Is the Dragon a Mean and Dangerous Creature?

Is the dragon a mean and dangerous creature? This two-period lesson for 6th grade Ancient World History students employs a jigsaw strategy to engage students in a cross-cultural comparison of dragons in Chinese and Western history. First, small groups of students become experts in one of six dragon stories, three from Chinese history and three from Western history. Then the groups are reconfigured so each new group has at least one expert on each dragon story. Each new group reaches a consensus on the question “Is the dragon a mean and dangerous creature?” Finally, students generalize this experience of cross-cultural comparison to understand the problems of making assumptions about one culture based on understandings from a different culture.

CONTENTS OF THIS FILE Pages Lesson plan 1 – 5 Images for Activity 3 6 – 11 Six dragon stories 12 – 30 Worksheets and answer keys 31 – 46 Background notes for teachers 47 – 51

STANDARDS

California History/Social Science Content Standards 6.6: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of China.

California Historical and Social Sciences Analytical Skills Research, Evidence and Point of View: 4. Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources and draw sound conclusions from them.

Historical Thinking Standards from the National Center for History in the Schools Standard 2: Historical Comprehension A. Identify the author or source of the historical document or narrative and assess its credibility. B. Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage.

Standard 3: Historical Analysis and Interpretation A. Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas. B. Consider multiple perspectives.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 1 LEARNING GOALS OR OUTCOMES

1. To understand the role of the dragon in Chinese history. 2. To compare Chinese dragons and Western dragons and understand that the latter are usually well respected creatures while the former are invariably evil. 3. To understand that transferring assumptions from one’s own cultural experiences to the study of other cultures often produces misunderstandings.

ASSESSMENTS

Formative assessments 1. Check each student’s Dragon Character Analysis worksheet to assess understanding of the dragon story that the student read. 2. Check the Looking for Patterns worksheet to assess students’ understanding of the comparison of Chinese and Western dragons.

Summative assessment Read the paragraph each student writes to assess understanding of 1. The caution against applying assumptions from one culture to different culture. 2. The use of information from the sources as evidence to support the thesis.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Into activities

1. To connect the lesson to students’ study of ancient Chinese history, remind them of any references to dragons in the textbook or other instructional materials they have worked with. For example, the Teachers’ Curriculum Institute textbook History Alive! The Ancient World mentions dragons on Page 198 and presents an illustration of a jade carving in the shape of a dragon. Explain that because dragons are such important creatures in both Chinese culture and Western culture they are going to spend the next couple of classes studying the history of dragons.

2. To connect the lesson to students’ previous knowledge of dragons, direct students in a think-pair-share activity around the question “What do you remember about dragons from any stories you have read or heard or stories you have seen on television or in the movies?” Direct students to individually write down any such recollections, then direct pairs of students to verbally share their recollections, and then direct individual students to share their ideas with the whole class. Create a comprehensive list of their ideas on the whiteboard or elsewhere. Note any of the recollections that involves any of the six dragon stories that the students will study in this lesson. Encourage students to bring manga, books, DVDs, or other sources of dragon stories that they may have at home to share with the class.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 2 3. To provide a visual context for the dragon stories the students will read, project or display images included later in this lesson, beginning with the Chinese dragons and continuing with the Western dragons. Solicit students’ observations of what they are seeing in each illustration, and then use the information in the notes below each illustration to explain the illustration’s content and history. At this point in the lesson DO NOT directly answer the question about whether dragons are mean and dangerous creatures. Students should discover the answer to this question during their investigations of the dragon stories.

Through activities

1. Create groups of 3 to 5 students by dividing the class into 6 or 12 groups, depending on the number of students in the class. For example, if you have 30 students, create six groups of five. If you have 36 students, create 12 groups of 3. An extra student can be added to any given group to account for numbers not divisible by six.

Give each student in each group one of the six readings, so that all members of the group have the same reading and each reading is read by approximately the same number of students. Also give each student the Dragon Character Analysis worksheet. Direct students in each group to work together to read their story and complete the worksheet. Thus each group becomes an “expert” on one dragon story. Formative assessment: Check each student’s Dragon Character Analysis worksheet to assess understanding of the dragon story.

2. Once each group has mastered the content of its dragon story, reorganize students into new groups so that each new group has at least one expert on each of the six stories. To accommodate class numbers not equally divisible by six, a group may have two experts on one dragon story. Distribute one copy of the Looking the Patterns worksheet to each student.

Direct students to take turns retelling the dragon stories until everyone in the new group has heard each story. Students should share the image of the dragon they read about to help each other keep the stories straight. Each student should explain to the new group what the previous group concluded about the question “Is the dragon a mean and dangerous creature?”

As students report on their expert group’s analysis of its dragon story, direct students to complete the table in the Looking for Patterns worksheet.

After the group has heard all six dragon stories, direct students to come to consensus on the question: “How does the place where the dragon story comes from affect whether the dragon is mean and dangerous or not?” Lead the groups to understand that dragons from Chinese history and dragons from Western history are different creatures because they developed in different cultural traditions.

Finally, direct each group to discuss the question, “Should we use the same word

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 3 ‘dragon’ for these different creatures, or should they have two different names?”

3. After all the groups have written notes on their answers to the two questions, direct a representative from each group to share the group’s answers with the rest of the class. Explain that in Chinese, the word for dragon is “long” (pronounced with a long “o” and sometimes spelled “lung”) and that translators have decided to use the word “dragon” when converting this word to English even though Chinese dragons and Western dragons are very different creatures.

Beyond activities The “Beyond” section is not an extension that can be dispensed with. It is the culminating concept of the lesson – the “so-what,” as some teachers say – that provides the long-term pay-off of the lesson and justifies the effort students have invested up to this point. Understanding the different views of dragons in Chinese and Western culture is interesting, but understanding how our assumptions sometimes get in the way of our learning is a universal life lesson.

1. Organize students in pairs and ask each pair to think of one example other than the dragon where the use of the same words for two different ideas causes problems. To stimulate ideas, direct students to review the previous chapters they have studied in the world history textbook and/or to think about situations in their own lives. Since this is a challenging task, circulate around the room as students work and quickly share any good ideas that students come up with. List the ideas on the whiteboard or elsewhere as you encourage each pair to come up with an example.

One of the most obvious examples is the word “god,” which often means something different from culture to culture.

After the class has generated four to six examples, write the following observation or conclusion on the white board: “A lesson from the dragon stories: When we are discussing different people’s experiences or different culture’s ideas, we should always avoid assuming that the words we use mean the same thing to everybody.”

2. Direct each student to write a paragraph on one of the following theses and use information (evidence) from the dragon stories or from other examples discussed in class to develop their ideas:

Thesis: We shouldn’t call the Chinese long a “dragon” because that gives people the wrong idea of what kind of creature the long is.

Thesis: When we are discussing different people’s experiences or different culture’s ideas, we should always avoid assuming that the words we use mean the same thing to everybody.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 4 Additional notes for the teacher on the lesson

If you would like more details on the jigsaw strategy, please see the Facing History and Ourselves Web site. One key to a successful jigsaw activity is that the task given to the second group must require each student in the group to contribute something. In this lesson, each student must summarize his or her story for the group. The pattern in “good dragons” vs. “bad dragons” emerges most clearly when everyone in the group understands all six stories.

Essential academic vocabulary involved in this lesson that you may need to pre-teach or otherwise provide additional instruction for includes: Character – The term is used here the same way it is used in the language arts curriculum; students can apply the same skills to describe the character of the dragon in this lesson as they use to describe a character in fiction. Infer – Students are inferring the character of the dragon from the dragon’s words and actions. If they are familiar with this skill, remind them of it; if they are not familiar with this skill, this lesson provides an opportunity to introduce it. Assumption – Since the ultimate goal of the lesson is to teach students to beware of making assumptions about cultures with which they are not familiar, be sure that students understand the term “assumption.”

