and sinologist.-Life:Waley was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, as Arthur David Schloss, son of the economist David Frederick Schloss...
  
   1937:171)
• We remove the noxious insects from the ears and leaves, and the grubs from roots and stems (tr. Karlgren 1950:166)

Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

 Chinese dictionaries write te 螣 "a plant pest" with the variant Chinese character

Variant Chinese character

Variant Chinese characters are Chinese characters that are homophones and synonyms. Almost all variants are allographs in most circumstances, such as casual handwriting...

 蟘. The Erya defines ming 螟 as "[insect that] eats seedlings and cores" and te 蟘 "[insect that] eats leaves". Guo Pu's commentary glosses these four pests as types of huang 蝗 "locusts; grasshoppers". The (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi

Shuowen Jiezi

The Shuōwén Jiězì was an early 2nd century CE Chinese dictionary from the Han Dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary , it was still the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give the rationale behind them , as well as the first to use the...

dictionary defines ming "insect that eats grain leaves" and te as "insect that eats sprout leaves".

The identity of this rare te 螣 or 蟘 "a grain pest" called remains uncertain. In Modern Standard Chinese usage, te only occurs as a literary archaism, while ming is used in words like mingling 螟蛉 "corn earworm; adopted son" and mingchong 螟虫 "snout moth's larva".

Classical usages

Chinese classic texts

Chinese classic texts

Chinese classic texts, or Chinese canonical texts, today often refer to the pre-Qin Chinese texts, especially the Neo-Confucian titles of Four Books and Five Classics , a selection of short books and chapters from the voluminous collection called the Thirteen Classics. All of these pre-Qin texts...

 frequently mention tengshe 螣蛇 or 騰蛇 "flying dragons". The examples below are roughly arranged in chronological order, although some heterogeneous texts are of uncertain dates. Only texts with English translations are cited, excluding tengshe occurrences in texts such as the Guiguzi

Guiguzi

Wang Xu , better known by his pseudonym Guiguzi , is an ancient Chinese philosopher from the Warring States Period of Chinese history. He was the founder of the School of Diplomacy of the Hundred Schools of Thought during that period...

, Shuoyuan, and Shiji.

Xunzi

The (ca. 4th century BCE) Confucianist Xunzi (1 勸學) first records the Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...

 idiom tengshe wuzu er fei 螣蛇無足而飛 "flying dragon is without feet yet flies", which figuratively means "success results from concentrating on one's abilities".

• The T'eng-she dragon has no feet but flies; the squirrel have five talents, but cannot perform any one of them to perfection. (tr. Dubs 1928:35)
• The wingless dragon has no limbs, but it can fly; the flying squirrel has five talents, but it is reduced to extremity. (tr. Knoblock 1988:139)

Hanfeizi

The (3rd century BCE) Legalist

Legalism (Chinese philosophy)

In Chinese history, Legalism was one of the main philosophic currents during the Warring States Period, although the term itself was invented in the Han Dynasty and thus does not refer to an organized 'school' of thought....

 text Hanfeizi

Han Feizi (book)

The Han Feizi is a work written by Han Feizi at the end of the Warring States Period in China, detailing his political philosophy. It belongs to the Legalist school of thought....

uses tengshe 騰蛇 in two chapters.

"Ten Faults" (十過, tr. Liao 1939:77) uses it describing the Yellow Emperor

Yellow Emperor

The Yellow Emperor or Huangdi1 is a legendary Chinese sovereign and culture hero, included among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he reigned from 2697–2597 or 2696–2598 BC...

's heavenly music.

In by-gone days the Yellow Emperor once called a meeting of devils and spirits at the top of the Western T'ai Mountain, he rode in a divine carriage pulled by [龍] dragons, with Pi-fang a tree deity keeping pace with the linchpin, Ch'ih-yu [a war deity] marching in the front, Earl Wind [a wind deity] sweeping the dirt, Master Rain [a rain deity] sprinkling water on the road, tigers and wolves leading in the front, devils and spirits following from behind, rising serpents rolling on the ground, and male and female phoenixes flying over the top.

The "Critique on the Concept of Political Purchase" (難勢, tr. Ames 1983:74) quotes Shen Dao

Shen Dao

Shen Dao was an itinerant Chinese philosopher from Zhao, who was a scholar at the Jixia Academy in Qi. He is usually referred to as Shenzi 慎子.-Overview:...

 contrasting feilong 飛龍 "flying dragon" with tengshe 螣蛇 to explain shi 勢 "political purchase; strategic advantage".

Shen Tzu said: "The flying dragon mounts the clouds and the t'eng snake wanders in the mists. But when the clouds dissipate and the mists clear, the dragon and the snake become the same as the earthworm and the large-winged black ant because they have lost that on which they ride. Where men of superior character are subjugated by inferior men, it is because their authority is lacking and their position is low. Where the inferior are subjugated by the superior, it is because the authority of the latter is considerable and their position is high.

