. The dragon, image, and demon; or, The three religions of China: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, giving an account of the mythology, idolatry, and demonolatry of the Chinese. ay, is hisbirthday. The Dragons—The Dragons of the four seaswere four brothers by the name of Yao, who govern theNorth, South, East, and West seas. The fabulousdragon of China is a monster with scales like a crocodileand having five-clawed feet. He has no wings, andwhen he rises in the air, it is by a power he is supposedto possess of transforming himself at pleasure. He canmake himself large or little, and rise or f
. The dragon, image, and demon; or, The three religions of China: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, giving an account of the mythology, idolatry, and demonolatry of the Chinese. ay, is hisbirthday. The Dragons—The Dragons of the four seaswere four brothers by the name of Yao, who govern theNorth, South, East, and West seas. The fabulousdragon of China is a monster with scales like a crocodileand having five-clawed feet. He has no wings, andwhen he rises in the air, it is by a power he is supposedto possess of transforming himself at pleasure. He canmake himself large or little, and rise or fall, just as hechooses. The dragon, which is a flying saurian, seemsto be an original Chinese creation. He occupies aprominent place in Chinese mythology; he sends rainand floods, and is the ruler of the clouds. 3i6 The Dragon, Image, and Demon. Of the scaly reptiles the dragon is the chief, saysa native author; * it wields the power of transformationand the gift of rendering itself visible or invisible atpleasure. In the spring it ascends to the skies, and inthe autumn it buries itself in the watery depth. * Thereis the celestial dragon, which guards the mansions of the. The Dragon. gods and supports them so that they do not fall; thedivine dragon, which causes the winds to blow and pro-duces rain for the benefit of mankind; the earth dragon,which marks out the courses of rivers and streams; andthe dragon of the hidden treasures, which watches overthe wealth concealed from mortals. The Gods of Buddhism. l^^l The Buddhists count their dragons in number equal tothe fish of the great deep, which defies arithmetical com-putation, and can only be expressed by their sacrednumerals. The people have a more certain faith in themthan in most of their divinities, because they see themso often ; every cloud with a curious configuration orserpentine tail is the dragon : We see him, say they;the scattering of the cloud is his disappearance. He
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbuddhis, bookyear1887