The reading on dragons in the I Ching is the most challenging in the collection because it is more complex than a simple story. Ask students who need or enjoy an extra challenge to become the experts on this reading.

Remember that when asking students to read religious texts, such as the Christian Bible and the I Ching, the goal is not to promote belief in the religion but to understand the ideas of the religion. See the California 3 Rs project for further information.

For more information on sourcing and close reading, please see the introduction to this collection of lessons and/or the Web site of the Stanford History Education Group. Take particular note of the link “Unit 1: Introduction.”

This lesson could also be incorporated into the English/Language Arts curriculum, as the central skill involved is character analysis.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 5 Dragon images for “Into” Activity 3

To provide a visual context for the dragon stories the students will read, project or display following images, beginning with the Chinese dragons and continuing with the Western dragons. Question students about what they are seeing in each illustration, and then use the information in the notes below each illustration to explain the illustration’s content and history. At this point in the lesson DO NOT directly answer the question about whether dragons are mean and dangerous creatures. Students should discover the answer to this question during their investigations of the dragon stories.

Discussing the images with the students before they read and analyze the stories should increase their engagement with the lesson and make it easier for them to conduct the cross-cultural comparison on which the lesson is based. All images embedded in this lesson are in the public domain or otherwise legal to reproduce for classroom use.

Projecting or displaying the images depends, of course, on your technology capacities:  If you have access to an LCD projector, you can project the images directly from this PDF file.  If you prefer to insert the images in a PowerPoint or similar presentation file, you can follow the URLs provided to the original sources, where you can download the images.  If you have access to a paper projection system, you can print the illustrations on a color printer and project them from paper.  If you have access to an overhead projector, you can print the illustrations on a color printer and create color transparencies to project.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 6 Imperial Chinese Dragon (1)

 “Imperial” in the sense of being associated with the emperor, which is one of the primary motifs for the dragon in China. (See teacher notes.)  Make sure that students see the dragon’s four legs and the five talons on each claw. Chinese dragons don’t have wings, but they can fly.  The green swirls below the dragon represent the waves in the sea, symbolizing the association between dragons and water.  This playful dragon is chasing a pearl or round ball (on the left side of the image), a typical portrayal of imperial dragons.  This dragon is made of ceramic tile. It is one of nine dragons on a famous wall in Beihai Park, an imperial garden adjacent to the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Source for image: File:Nine-Dragon Screen-1.jpeg. (2006). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nine- Dragon_Screen-1.JPG

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 7 Imperial Chinese Dragon (2)

 A very similar image of an imperial dragon from a ceramic stool. Although these two examples show blue dragons, not all Chinese dragons are blue. The red forms near the dragon’s front and back legs are auspicious clouds that often accompany the dragon.

Source for image: Object ID: B67P31. (n.d.). Asian Art Museum. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://67.52.109.59:8080/emuseum/view/objects/asitem/id/11332

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 8 A Dragon Carries the Yellow Emperor back to Heaven

 This is a modern depiction of the legendary event mentioned in the student reading about the Yellow Emperor.  Anatomically the dragon is similar to the imperial dragons in the two previous illustrations.  This illustration reinforces the concept the Chinese dragons can fly even though they don’t have wings.

Source for image: Yellow Emperor. (n.d.). China Tour. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://yeschinatour.com/china-guides/chinese-culture/yellow-emperor/

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 9 The Dragon in the Book of Revelation of the Christian Bible

 The woman is pregnant and the dragon is waiting for her child to be born so it can eat the child.  Description in Book of Revelation: “… it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.”  Notice that the dragon appears to have human arms and legs.  The dragon has wings, which is not unusual for Western dragons but almost never true of Chinese dragons, even though the latter can also fly.  The dragon has a long, snake-like tail.  This illustration was created by English artist William Blake (1757- 1827).

Source for image: File:Blakedragon2.jpeg. (2006). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blakedragon2.jpeg

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 10 St. George Slays the Dragon

 This dragon has wings and a snake-like tail. The body looks a bit like a big bird.  Note the woman dressed in white fleeing in the background. St. George is slaying the dragon to save her from the dragon.  This large painting (note the top of the door below) is in the Palazzo San Giorgio (St. George Palace) in Genoa, Italy. The building was originally constructed in the 1200s and since the early 1900s has been occupied by the port of Genoa’s administrative offices. The date of the painting and the name of the painter are not indicated on the port’s Web site.

Source for image: File:Genova-Palazzo San Giorgio-DSCF7719.jpeg. (2006). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genova-Palazzo_San_Giorgio-DSCF7719.JPG

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 11 The Dragon in the Story of the Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor was a part-real, part-legendary figure thought to have founded the Chinese nation around 6,000 years ago. Many colorful legends about him were written down during the Warring States Period toward the end of the Zhou dynasty, about 2,500 years ago.

t the beginning of time the gods Awere curious about earth and came down from the heavens to see it for themselves. The God of Heaven was the Supreme Emperor on earth, and he chose yellow as his imperial color. Therefore he was known as the Yellow Emperor. He built a magni- ficent palace in the center of the world on the top of Mount Kunlun, and he stayed there when he visited on earth. A dragon carries the Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor assigned four back to heaven. other important gods to rule the the Yellow Emperor. First he drove the territories to the east, south, west, and Fiery Emperor out of the south and north. The god of the east was Tai named himself the new Fiery Emperor. Hou, who is said to have given people Then he convinced a group of people fire, fishing nets, and a system of eight called the Miao to serve as his army. symbols that they could use to think The Yellow Emperor tried to talk Chi about the future, as explained in the You and his troops out of starting a book called I Ching. The god of the war, but they ignored him. So the south was the Fiery Emperor. He was a Yellow Emperor raised his own army half-brother of the Yellow Emperor, of gods, ghosts, black bears, brown and he is said to have given people the bears, leopards, jackals, and tigers. gifts of farming and medicine. The god The dragon Ying Long also joined the of the west was Shao Hao. The god of Yellow Emperor’s army. Ying Long the north was Zhuan Xu, a great- lived on a mountain in the distant grandson of the Yellow Emperor. south and he could cause heavy rains. Thus began the great war between Chi In those days the gods could go back You and the Yellow Emperor. and forth between heaven and earth. A god named Chi You visited earth and The two armies were equally matched. decided to seize control of earth from One army won one battle and then the other army won the next battle. Once,

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 12 to keep up the spirits of his army, the Emperor also created writing. He Yellow Emperor invented the drum. ordered his officials to write books When the Yellow Emperor pounded about medicine and music. the drum, the dragon Ying Long flew in the sky above, and Chi You’s army The Yellow Emperor ordered that a was terrified. The Yellow Emperor’s great copper vessel be created to army won that battle easily. commemorate his victory over Chi You. On the day when the Yellow Eventually the Goddess of the Ninth Emperor, the other gods, and the Heaven helped the Yellow Emperor earthly princes gathered to view the learn new battle tactics. The Yellow copper vessel, a heavenly dragon Emperor made himself a precious new appeared in the sky. Drawing half his copper sword and began to win battle body out of the clouds above, the after battle. He finally defeated Chi dragon dropped his long head down You’s army and executed Chi You. and brushed against the copper vessel. The Yellow Emperor recognized the To celebrate his victory, the Yellow dragon as a messenger from one of his Emperor held an enormous banquet. palaces in heaven. He climbed onto To help with the celebration, the the back of the dragon and floated into Goddess of the Silkworm descended the sky. Other gods and earthly princes from heaven and taught people how to climbed onto the dragon, but as it rose raise silkworms and spin their cocoons into the heavens the earthly princes all into silk thread. In the period of peace fell off. So it was that the gods and the that followed the wars, the Yellow people lived separately after that, with Emperor helped people on earth learn the gods in heaven and the people on many new things. He taught people to earth. But a few of the gods stayed on build houses to protect themselves earth, including the dragon Ying Long. against the rain, he taught people to Ying Long moved south and lived in use pots and pans to cook, and he the cool mountain pools, and the invented boats and carts to help people people prayed to him to bring rain move things around. The Yellow whenever there was a drought.

