Zhuyin or Zhulong was a giant red draconic solar deity

Solar deity

A solar deity is a sky deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms...

 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...

. It supposedly had a human's face and snake's body, created day and night by opening and closing its eyes, and created seasonal winds by breathing.

Names

The keyword in the names Zhuyin and Zhulong is zhu 燭 (simplified 烛) "torch; candle; shine upon; illuminate; light up" (cf. zhuo 灼 "burn; illuminate; bright"). One alternate Chuci name below writes zhu 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...

 zhuo 逴 or 趠 "quarrel, squabble; distant, far".

Zhuyin uses zhu as a verb "illuminate; brighten" with yin 陰 (simplified 阴) "dark; shady; cloudy; overcast", which is the feminine principle of Yin and Yang

Yin and yang

In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...

. Yin recurs below in the term jiuyin 九陰 "ninefold darkness" (cf. the fictional Jiu Yin Zhen Jing

Jiu Yin Zhen Jing

The Jiuyin Zhenjing, also known as the Nine Yin Manual, is a fictional martial arts manual from Jin Yong's Condor Trilogy.-Compilation history:...

).

Zhulong uses zhu as a modifier "torch; candle" with long 龍 (simplified 龙) "Chinese 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...

". Compare the homophone

Homophone

A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...

 zhulong 燭籠 "lantern" with long 籠 "basket; cage; receptacle".

Early textual references

Zhuyin and Zhulong were first recorded in 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...

 dating from the 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...

 (206 BCE-220 CE) and recording myths from the Zhou Dynasty

Zhou Dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...

 (1122 BCE-256 BCE).

Shanhaijing

The (ca. 3rd century BCE-1st century CE ) Shanhaijing "Classic of the Mountains and Seas" records parallel myths about Zhuyin and Zhulong.

"The Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas: The North" section (8) describes Zhuyin 燭陰 on Mount Zhong 鍾山.

The deity of Mount Bell is named Torch Shade. When this deity's eyes look out there is daylight, and when he shuts his eyes there is night. When he blows it is winter, and when the calls out it is summer. He neither drinks, nor eats, nor breathes. If this god does breathe, there are gales. His body is a thousand leagues long. Torch Shade is east of the country of Nolegcalf. He has a human face and a snake's body, and he is scarlet in colour. The god lives on the lower slopes of Mount Bell. (tr. Birrell 2000:121)

Visser (1913:62-3) renders Zhuyin as "Enlightener of the Darkness" and translates the commentary of 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...

 (276-324 CE).

'Enlightener' is a dragon; he enlightens the nine yin (darknesses, i.e. the nine points of the compass at the opposite, dark side of the earth, which is a flat disk; these nine points are North, South, East, West, North-east, North-west, South-east, South-west, and the Centre)". (tr. Visser 1913:62)

"The Classic of the Great Wilderness: The North" section (17) describes Zhulong 燭龍 living on Mount Zhangwei 章尾山.

Beyond the northwest seas, north of the River Scarlet there is Mount Brillianttail. There is a god-human here with a human face and a snake's body, and he is scarlet. He has vertical eyes that are in a straight seam. When this deity closes his eyes, there is darkness. When the deity look with his eyes, there is light. He neither eats, nor sleeps, nor breathes. The wind and the rain are at his beck and call. This deity shines his torch over the ninefold darkness. This deity is Torch Dragon. (tr. Birrell 2000:188)

The yin in this jiuyin 九陰 "ninefold darkness" context explains using the "dragon" name Zhulong instead of "darkeness" name Zhuyin. Guo Pu quotes a legend from a no longer extant Shijing commentary (tr. Major 1993:204), "The sky is insufficient to cover the northwest, so there is no ebb and flow of yang and yin. Therefore a dragon carries a torch in its mouth to light up the sky."

Chuci

The (3rd-2nd centuries BCE) Chuci "Songs of Chu

Chu (state)

The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...

" mentions Zhulong 燭龍 and Zhuolong 逴龍 with the graphic variant zhuo or chuo "argue, quarrel, squabble; far".

The Tianwen

Heavenly Questions

Heavenly Questions or Questions to Heaven is an important section of the Classical Chinese poetry collection Chuci. The collection is important both for the poetic verse which it contains as well as being a source for information on the ancient culture of China, especially the area of the state of...

天問 "Heavenly Questions" section (3, cf. Bashe

Bashe

Bashe was a python-like Chinese mythological giant snake that ate elephants.-Name:The term bashe compounds ba 巴 "a proper name; tip, tail; crust; greatly desire; cling to; be near" and she 蛇 "snake; serpent"....

