What is the dragon made of?

Dragon with lion head, antlers, shrimp legs, crocodile mouth, turtle neck, snake body, fish scales, octopus belly, fish ridge, Tiger Claw, eagle claws and goldfish tail.

What is a dragon? Some people say that it is the first of all things, one of the four spirits, and it is "the length of the scale worm." There are many kinds of dragons. Squamous dragons are called winged Ying Long, horned dragon and horned dragon. In the eyes of the ancients, the dragon is an elusive magical animal: "If you want to be small, you will turn into a silkworm candle. If you want to be big, you will hide in the world. If you want to go up, you will be in the clouds. If you want to go down, you will be in a deep spring. It changes every day and rises and falls from time to time"; "It can be quiet and clear, detailed and huge, short and long, reaching the sky at the vernal equinox and diving at the autumnal equinox". This kind of dragon can only be controlled by the mythical sun god Dong Jun and the river god Hebo.

In ancient times, dragons first appeared as symbols of clans. Because people usually used animals or plants as symbols of their clans at that time, this symbol was also called "totem". Legend has it that Qiang people take sheep as their totem, businessmen take phoenix as their totem, and Xia people take snakes as their totem (snakes are dragons). Because there were many clans at that time, wars often occurred between tribes, and the strong merged with the weak, so the totem of clans was constantly changing. For example, the "snake" clan is constantly merging with the clans such as eagle, deer, horse, pig and fish. As a result, the "snake" added eagle's claws, deer's horns, horse's body, pig's mouth and fish's scales, and gradually became a mutant animal-"dragon". This is a united whole and a symbol of multi-ethnic unity in China.

Dragons have a strong mythical color. In feudal society, it was also a symbol of the emperor's "heavenly power" and power. Therefore, emperors all claimed to be "real dragon emperors". Records of the Emperor Gaozu in Historical Records recorded that Liu Bang's mother, Liu Wei, dreamed of a mosquito dragon hovering over her head in the dark night of lightning and thunder, and as a result, she was pregnant and gave birth to Liu Bang. When Liu Bang was drunk, he often had a dragon shape on his head and became the "real dragon son of heaven". Therefore, "Dragon and Tiger Spirit" has also become synonymous with the emperor. Because the emperor is the embodiment of the "real dragon", the dragon pattern has become the symbol of the emperor, representing the "authority" of the emperor. From the Yuan Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, dragon patterns could not be used casually for hundreds of years. Five-claw dragons are only used in emperors and courts, and folk dragons are limited to three-claw or four-claw dragons.

The shape of dragon pattern changes with the times, and the characteristics of the times are very distinct.