Source: Many different versions of the stories of the Yellow Emperor have appeared in different parts of China during the thousands of years since they were first told. When different translators re-tell the stories in English, they choose different words and expressions, which adds more variety to the stories. This version is based on the book Dragons and Dynasties: An Introduction to Chinese Mythology, which was written in Chinese by Yuan Ke and translated into English by Kim Echlin and Nie Zhixiong. The book was originally published in 1991 in Beijing, the capital of China, by the Foreign Languages Press. The illustration is from the ChinaTour Web site

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 13 (http://yeschinatour.com/china-guides/chinese-culture/yellow-emperor/)

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 14 Notes for teachers on the Yellow Emperor story

The introduction to the Yellow Emperor stories in Dragons and Dynasties: An Introduction to Chinese Mythology says

The Yellow Emperor, or Huang Di, was a part-real, part-legendary figure thought to have founded the Chinese nation around 4,000 BC. … These ancient records probably reflect a blend of myth, legend, and history regarding the early power struggles of tribal groups … (p. 14, 15).

The stories probably predate the Shang dynasty (p. 41), but the versions we have today were mostly written down during the time of the Zhou dynasty called the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) (p. 14).

Zhao (1992) suggests that the Yellow Emperor’s army of many animals that is described in the Yellow Emperor reading above may be the source of the composite physical appearance of the Chinese dragon. The mythology may reflect an actual situation in which different tribes with different animal totems united under a single leader, which led to the creation of a unified totem that included parts from each of the earlier totem animals (p. 17-18).

Sources Ke, Yuan. (1991). Dragons and Dynasties: An Introduction to Chinese Mythology. Translated by Kim Echlin and Nie Zhixiong. Beijing: Foreign Language Press. Pages 14-56. Yellow Emperor. (n.d.). China Tour. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from http://yeschinatour.com/china-guides/chinese-culture/yellow-emperor/ Zhao, Qiguang. (1992). A Study of Dragons, East and West. New York: Peter Lang.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 15 Dragons in the Heaven hexagram in I Ching I Ching (pronounced yi jing), which is sometimes called The Book of Changes, presents an ancient Chinese system that helps people plan for future events. It was created in the Zhou dynasty, which started more than 3,100 years ago.

he I Ching includes 64 symbols. random, like tossing three coins six TThe symbols are called times and selecting the solid line when hexagrams because each symbol has the coins came up two “heads” and six lines (hex = six). The first one “tail” or the broken line when the hexagram is called Heaven, and it coins came up two “tails” and one looks like this: “head.” If all three coins came up “heads,” the line would be a solid line changing into a broken line (yang changing to yin). And if all three coins came up “tails,” the line would be broken line changing into solid line (yin changing into yang). The second hexagram is called Earth, and it looks like this: The changing lines are the important ones. Remember that this is The Book of Changes. It is designed to help people figure out how to plan for changes in the future.

But what do the lines mean? Each of The other 62 hexagrams are made up the six lines in each of the hexagrams of different combinations of solid lines has a line of text that indicates its (which are called yang) and broken meaning. So now the person using I lines (which are called yin). Ching would read the lines of text associated with the changing lines of So how did ancient Chinese people use the hexagram that the toss of the coins these hexagrams to understand how created. For example, the six lines of change would come in the future? text associated with the lines of the Heaven hexagram read: First, the person using this system would ask a question, such as, “Will Hidden dragon. Do not act. we have a successful hunt tomorrow?” Dragon appearing on the field. It makes one see the great man. Next the person would create a A gentleman works hard all day. hexagram by doing something And keeps alert in the evening.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 16 Safe. hexagram (“Hidden dragon. Do not Dragon sometimes leaping in the act.”) refers to the hibernating dragon. pool. Safe. If this is a changing line that you Dragon flying in the heaven. It created when you tossed the coins, furthers one to see the great then the answer to your question is man. negative. Don’t go hunting, because Arrogant dragon will repent. the dragon is hidden in the deep water and won’t be around to help you. What does that have to do with whether the hunt will be good The second line of text is a little more tomorrow? That’s what makes the I positive. The dragon is up out of the Ching very complicated. The lines of water and playing in the field. The text have to be interpreted. You have to third line is kind of hard to interpret, study them a lot to understand how because it doesn’t talk about dragons ancient Chinese people understood at all. Some scholars of the I Ching them. aren’t sure what to make of that line.

For example, to use the hexagram for The fourth line is positive. The dragon Heaven, you have to understand is playing on top the pool instead of something about dragons. In Chinese hibernating deep in the water. The fifth mythology, a dragon is a good sign. line is the most positive of all. The You always want the dragon on your dragon is flying in Heaven! If that line side. Also, during the winter dragons is the one that answers your question, live in lakes and rivers and in the it definitely encourages you to do what summer they fly up into the heavens you asked about. and control the rain. The winter is their dormant period, when they are kind of The sixth line is negative again. The hibernating. The summer is their busy dragon has gone too far and become season when they are making rain. arrogant, so it’s not going to be very helpful in whatever venture you are So the first line in the Heaven asking about.

Source: Explanations of the I Ching have been written by many Chinese scholars in the 2,500 years since it first appeared. In recent centuries scholars outside of China have written about it and translated it into other languages. The explanation here of how the I Ching works is based on the book I Ching: The Oracle, by Kerson Huang. It was published in 1984 by World Scientific Publishing Co. in Singapore. The interpretation of the Heaven hexagram is based on the work of Qiguang Zhao, who wrote the book A Study of Dragons, East and West. This book was published in 1992 by Peter Lang Publishing in New York.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 17 Notes for teachers on the Heaven hexagram in the I Ching

The ceramic tile Imperial dragon included elsewhere in this lesson is a good illustration of Line 4: “Dragon sometimes leaping in the pool.”

This reading about dragons in the I Ching isn’t meant to be a comprehensive explanation of the I Ching or of the principles of yin and yang, on which it is based. It is meant to explain the I Ching well enough so that the nature of the dragons in the Heaven hexagram makes sense to 6th grade students.

The I Ching is included among the dragon readings because it is an important cultural reference for students to know and because, according to Qiguang Zhao, the I Ching is the earliest Chinese book that uses the dragon as a symbol (1992, p. 17). Of course, dragons existed in the imagination of Chinese people much earlier.

The English translation and notes by James Legge (1815-1897) of the I Ching and other Chinese classics were the standards for much of the 20th century. I have relied on Kerson Huang’s more recent translation because his language is more contemporary, because he is able to incorporate more recent archeological and historical evidence, and because his family and cultural history provide him an insider’s view of the work.

