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Long (龙, dragon) is rich in symbolism. It is not a single animal but a composite cosmic creature—with the horns of a deer, the body of a snake, the scales of a carp, and the claws of an eagle. It flies without wings, controls the weather, commands the seas, and moves between the realms of sky, water, and clouds. In Chinese culture, the long is one of the most powerful and auspicious symbols, woven into mythology, politics, art, and even everyday language. In the eyes of ancient Chinese people, the dragon brought rain, nourished the earth, and ensured bountiful harvests. Although long shares the English name “dragon,” it differs entirely from the fire-breathing, winged monster of Western folk lore.

The Huainanzi (淮南子, c. 2^nd century BCE), a Han dynasty philosophical and political text, describes the dragon as the supreme creature of transformation and movement: “The dragon can be large or small; it can ascend or hide. When large, it stirs clouds and spews mist; when small, it conceals its form. When it ascends, it soars between heaven and earth; when it hides, it submerges within the waves (夫龙, 能大能小, 能升能隐. 大则兴云吐雾, 小则隐介藏形; 升则飞腾于宇宙之间, 隐则潜伏于波涛之内).” This passage captures the dragon’s essential qualities: limitless transformation and mastery over water and sky.

The Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字, c. 2^nd century CE), the earliest Chinese dictionary, states: “The dragon is the chief of scaly creatures. It can be dark or bright; small or gigantic; short or long. At the Spring Equinox it ascends to the sky; at the Autumn Equinox it dives into the depths (龙, 鳞虫之长. 能幽能明, 能细能巨, 能短能长. 春分而登天, 秋分而潜渊).”

The dragon may be the most representative symbol in Chinese culture. Archaeologists have unearthed dragon antifacts from ruins spanning several millennia. Jade dragons date back to around 3000 BCE in the Neolithic Hongshan Culture (红山文化) in present-day Liaoning Province (辽宁省). The sequence of images below illustrates the evolution of dragon imagery from the Hongshan period through the Zhou, Tang, and Ming dynasties (周, 唐, 明), and into today’s high-tech, dynamic drone light displays shaped like flying dragons.