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Three hundred years ago Pèro Veribest, Jesuit priest at the court of Kang Hsi, cast a number of bronze astronomical instruments for his imperial patron. The apparatus, of which this is a part, stands in the open, but the workmanship is so perfect and the care it has received has been so faithful that one would hardly imagine that this dragon was cast more than three centuries ago.
Young Dragon Drawing By Sofia Goldberg
Ten stately stone columns in the portico before the Confucian Temple at Chufu, Shantung. This temple stands near two of China’s most sacred shrines, the sites of the birthplace and of the grave of China’s greatest sage. The pillars are monoliths of white marble, nearly twenty feet in height. These are decorated with huge dragons in deep relief. This is said to be the most perfect and most beautiful stone colonnade in China.
The subject of this little book is of general interest to people who are acquainted with things Chinese. The dragon has played a large part in Chinese thought through four thousand and more years. Even in these days of the Republic it still fills an important place in Chinese life.
The dragon is one of the most common ornamental designs in China and one meets it wherever one goes in this country. However, in spite of the significance attached to the dragon, very little has ever been written concerning it in either Chinese or English. Only a few general articles on this subject have been published in magazines, and the references to it in books are very brief. No independent study of the dragon in book form has been made in either of these two languages until now.
In A Psychedelic Mood
The author is peculiarly fitted to undertake this piece of work. He was born in China and speaks the Chinese language as a native. Thus he has had the first-hand knowledge and the language to help him in his study. He has been studying on the subject of the dragon for fourteen years. In this time he has traveled over more than one half the number of provinces of China. The study is therefore not the result of a few month’s investigation, nor is it the product of research in only one city or province. The author’s acquaintance with the people and the language of China have made it possible for him to go to original sources and to study the subject from every angle. [viii]
Perhaps the last word on the Chinese dragon is not yet said, nevertheless it is safe to say that this treatise is as complete as our present knowledge will permit. This little volume should be of value to all who are interested in China.
This account of the dragon will not only be of value to foreigners, but it will also be such to Chinese. The author has made this study a hobby for many years and the result of his research is a splendid contribution to the literature on China. It would be a good idea for more people to take up the study of other phases of Chinese life in the same way and thus help to interpret China to the West.
Three Headed Dragon Illustration By Anna Rzepka On Dribbble
In the spring of 1909 the writer had the honor of being a guest for a week in the summer home of Dr. W.A.P. Martin, near Peking. Many residents of the Capital during the decade preceding the Revolution, and for a number of years before that, knew “Pearl Grotto” and visited the venerable senior missionary of China, then lately retired from the Presidency of the Imperial Tung Wen College.
Dr. Martin was a scholar of the old school and enjoyed few pursuits better than that of reviewing his remarkable memory of the classical writers. During the meals the old gentleman, then nearly eighty, would quote readily from Homer, Horace, and Virgil, and would ask his guest to translate the passages freely into English and to cite the books and chapters quoted.
After a few days in this uncomfortable situation the guest began to cast about for some means of relief. At that time he had been in the country but a few months, and was just beginning a general study of Chinese art. The dragon, among other objects of interest, particularly attracted his attention. It occurred to him to ask Dr. Martin some questions about this creature whose form was so popular with the Chinese. Accordingly a carefully prepared list of six or seven questions about the dragon was launched one morning across the breakfast table before the attack of Greek and Latin began. The first question met with a noncommittal reply, the second fared little better, and so on to the end. Then Dr. Martin admitted that this [x]was one of the subjects about which he knew very little. He was, however, very warm in his desire to help find answers to these questions, and he referred his guest to his personal friend, Sir Robert Hart, the Inspector General of the Imperial Customs, who had also lived fifty years in China. Unfortunately Sir Robert’s replies were as vague as those of the retired Professor. The questions which were asked of these two eminent Sinologues were also submitted to several other British and Americans in Peking, and later to many Chinese, but with similar results.
Wall Mounted Dragon Head Bottle Opener
It soon became evident that if the searcher for light on “Things Chinese” were to learn much about this creature which had challenged his attention, he must look it up from original sources. He was later convinced of this fact when he found it impossible to secure any satisfactory information from books published in English. He then resolved that before he himself was fifteen years in the country he would have answers to the seven questions which he had asked of his friends in Peking. The contents of this brochure are the results of a study made in ten provinces of China over a period of fourteen years. While this volume is not offered as the final word upon this subject, it probably represents the most exhaustive study thus far given to the Chinese dragon.
This book is not intended primarily for Sinologues and it contains no Chinese characters. The volume is written for the average reader, who in his study of things Chinese, has little time to go to original sources. Most people do not wish to be burdened with long quotations to prove abstract hypotheses or to have Chinese characters inserted in the text repeatedly to break the sequence. [xi]
If later interest in this subject justifies it, a larger work will be attempted and a more detailed presentation of the material thus far collected will be made. The writer’s purpose in this book has been to make as clear a statement of the subject as could be done within the compass of a small book, without introducing unnecessary material. If he has succeeded in this endeavor, he will be more than gratified. [xiii]
Kai's Golden Dragon Raider 71773
Kang Hsi, the venerated patron of art and literature, died at the age of sixty-nine, after ruling China for sixty-one years. This portrait was painted in the Imperial Palace at Peking, shortly before he died in 1723.
This massive structure, surmounted by countless dragons, stands in the Imperial Palace in Peking. From the dragon throne issued the decrees which, before the Republic, controlled the destinies of one quarter of the human race.
There are real dragons living in China to-day. These are not the horrible monsters that some have imagined them to be. They are friendly creatures highly revered by all the people. They possess marvelous powers and they occasionally permit themselves to be seen by mortal eyes. Such is the belief of at least seven out of every ten Chinese.
The Rediscovery Of Hokusai's Drawings Of 'everything'
The popular belief in the dragon is so deeply rooted and so widespread that it is advisable for one to secure an accurate knowledge of the Chinese idea of the venerated saurian if he desires to gain a truly sympathetic understanding of this remarkable people. Nearly every phase of Chinese life bears evidence of the influence of this unique member of the animal kingdom. Particularly is this true in the realms of their art, literature, folklore, zoölogy, history, and religion.
Chinese art employs dragon designs in endless variety. The graceful lines of its symmetrically proportioned body are found in every part of the country painted upon silks and porcelain, woven [4]into brocades, carved on wood, embroidered upon
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