In recounting the legend of the I Ching (as opposed to the actual history), Huang says that King Wen of the Zhou, father of King Wu, who overthrew the Shang and established the Zhou dynasty, created the 64 hexagrams when he was being held prisoner by the last Shang emperor. After King Wu established the Zhou dynasty, his brother and prime minister, Duke Zhou, is credited with writing the text that accompanies each line of the hexagrams that his father created. Six hundred years later, Confucius, who considered King Wen and Duke Zhou two of the best models for effective rulers, is credited with writing additional commentary on the hexagrams that is titled Ten Wings. Thus, legend says that the I Ching emerged as the combination of King Wen’s hexagrams, Duke Zhou’s initial text, and Confucius’ Ten Wings (Huang, 1992, p. 8-15).

Huang finds that the historical record confirms some of the legend but disputes Confucius as the author of Ten Wings. Huang notes that the Shang dynasty used oracle bones for divination, and that the oracle bones do not include any hexagrams or references to the I Ching. The I Ching, on the other hand, refers to many events in the Shang dynasty, which supports the idea that the I Ching developed from Zhou cultural traditions when the Zhou kingdom was a vassal state of the Shang dynasty and then displaced the oracle bones as the means of divination when the Zhou dynasty displaced the Shang (Huang, p. 22). As for the Ten Wings, Huang writes: “On one thing all scholars agree: The Ten Wings, attributed to Confucius, could not possibly have been written by him. In both content and style, they reflect a much later era” (Huang, p. 23).

The reading for students states that “Some scholars of the I Ching aren’t sure what to make” of the third line of text for the Heaven hexagram. Huang says the line “seems

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 18 somewhat out of context” (p. 33) and sounds more like the Analects of Confucius than the rest of the lines in the hexagram. He concludes:

It is likely that someone sneaked this in, to make the I Ching sound more Confucian. In the absence of more substantive proof, however, I prefer to believe that this expressed an early morality that became the seed of Confucian ethics (p. 33).

Huang’s introduction also includes clearly stated directions for using the I Ching (p. 26- 30) and useful pointers for reading the text as poetry (p. 31-38).

Sources Huang, Kerson. (1984). I Ching: The Oracle. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Zhao, Qiguang. (1992). A Study of Dragons, East and West. New York: Peter Lang.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 19 The Dragon King in Journey to the West This story appears in the well-known Chinese novel Journey to the West, which was written by Wu Cheng’en in the 1570s. Journey to the West is based on many popular folk tales that had been told in China for centuries before Wu put them together in their present form.

he dragon king of Jing River near “Clouds obscure the mountain peak, mist TChang’an heard a disturbing report covers the tree tops. If there is to be rain, from one of his agents who patrolled the it will certainly come tomorrow,” the river. The agent had overheard a fortune-teller said. fisherman say that he visited a fortune- teller in Chang’an every day, and in “When will it rain tomorrow?” asked the exchange for one fresh fish the fortune- dragon king. “And how many inches of teller told him the best places in the Jing rain will fall?” River to fish. “If the fortune-teller’s calculations are so accurate, won’t all we “It will start to rain at noon tomorrow and water folk be wiped out?” the patrol agent it will finish at 3 after 3.48 inches have asked. fallen,” replied the fortune-teller.

The dragon king seized his sword in a “If it rains tomorrow at the time and depth great rage, intending to go straight to you have predicted,” said the dragon Chang’an and destroy this fortune-teller. king, “I will pay you fifty pieces of gold. But his sons and grandsons, shrimp It you are wrong, I’ll smash up your store officials, crab soldiers, shad generals, and run you out of Chang’an so you can’t mandarin-fish ministers, and carp premier deceive the people any more.” had another idea. “Your Majesty is capable of making all sorts of With that the dragon king returned to his transformations. You should change into a palace in Jing River and told everyone scholar for this visit to Chang’an. If you about his visit. They all laughed and said, find that it is true, you will be able to “Your Majesty is the General punish the fortune-teller at your leisure. Superintendent of the Eight Rivers and And if it turns out to be false, you will the Great Dragon God of the Rain, so avoid killing an innocent man.” only you can know whether there will be rain. The fortune-teller is bound to lose!” So the dragon king transformed himself into a scholar and went off to Chang’an. While they were all still laughing, a He quickly found the fortune-teller, who warrior in golden clothes came running in invited him in and served him tea. “What with a decree from the Jade Emperor. The have you come to ask about?” asked the decree instructed the dragon king to cause fortune-teller. “Please tell me when it will rain the next day at noon and make it last rain again,” said the dragon king. until 3.48 inches had fallen at 3! The dragon king and all his assistants

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 20 were amazed that the fortune-teller emperor said he would invite the minister seemed to have connections with the of personnel to the palace the next day so highest authorities. They decided the only the minister could not possibly carry out thing to do would be to begin the rain a the execution. little later than noon and make it last longer then 3 and amount to less than The next day the minister of personnel 3.48 inches. showed up at the palace at noon. He and the emperor had tea and began to play The next day that’s what they did, and chess. Soon the minister of personnel then the dragon king transformed himself became tired and fell asleep in his chair. in a scholar again, went into Chang’an, Since the emperor knew how hard the and destroyed the fortune-teller’s shop. minister worked, he smiled and let him The fortune-teller stood watching calmly take his nap. and then said, “You can’t fool me. I know that you are the dragon king of Jing When the minister woke up, they River, and I know that you disobeyed a resumed their game of chess, but soon decree from the Jade Emperor when you shouting from the palace guards changed the rain. Tomorrow at half past 1 interrupted them. The guards brought the you will beheaded by the minister of emperor a dragon’s head dripping with personnel.” blood that had fallen from the sky. “What does this mean?” the emperor asked. The dragon king trembled with fear and begged forgiveness, but the fortune-teller “Oh,” replied the minister, “I just said the only one who could forgive him executed this dragon.” “But you’ve been was Emperor Taizong. With tears in his sitting here asleep,” the emperor said. eyes the dragon king went straight to the Imperial Palace and begged forgiveness “I did it in my dream,” the minister from the emperor. answered. The emperor’s feelings on hearing this were very mixed. On the one The emperor didn’t think the dragon hand, he was happy he had such a king’s crime was so terrible. After all, the competent minister who could perform dragon king got into this trouble because his duties even while he was napping. But he was trying to protect the river animals on the other hand he was sorry that he from the fisherman. The emperor told the had not been able to keep his promise to dragon king not to worry about it. The the dragon king.

Source: Many different editions of Journey to the West have appeared over the past 400 years. This summary of the dragon king story is based on W. J. F. Jenner’s English translation that was published in 1984 in Beijing, the capital of China, by the Foreign Language Press. The English translation is based on the Chinese edition published by the Beijing People’s Literature Publishing House in 1955.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 21 Notes for teachers on the Dragon King story

Jade Emperor and Emperor Taizong are two different emperors. Jade Emperor is a legendary god who lives in the heavens and Taizong is a real historical figure, the second emperor of the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE).

The Jing River dragon king and Emperor Taizong are two different dragons. As mentioned in the notes on the history of Chinese and Western dragons, Zhao (1992) explains how the mythical dragon from ancient times was appropriated by the imperial system to serve as a symbol of the emperor himself. Thus Emperor Taizong in this story represents the mythical Chinese dragon. The dragon king, on the other hand, belongs to the folk religion genre of dragons that developed following the introduction of Buddhism into China. The interactions between Emperor Taizong and the Jing River dragon king in this story therefore illustrate some of the differences between the two types of dragons. The emperor is clearly the more powerful of the two and the dragon king is a bit of a bumbler who has to throw himself at the mercy of the emperor. Zhao argues that this illustrates the authority of the state over the authority of folk religion in Chinese sociopolitical structures. But even the emperor cannot save the dragon king from his fate in this case. The dragon king, being a dragon from folk religion rather than a dragon from the mythical pantheon, can be killed, although he is not slain for being evil, as are the dragons in Western tradition (p. 107-110).