) asks about Zhulong. Compare these translations:

• "What land does the sun not shine on and how does the Torch Dragon light it?" (Hawkes 1985:128)
• "Where does the sun not rise, How does the Torch Dragon flame?" (Field 1986:44)
• "The Torch Dragon flares where the sun does not reach [where? how?]" (Major 1993:203)

The Dazhao 大招 "Great Summons" section (10, tr. Hawkes 1985:234) uses the alternate name Zhuolong 逴龍 or 趠龍 "distant/quarreling dragon": "In the north are the Frozen Mountain, and the Torch Dragon, glaring red."

Huainanzi

The (2nd century BCE) Huainanzi

Huainanzi

The Huáinánzǐ is a 2nd century BCE Chinese philosophical classic from the Han dynasty that blends Daoist, Confucianist, and Legalist concepts, including theories such as Yin-Yang and the Five Phases. It was written under the patronage of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, a legendarily prodigious author...

"Philosophers of Huainan" contains a Zhuixing 墬形訓 "Treatise on Topography" chapter (4) that refers to Zhulong. This context mentions Xiaoming 宵明 "Night Bright" and Zhuguang 燭光 "Torch Gleam", who were daughters of the legendary Shun.

Lighting Darkness and Candle-Gleam are on an island in the Yellow River; they illumine an area of one thousand li. The Dragon Gate is in the depths of the Yellow River. … The Torch Dragon dwells north of Wild Goose Gate. He hides himself in Abandoned Wings Mountain and never sees the sun. This god has a human face and a dragon body, but no feet. (tr. Major 1993:196)

The commentary of Gao You 高誘 (ca. 168-212 CE, tr. Major 1993:163) explains, "Weiyu is the name of a mountain … in the shade of the northern limit, the sun cannot be seen." Mount Weiyu 委羽, notes Major, might mean "abandoned wings," "broken wings," "shed feathers," or something else.

Dongmingji

The Dongmingji 洞冥記 "Record of Penetrating the Mysteries", which describes ritual activities of Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...

 (r. 141-87 BCE), is traditionally attributed to Guo Xian 郭憲 (fl.

Floruit

Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...

 25-57 CE) but probably dates (Smith 2008:368) from around the 6th century. Although this text does not mention Zhuyin or Zhulong, Wu's Daoist advisor Dongfang Shuo

Dongfang Shuo

Dongfang Shuo was a Han Dynasty scholar-official, fangshi , author, and court jester to Emperor Wu...

 describes a mythical northern qinglong 青龍 "Azure Dragon" with a zhu 燭 "torch".

… in the year 99 before our era the emperor Wu convoked a meeting of magicians and learned men, at which Tung Fang-soh spoke as follows: "I made a journey to the north pole, and came to a mountain planted with fire, which neither the sun, nor the moon ever illumines, but which is lighted to its uttermost bounds by a blue dragon by means of a torch which it holds in its jaws. I found in that mountain gardens, fields, and parks with ponds, all studded with strange trees and curious plants, and with shrubs which had luminiferous stalks, seeming at night to be lamps of gold. These stalks could be broken off and used as torches, in the light of which the spectres were visible. Ning-fung, the immortal had always eaten this plant, the consequence being that in the darkness of the night there beamed light out of his belly. It is called the herb which pierces darkness. (tr. Groot 1910 6:1167)

This namesake torch-like plant is called dongmingcao 洞冥草 "penetrating the mysteries herb".

Interpretations

Zhuyin 燭陰 or Zhulong 燭龍 was not the only serpent-bodied celestial deity in Chinese folklore

Chinese folklore

Chinese folklore includes songs, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural, or stories explaining natural phenomena and distinctive landmarks.-Folktales:...

, other examples include Pangu

Pangu

Pangu was the first living being and the creator of all in Chinese mythology.- The Pangu legend:...

, Fuxi, and Nüwa

Nüwa

Nüwa is a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology best known for creating mankind and repairing the wall of heaven.-Primary sources:...

.

The mythic Torch Dragon embodied sunlight. Carr (1990:155) cites a Chinese-language article by Kwang-chih Chang

Kwang-chih Chang

Kwang-chih Chang , aka K.C. Chang, was a Chinese/Taiwanese archaeologist and sinologist. He was a professor of archaeology at Harvard University, a Vice-President of the Academia Sinica and a curator at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. He helped to bring modern, western methods of...

characterizing it with the Eastern Zhou "Transformation Thesis" that natural elements transform out of the bodily parts of mythical creatures.

Major (1993:203-4) describes the Torch Dragon as "well-known in early Chinese mythology" and suggests it is probably "a mythical interpretation of the aurora borealis."

External links

• Zhú Lóng – The Illuminating Dragon, China History Forum
• 燭龍, 中國上古神話