Evolution of the Chinese dragon totem, significance

When there was no state in ancient China, mankind was divided into many tribes. Each tribe had an animal totem, and the original Chinese totem was a carp. The custom at that time was that when worshipping a tribe each would add a part of the other's totem to their own. So the primitive carp had the body of a snake, the claws of an eagle, the face of a horse, and the horns of a deer....... The most primitive carp had only scales and whiskers left.