The historical context of the dragon king, from the Handbook of Chinese Mythology (Yang and An, 2005):

Though the dragon shows up very early in Chinese history and culture, and dragon kings have become popular gods in Chinese belief nowadays, the figures of dragon kings actually did not appear until the Eastern Han dynasty, when Buddhism was imported into China. … Because it was thought of as the main god that took charge of rain, a vital resource for an agricultural society, the dragon king emerging from Chinese Buddhism received positive feedback from people. Inspired by this, Taoist leaders created their own dragon kings to meet ordinary people’s needs and hence attract followers. Therefore, many dragon kings emerged from Chinese Buddhism, Taoism, and folk beliefs. People began to believe that in every sea, river, lake, spring, and even well there must be a dragon king reigning, and numerous temples for dragon kings were built throughout the country (p. 108).

Sources Jenner, W. J. F. (Translator). (1984). Journey to the West. Beijing: Foreign Language Press. Pages 176-188. Yang, Lihui, and An, Deming. (2005). Handbook of Chinese Mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC Clio. Zhao, Qiguang. (1992). A Study of Dragons, East and West. New York: Peter Lang.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 22 The Dragon in the Book of Revelation The story below is from Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible. The story was probably written in the first century C.E. The author of Revelation is named John, and he tells people what will happen in the future.

great sign appeared in the sky, a Awoman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth.

Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an The dragon waits for the woman iron rod. Her child was caught up to “clothed with the sun” to give birth to God and his throne. The woman her baby so he can eat it. herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that down with it. ... there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days. When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued Then war broke out in heaven; the woman who had given birth to the Michael and his angels battled against male child. But the woman was given the dragon. The dragon and its angels the two wings of the great eagle, so fought back, but they did not prevail that she could fly to her place in the and there was no longer any place for desert, where, far from the serpent, she them in heaven. The huge dragon, the was taken care of for a year, two years, ancient serpent, who is called the and a half-year. Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to The serpent, however, spewed a earth, and its angels were thrown torrent of water out of his mouth after

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 23 the woman to sweep her away with the and went off to wage war against the current. But the earth helped the rest of her offspring, those who keep woman and opened its mouth and God’s commandments and bear swallowed the flood that the dragon witness to Jesus. It took its position on spewed out of its mouth. Then the the sand of the sea. dragon became angry with the woman

Sources: Many different translations of the Bible into English have appeared over the centuries. This story is from a translation first published in 1970 and called The New American Bible, which appears on the Web site of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.shtml#revelation). The illustration was created by English artist William Blake, who lived from 1757 to 1827. It comes from Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blakedragon2.jpg).

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 24 Notes for teachers on the dragon in the Book of Revelation

Choice of the version of the Book of Revelation – I have chosen this translation from the many available because it is written in contemporary English, it is authorized by a major Christian organization (the Catholic Church), and it is available on the Web.

Author of the Book of Revelation – Most Biblical scholars do not consider the author named John to be the same John who wrote the Gospel of John. Apparently little is known of the author of the Book of Revelation.

Sources File:Blakedragon2.jpeg. (2006). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blakedragon2.jpeg United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (1991). Revelation. The New American Bible. Retrieved March 2, 2011, from http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/revelation/revelation12.htm

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 25 The Dragon in the Story of Beowulf Beowulf is the hero of a long fictional poem that was written in England 1,300 to 1,400 years ago. The author’s name is lost in history. The Beowulf epic takes place in what is now southern Sweden and Denmark. The story below is a summary of the last section of the poem. Earlier sections tell about Beowulf’s exploits as a young warrior and about his killing of the monster Grendel and Grendel’s mother.

eowulf had been king of the BGeats for 50 years when suddenly a fire-spewing dragon attacked his people. The dragon had been living for 300 years in a cave in the cliffs high above the ocean, guarding a huge treasure of gold and other precious objects. One day while the dragon was sleeping, a slave came across the cave and, noticing the riches inside, crept in, and stole a goblet. When the dragon awoke he was furious, and that night he vented his anger on the surrounding countryside. He even destroyed Beowulf’s great meeting hall.

Although Beowulf was an old man, he knew it was his responsibility to the people of Geat to destroy the dragon. Beowulf ordered his smith to make a special shield of iron to protect him from the dragon’s fire and set out for the dragon’s cave with a group of The first page of the oldest surviving eleven warriors. manuscript of the Beowulf story.

Arriving at the cave, Beowulf but did not destroy the dragon, who approached it alone. The dragon spewed fierce flames again. slithered out. His fierce hot breath seared Beowulf, but Beowulf raised Beowulf’s warriors were terrified to his sword and struck with all his see their king suffering under the might. dragon’s attack. All but one fled into the forest. Only young Wiglaf obeyed His sword failed him. It struck bone his conscience and stayed by his lord.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 26 As Wiglaf went to Beowulf’s aid, the himself that he could die knowing he dragon attacked a second time. The had served his people well and long. dragon’s flames consumed Wiglaf’s Then Beowulf asked Wiglaf to hurry shield as Beowulf struck another blow, to the dragon’s cave and bring the gold driving his sword into the dragon’s horde the dragon had protected for him skull. to see before he died.

But Beowulf’s blow was so strong that Wiglaf followed Beowulf’s command, his sword snapped in two and the and when he returned with the dragon charged him for a third time. treasures for Beowulf to see, Beowulf The dragon grabbed Beowolf’s neck spoke his last words. He ordered that with his teeth. Wiglaf plunged his his ashes be buried in a mound there sword into the dragon’s belly, and the on the cliff for all to see from the sea dragon’s heat began to cool. Then below, and he gave Wiglaf his golden Beowulf pulled out his knife and collar and his battle armor for Wiglaf finished off the dragon. Together the to use throughout his life. old king and the young warrior saved their people from the fiery dragon. And so the great warrior and king Beowulf died. His people burned his But Beowulf had suffered a fatal blow body and buried his ashes in a mound himself. As he collapsed in pain, above the sea, as he requested, and Wiglaf washed his bloody wounds they buried the dragon’s treasure there with water. Knowing his life was with him, too. ending, Beowulf reminded Wiglaf and

Sources: This summary of the last section of the Beowulf epic is based on a translation from Old English to modern English by Kevin Crossley-Holland. The translation was published in 1987 by The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom. The illustration of the first page of the Beowulf story comes from Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beowulf.firstpage.jpeg).

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 27 Notes for teachers on the Beowulf story

Connecting to students’ prior knowledge – Determine whether students have previously studied the Beowulf story. Some may have seen the 2007 film.

The Beowulf dragon story as a caution against greed – Evans writes, “... in Beowulf and the Sigurd legend, dragons symbolize the destructive effects of excessive wealth and power” (p. 15). Elaborating further, he says,

The dragons fought by Sigurd, Beowulf, Frotho, and many others symbolize greed. In societies without elaborate economic systems of capital and currency, where whole dynasties and tribal cultures depended upon the free exchange of heirlooms, weapons, and other valued objects, the social harm caused by withholding these things from circulation could be catastrophic (p. 72-3).

Sources Crossley-Holland, Kevin (Translator). (1987). Beowulf. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: The Boydell Press. Evans, Jonathan. (2008). Dragons: Myth and Legend. London: Apple Press. File:Beowulf.firstpage.jpeg. (2004). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beowulf.firstpage.jpeg

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 28 St. George Slays the Dragon The story of St. George slaying the dragon was told for several centuries before the English author Richard Johnson wrote this version about 400 years ago.