Chuci

The (3rd-2nd centuries BCE) Chuci parallels tengshe 騰蛇 with feiju 飛駏 "flying horse" in the poem "A Road Beyond" (通路, tr. Hawkes 1985:271).

With team of dragons I mount the heavens, In ivory chariot borne aloft. … I wander through all the constellations; I roam about round the Northern Pole. My upper garment is of red stuff; Of green silk is my under-robe. I loosen my girdle and let my clothes flow freely; I stretch out my trusty Gan-jiang sword. The Leaping Serpent follows behind me, the Flying Horse trots at my side.

Huainanzi

The (2nd century BCE) Huainanzi uses both tengshe graphic variants 螣蛇 (with the insect radical, chapters 9 and 18, which is not translated) and 騰蛇 (horse radical, chapter 17).

"The Art of Rulership" (9 主術訓, tr. Ames 1981:176) uses tengshe 螣蛇 with yinglong

Yinglong

Yinglong is a winged dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.-Name:This legendary creature's name yinglong combines 4th-tone yìng 應 "respond; correspond; answer; reply; agree; comply; consent; promise; adapt; apply" and lóng 龍 "Chinese dragon"...

應龍 "responding dragon". The t'eng snake springs up into the mist; the flying ying dragon ascends into the sky mounting the clouds; a monkey is nimble in the trees and a fish is agile in the water."

The "Discourse on Forests" (17 說林訓, tr. Carr 1990:111) has tengshe 騰蛇 in the same 遊霧 "drifts into the mist" phrase, "The ascending snake can drift in the mist, yet it is endangered by the centipede."

Other texts

Tengshe frequently occurs in Chinese poetry

Chinese poetry

Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, which includes various versions of Chinese language, including Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, as well as many other historical and vernacular varieties of the Chinese language...

. Two early examples are "The Dark Warrior shrinks into his shell; The Leaping Serpent twists and coils itself" ("Rhapsody on Contemplating the Mystery" by Zhang Heng

Zhang Heng

Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He was educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, and began his career as a...

, 78-139 CE, tr. Knechtges 1982:127), and "Though winged serpents ride high on the mist, They turn to dust and ashes at last" ("Though the Tortoise Lives Long" by Cao Cao

Cao Cao

Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...

, 155-220 CE, tr. Ward 2008:19).

Mythology

The Chinese books above repeatedly parallel the tengshe "soaring snake; flying dragon" with its near synonym feilong "flying dragon". Like the 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"...

"heavenly dragon", these creatures are associated with clouds and rainfall, as Visser (1913:109) explains.

The Classics have taught us that the dragon is thunder, and at the same time that he is a water animal akin to the snake, sleeping in pools during winter and arising in spring. When autumn comes with its dry weather, the dragon descends and dives into the water to remain there till spring arrives again.

The (1578 CE) Bencao Gangmu (43, tr. Read 1934:349) mentions this mythic serpent, "There are flying snakes without feet such as the 螣蛇 T'eng She." The commentary (tr. Visser 1913:75) explains, "The t'eng-she changes into a dragon. This divine snake can ride upon the clouds and fly about over a thousand miles. If it is heard, (this means) pregnancy."

Wolfram Eberhard

Wolfram Eberhard

Wolfram Eberhard was a professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley focused on Western, Central and Eastern Asian societies.-Biography:...

 (1968:385-6) surveys the cultural background of tengshe "ascending snake" myths.

Frequently, in the early literature, the snake steps into the clouds [Shenzi, Baopuzi, Huainanzi]. Here one suspects that the word dragon was taboo and had to be substituted; this is confirmed by Chung-ch'ang T'ung [Hou Han Shu] stating that the ascending snake loses it scales. One can hardly speak of scales in the case of a real snake, but a dragon was believed to be scaly. Otherwise this flying snake may be compared with the folktale of the fight between centipede and snake which is associated with Thai culture … The dragon-like snake in the sky is again the dragon lung, again of the Thai cultures. Otherwise the "ascending snake" (t'eng-she) may mean a constellation of stars near the Milky Way [Xingjing]. According to Ko Hung [Baopuzi] it makes lightning, and this again equates it with the dragon lung.

Legends about flying snakes, serpents, and dragons are widespread in comparative mythology

Comparative mythology

Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics. Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes...

, exemplified by the Biblical Fiery flying serpent

Fiery flying serpent

-Isaiah:* Isaiah 14:29: "Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent's roots will come a viper, and its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent."* Isaiah 30:6: "The burden against the beasts of the South...

. Snakes in the genus Chrysopelea

Chrysopelea

Chrysopelea, or more commonly known as the flying snake, is a genus that belongs to the family Colubridae. Flying snakes are mildly venomous, though they are considered harmless because their toxicity is not dangerous to humans...

are commonly known as "flying snakes".

External links

• 螣 entry, Chinese Etymology