St. George slays the dragon to save the woman who is fleeing in the background.

fter many months of travel by is going to be given to the dragon Aland and sea, the English knight tomorrow.” St. George happily arrived in Egypt. Since night was falling, he approached “The king has promised,” the old man a small cottage and asked the old man continued, “to give his daughter in inside if he could spend the night. marriage to whatever brave knight has the courage to encounter the dragon The old man agreed readily and then and kill it.” The king’s offer so excited told St. George, “It’s really bad luck St. George that he immediately that you arrive in our country now, decided to kill the dragon or lose his when a dangerous dragon has been own life instead. terrorizing our country for twenty-four years. Every day he demands the body The next morning at dawn, St. George of a real virgin, whom he swallows got up, buckled on his armor, and rode down his poisonous throat. If we don’t off for the valley where the dragon give him a virgin, he spews such awful lived. As he came within sight of the breath across the countryside that he valley he saw the most charming and causes a plague. And now we are to beautiful virgin that he had ever laid the point where the only virgin left in eyes on. Approaching her, he assured the country is the king’s daughter. She her that he would kill the dragon and

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 29 sent her home to her father’s court. trusty sword Ascalon. A black venom spewed from the dragon’s wound with Then St. George entered the dragon’s such force that it broke St. George’s valley, where he soon encountered the armor and knocked him to the ground. dragon. The dragon was 50 feet long Again St. George crawled back under from his shoulders to his tail. His the orange tree to recover in safety. scales were as bright as silver and harder than brass. His belly was the St. George ate an orange from the tree, color of gold. which fully restored him. Then he prayed to heaven to make him strong The dragon attacked immediately, enough to slay the monster. Pulling out flapping his burning wings so strongly his sword Ascalon, he smote the that he almost knocked St. George off dragon under its wing, where it was his horse. St. George thrust at the tender and had no scales. Ascalon dragon with his spear, but his spear went in to the hilt, reaching deep shattered into a thousand pieces. Next inside the dragon and piercing its heart the dragon struck St. George with his and liver. Such an abundance of gore venomous tail so hard that both St. sprang from the wound that all the George and his horse were knocked to grass in the valley turned crimson red the ground, bruising two of St. and the dragon dropped dead. George’s ribs. St. George gave thanks to God Fortunately, St. George saw an orange Almighty and then cut off the dragon’s tree nearby and took shelter under it. head, which he mounted on the spear An orange tree has the rare virtue that that had broken into a thousand pieces no poisonous creature dares to get near at the beginning of the battle. With the it. St. George rested under the orange juice of an orange, he revived his tree until he regained his strength. horse, which was still laying inert on the ground after the dragon’s first As soon as his spirits were revived, St. blow. Then St. George rode off to the George charged the dragon again and court of the Egyptian king to claim the stabbed it under its belly with his king’s daughter as his bride.

Sources: This account of the St. George slaying the dragon comes from the book The Seven Champions of Christendom, which was written by Richard Johnson in the 1590s. The edition consulted for this summary was reprinted in 1824 by J. F. Dove Printer in London, England. It is available free from www.books.google.com. The painting is located in the St. George Palace in Genoa, Italy. This copy of the painting comes from Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genova- Palazzo_San_Giorgio-DSCF7719.JPG).

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 30 Notes for teachers on the St. George story

“The most recognized dragonslayer in the Christian tradition …” Evans on the St. George story:

The most recognized dragonslayer in the Christian tradition is St. George of Cappadocia (modern Turkey). The earliest versions of the life of St. George make no mention of an encounter with a dragon, focusing instead on his sufferings, miracles, and martyrdom. But as his popularity soared in the later Middle Ages, it was natural to attribute to him the conquest of a dragon – in the Christian tradition, the dragon had long been regarded as a manifestation of demonic power and an embodiment of Satan himself (p. 116).

Wikipedia has well-sourced articles both on St. George and on the particular legend of his slaying the dragon.

Connecting to students’ prior knowledge – Students may be familiar with the 2004 film George and the Dragon. A new film version of the legend is due for release in 2011.

Sources Johnson, Richard. (1824). The Seven Champions of Christendom. London: J. F. Dove Printer. Retrieved March 12, 2011, from http://books.google.com.sg/books? id=3KYFAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Seven+Champions+of+Christendo m,&hl=en&ei=leSKTZ_yAsnmrAfPzoDaDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resn um=5&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q&f=false Evans, Jonathan. (2008). Dragons: Myth and Legend. London: Apple Press. File:Genova-Palazzo_San_Giorgio-DSCF7719.jpeg. (2006). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved March 24, 2011, from (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genova- Palazzo_San_Giorgio-DSCF7719.JPG).

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 31 Dragon Character Analysis

Name ______

Name of the dragon story you read ______

Step 1: SOURCING – “Sourcing” = understanding who wrote the source, when they wrote it, why they wrote it, etc. Before you read the story, answer these questions using the notes provided before and after the story.

(1) Is your story a Chinese story or a “Western” story? (“Western” = European and the ancient cultures in the Middle East and Egypt from which European culture grew.)

______

(2) When and where did the events in your story supposedly happen? ______

______

(3) When was the story first written down? ______

______

(4) What do we know about who wrote the story? ______

______

(5) Was the story you read first written in a language other than English? If yes, when was the version you read translated into English?

______

STEP 2: CLOSE READING – “Close reading” = reading the story carefully several times to understand the details.

(1) Your goal is to describe the character of the dragon in your story. We usually understand someone’s character based on the things they say and do. Use the table on the next page to help you analyze the dragon’s character. (“analyze” = break something into pieces so you understand it better.)

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 32 In each cell below, write one important What does the comment or action in the thing that the dragon says or does in previous column tell us about the your story. dragon’s character?

(2) Based on your ideas in the right column above, write a paragraph describing the character of the dragon in your story.

(3) Is the dragon a mean and dangerous creature? Explain your answer using evidence (examples, information) from your story.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 33 Looking for Patterns: Is the dragon a mean and dangerous creature?

Name ______As students in your group tell their dragon stories, take notes on the following information for each story.

Name of story Chinese or Is the dragon Evidence for why you think the dragon was a mean Western story? a mean and and dangerous creature or not dangerous creature? Story of the Yellow Emperor

Hexagram for “Heaven” in I Ching

Journey to the West

Book of Revelation

Beowulf

St. George Slays the Dragon

After your group has heard all the dragon stories, discuss these two questions. Write your answers on the back of this paper. (1) How does the place where the dragon story comes from affect whether the dragon is mean and dangerous or not? (2) Should we use the same word ‘dragon’ for all these different creatures, or should they have two different names?

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 34 Dragon Character Analysis / Answer Key: Yellow Emperor

Name ______

Name of the dragon story you read Dragon in the Story of the Yellow Emperor

Chinese story

(2) When and where did the events in your story supposedly happen?

In China about 6,000 years ago.

(3) When was the story first written down?

About 2,500 years ago.

(4) What do we know about who wrote the story?

No information provided.

The story was first written in Chinese. This version was translated into English for publication in 1991.

(1) Your goal is to describe the character of the dragon in your story. Use the table on the next page to help you analyze the dragon’s character. (“analyze” = break something into pieces so you understand it better.) We usually understand someone’s character based on the things they say and do.

Ying Long joins the Yellow Emperor’s Ying Long was loyal to the emperor. He army to fight against Chi You. was brave to fight.

Ying Long “lived on a mountain in the Ying Long was powerful. Rain can be distant south and he could cause heavy good or bad, so it’s not clear if Ying rains.” Long did good things or bad things.

When Ying Long flew above Chi You’s Ying Long must be scary. army his soldiers were terrified and they lost the battle.

After the Yellow Emperor moved back Ying Long helped people when there to heaven, Ying Long “lived in the cool was a drought, so he was kind and mountain pools, and the people prayed generous. to him to bring rain whenever there was a drought.”

(3) Is the dragon a mean and dangerous creature? Explain your answer.

The only potential negative about Ying Long is that he scared Chi You’s army. But since they are the bad guys in the story, scaring them is not a mean and dangerous thing to do. Generally, students should get a positive opinion of Ying Long from the story.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 36 Dragon Character Analysis / Answer Key: I Ching

Name ______

Name of the dragon story you read Dragon in the I Ching hexagram for “Heaven”

Chinese story

In China during the Zhou dynasty

In the Zhou dynasty, about 3,100 years ago

No information provided

Originally written in Chinese. This version translated into English in 1984.

Dragons hibernate in the bottom of the Since the dragon makes rain, he’s a lake during winter and fly in the sky in good provider for people. He’s the summer to make rain. generous.

The dragon is playing in the field. The dragon is playful.

The dragon is leaping in the pool. Again, the dragon is playful.

The dragon is flying in heaven. The dragon is majestic, like the clouds or a rainbow.

The dragon is arrogant. The dragon can be too proud or boastful; it thinks too much of itself.

The dragon seems like a normal, happy animal. It hibernates in the winter and plays in the summer. It provides rain for people, which is generous of it. The dragon can be arrogant sometimes, but this is true of most people at one time or another. The dragon does not seem like a mean or dangerous creature.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 38 Dragon Character Analysis / Answer Key: Dragon King

Name ______

Name of the dragon story you read Dragon King in Journey to the West

Chinese dragon

According to the notes, in China sometime before the 1570s. In the story itself we learn that the setting is Chang’an (modern-day Xi’an), the capital of China during the reign of Emperor Taizong, the 2nd emperor of the Tang dynasty, who ruled from 626 to 649.

(3) When was the story first written down? 1570s

Author’s name is Wu Cheng’en.

First written in Chinese. This version was translated into English in 1984.

Gets mad when the fisherman is taking The dragon king is kind and protective unfair advantage of the creatures in the of the creatures in his kingdom. river.

Transforms into a scholar and tries to The dragon king has magical powers trick the fortune-teller. and he’s willing to use them to trick people in order to protect creatures in his kingdom.

Disobeys the Jade Emperor’s order He is creative but maybe also foolish, about the rain. since he assumes he won’t get caught when everyone should know you can’t fool the Jade Emperor.

Smashes up the fortune-teller’s shop. He has a bad temper, although he is trying to protect the animals in his river.

Asks Emperor Taizong to forgive him. He is not too proud to seek forgiveness.

The dragon king breaks up the fortune-teller’s shop, which makes him a little dangerous, but he was trying to defend the creatures in the river. The dragon king doesn’t do anything really mean, and he does a number of things that we could admire, such as defending the river creatures, listening to the advice of his family and colleagues, and seeking forgiveness for his bad judgment. All in all, the dragon king is a pretty likeable character.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 40 Dragon Character Analysis / Answer Key: Book of Revelation

Name ______

Name of the dragon story you read the Dragon in the Book of Revelation

Western story.

Some time in the future, in heaven and on earth.

In the first century C.E.

His name was John.

Translated into English in 1970.

“Its tail swept away a third of the stars This dragon sounds powerful and a in the sky and hurled them down to the little scary. earth.”

The dragon wanted to eat the newborn This sounds mean. baby.

The dragon fought with St. Michael and The dragon is evil to fight against the his angels and when the dragon lost he angels. and his companions were thrown out of heaven and down to earth.

After he was thrown down to earth, the The dragon is mean and evil to dragon pursued the woman who had continue pursuing the woman. the baby.

The dragon continued to “wage war” The dragon is very evil when he wages against people who believe in God and war against people who believe in God Jesus. and Jesus.

This dragon is clearly mean and dangerous. He tries to eat the baby, he pursues the baby’s mother, and he wages war against people who believe in God and Jesus.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 42 Dragon Character Analysis / Answer Key: Beowulf

Name ______

Name of the dragon story you read Beowulf

Western story

More than 1,400 years ago in Denmark and southern Sweden.

1,300 to 1,400 years ago

We don’t know the author’s name.

First written in Old English. This version translated into modern English in 1987.

The dragon attacked the Geats. Dragon must be pretty mean to attack a whole country.

The dragon was mad because someone Dragon was selfish and materialistic to stole a goblet from his treasure horde. be so upset about one goblet when he had so much other treasure.

The dragon killed Beowulf The dragon is evil.

The dragon is definitely mean and dangerous. It attacked the Geats and it killed Beowulf just to protect its horde of treasures.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 44 Dragon Character Analysis / Answer Key: St. George

Name ______

Name of the dragon story you read St. George Slays the Dragon

Western story

Many centuries ago

This version was written down about 400 years ago

He was an English author named Richard Johnson who wrote The Seven Champions of Christendom

Version was written in English in the 1590s.

The dragon eats a girl virgin every day. The dragon is indeed mean and evil.

The dragon attacked St. George. Another example of how mean and evil the dragon is.

This was clearly a mean and dangerous dragon. It demanded a virgin girl each day to eat and it attacked St. George.

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 46 Looking for Patterns: Is the dragon a mean and dangerous creature? / Answer key

Name ______As students in your group tell their dragon stories, take notes on the following information for each story.

Name of story Chinese or Is the dragon Evidence for why you think the dragon was a mean Western story? a mean and and dangerous creature or not dangerous creature?

Story of the Yellow Emperor Chinese No Helped the Yellow Emperor defeat Chi You.

Hexagram for “Heaven” in Chinese No Dragon is associated with good fortune. I Ching

Journey to the West Chinese No Dragon tries to defend the animals who live in the river; even the emperor was sad when the dragon was executed

Book of Revelation Western Yes Wants to eat the newborn child.

Beowulf Western Yes Hoards gold, terrorizes the Geats, and kills Beowulf

St. George Slays the Dragon Western Yes Demands a virgin girl to eat each day.

(1) How does the place where the dragon story comes from affect whether the dragon is mean and dangerous or not? Chinese dragons not mean and dangers; Western dragons are. (2) Should we use the same word ‘dragon’ for these different creatures, or should they have two different names?

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 47 Background notes for teachers on the history of Chinese and Western dragons

I chose dragons as the topic for this lesson because of my concern that students in Eurocentric cultures, for whom the dragon is something to be slain, will find their assumptions about dragons to impede their understanding Chinese dragons, which are often honored celestial beings. Becoming aware of these contradictory sensibilities is an excellent way for 6th grade students to begin to understand the importance of not transferring their own cultural experiences to the study of other cultures without careful reflection. My research quickly revealed, however, that there is another important reason for 6th graders to know more about dragons than most history and literature curricula teach them. Jonathan Evans notes that dragons and dragon-slayers provide “the fundamental mythic plot of Western civilization” (Evans, 2008, p. 71). Citing Joseph Fontenrose’s study of Delphic myth, Evans says:

Fontenrose sees the Western dragon myth as the expression of an essential cosmic dualism, an eternal struggle between the forces of Eros and Thantos – life and death (p. 10).

Although this lesson does not attempt to teach that interesting idea, the idea supports increased exposure for students to the history of dragons in both European and Chinese cultures. Evans’ retelling of a number of dragon stories from the East and the West clearly illustrates the fundamental difference between them.

In the Chinese version of the dragon myth, the dragon appears as a protective force associated with the life-giving natural world, particularly water. By contrast, Western traditions emphasize the destructive implications of its power, and in Classic and medieval European mythologies, dragons appear as cosmic enemies of heroic warriors and saintly defenders against evil (p. 10).

In A Study of Dragons, East and West, Qiguang Zhao (1992) elaborates on this difference in traditions from a Chinese perspective. Zhao was born in Beijing, he was a

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 48 teenager in China during the Cultural Revolution, and he received undergraduate and master’s degrees in China before completing a Ph.D. in comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). He has taught Chinese literature at Carlton College in Minnesota since 1987 (Senn, 2011). Zhao explores the differences between Chinese and European dragons in terms of both the physical forms that dragons take and their symbolic meanings.

The physical forms of Chinese and Western dragons When comparing the physical forms of Chinese and Western dragons, Zhao argues that almost all Chinese dragons have the same appearance while European dragons appear in many different forms. He quotes Luo Yuan of the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279 C.E.), who in turn quotes Wang Fu (ca. 85-162 C.E.) on the consistent form of Chinese dragons:

The nine resemblances are the following: the dragon has the horns of a deer, the head of a camel, the eyes of a devil, the neck of a snake, the abdomen of a clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle, the paws of a tiger, and the ears of a cow. Upon its head it has a lump in the shape of a boshan burner, called chi mu. If a dragon has no chi mu, it cannot ascend the sky (p. 18).

Zhao states unequivocally, “In Chinese culture, any dragon that does not possess this unique appearance … cannot be called a dragon” (p. 18), although he acknowledges that there was more variety among dragon images before the above standard was settled on in ancient times and that there are many “quasi-dragon” creatures that have some features of the dragon. Zhao suggests that the amalgamation that comprises the dragon may have derived from the Yellow Emperor’s army of many animals that is described in the Yellow Emperor reading included in this lesson. The mythology may reflect an actual situation in which different tribes with different animal totems united under a single leader, which led to the creation of a unified totem that included parts from each of the earlier totem animals (p. 17-18). Students can see most of the body parts of the dragon described above in the illustration of the imperial dragon from the Nine-Dragon Wall in Beihai Park in Beijing that is included in this lesson. On the contrary, “... one is often dazzled by the great variety of Western dragon

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 49 shapes” (Zhao, p. 36). Zhao categorizes them into four groups and gives many examples of each (p. 37-40): (1) reptilian monsters, such as the Egyptian Set, whose form was derived from a crocodile; (2) terrestrial mammals, whose “jaws are quite small, their huge powerful tails are instruments of destruction, and they feed upon the blood of the animals they kill” (p. 38); (3) winged monsters, including the two illustrations of Western dragons provided earlier in this lesson; and (4) dragons with many heads, including the dragon in the Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible, which is described in the student reading in this lesson as “a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.” (The seven heads are not clear in the Blake illustration included in this lesson.)

Symbolic meaning Contrary to the pattern that Chinese dragons are homogenous in appearance while Western dragons are heterogeneous, Zhou finds that in terms of symbolic meaning, it is the Western dragons that are homogenous and the Chinese dragons that are heterogeneous. Tracing the development of Western dragons from the ancient Middle East to Medieval Europe, Zhou says they are “eternally malevolent” and “demonic” (p. 49):

The demonic image of Western dragons goes back to the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Egyptian mythologies of the third millennia B.C. The dragon of these ancient mythologies represented elements that interfered with the correct order or functioning of the world and were vanquished by gods who shaped and organized the cosmos, and who through their victory acquired authority and power over the newly ordered world. Before they could bless the world, all heavenly figures seemed eager to throw the dragon out (p. 50).

Both the Hebrews and Greeks further developed the demonic nature of the dragon. Zhao lists various references in the Old Testament to evil dragons, including the story of Leviathan in the Book of Job and in the story of Hebrew enslavement by the Egyptian Pharaoh in the Book of Ezekiel. In the New Testament the dragon reappears as a stand- in for Satan in the culminating Book of Revelation, as seen in one of the student readings in this lesson. Greek mythology includes the battle between Zeus and the

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 50 dragon Typhon. From these sources dragons entered European legends and folk tales, such as the stories of the dragon-slayers Beowulf and St. George (p. 33-36, 50-56). Throughout this long history, the Western dragon remains an exoteric force, an evil from the outside whose defeat unites members of a community or a kingdom. On the other hand, Zhao says that Chinese dragons manifest various symbolic meanings depending on whether they are associated with mythological, legendary, or folk traditions. By mythology Zhao means stories “considered to be truthful accounts of what happened in the remote past” (p. 6). Examples would be the Yellow Emperor story, which is the founding myth of the Chinese people and culture, and the stories included in the I Ching, excerpts from both of which are student readings in this lesson. In this manifestation, the symbolic meaning of the dragon is “spiritual nobility.” The imperial system “needed a unified and continuous image to represent its absolute authority … The authoritative image of the Chinese mythological dragon was in keeping with such a social and ideological structure” (p. 72). The emperor appropriated the dragon as a symbol of imperial power:

The Emperor of China was actually called zhenlong tianzi, “the True Dragon and Son of Heaven.” It was believed that the emperor possessed dragon blood, and that he had dragons in his service. His affinity with dragons was shown in the names of things he used: The Emperor sat on a “dragon throne,” wore a “dragon robe,” rode in a “dragon cart,” and slept on a “dragon bed.” (p. 84)

The imperial, mythological dragon thus provided a positive image that people could rally around, an esoteric relationship, rather than the demonic force that must be expelled, the exoteric symbolic role played by Western dragons. The mythological dragon could never be slain in Chinese culture as it was in Western culture. The arrival of Buddhism in China during the Later Han dynasty (the first centuries C.E.) gave rise to other types of dragons with different symbolic meanings. Buddhist texts included stories of Indian nagas, “the mysterious dragon-like cobra” (p. 31), that were associated with water and rain, as was the existing Chinese mythological dragon. But the nagas were not purely benevolent. Their ability to withhold rain gave a negative as well as a positive nature to their characters. As the naga stories were integrated into Chinese culture, two new kinds of dragons, the dragon king and the evil dragon,

CHINESE HISTORY THROUGH CHINESE EYES — Dragons in China and the West 51 emerged in Chinese legends and folk tales. Although the dragon king looked exactly like the mythological Chinese dragon of high culture, its role was limited to that of a rain god and it had a mischievous personality, as seen in the dragon king story from Journey to the West that is included in this lesson. And even though the Jing River dragon king was not particularly evil, he did end up being killed. The evil dragons that began to appear in folk tales were also slain, much like evil Western dragons. (Because evil dragons play a relatively minor role in Chinese culture, and to keep the issues from becoming too complex, no stories of evil Chinese dragons are included in this lesson.) Thus Chinese dragons came to represent a greater range of symbolic meaning than Western dragons (p. 103-110). Evans makes another comparison between dragons in Chinese and Western cultures that is supported by the illustrations and stories included in this lesson:

Asian dragon myths are without a doubt the most interesting visually, providing the world with some of the most beautiful paintings, sculpture, enamel work, and architectural representations of the monster, while the myths, legends, and folktales of the Western tradition generally make more interesting stories (Evans, 2008, p. 10).

Evan’s use of the word “monster” in reference to Asian dragons suggests that perhaps he needs to learn the concept that is the ultimate goal of this lesson on dragons: the importance of not transferring our cultural experiences to the study of other cultures without careful reflection.

Sources Evans, Jonathan. (2008). Dragons: Myth and Legend. London: Apple Press. Fontenrose, Joseph. (1959). Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and its Origins. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Senn, Jan. (2011, February 15). Between Two Worlds. Academic Life at Carlton. Retrieved March 5, 2011, from http://apps.carleton.edu/academics/news/? story_id=709909 Zhao, Qiguang. (1992). A Study of Dragons, East and West. New York: Peter Lang.

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