![]() Veneration of chthonic dragon god(s) of the five directions still persists today in southern areas, such as Canton and Fujian. The name Wufang longwang ( 五方龍王, "Dragon Kings of the Five Regions/Directions") is registered in Daoist scripture from the Tang dynasty, found in the Dunhuang caves. Historically there arose a cult of the Five Dragon Kings. Dragon Kings of the Five Regions Dragons of the Five Regions The dragon king gets his orders from the Jade Emperor. The dragon king is the king of the dragons and he also controls all of the creatures in the sea. Within the Daoist pantheon, the Dragon King is regarded the zoomorphic representation of the yang masculine power of generation. In the past, there used to be Dragon King miao shrines all over China, for the folk to engage in the worship of dragon kings, villages in farm countries would conduct rites dedicated to the Dragon Kings seeking rain. This ritual was practiced in North of China into the 20th century. In Changli County, Hebei Province a procession of sorts carried an image of the Dragon King in a basket and made circuit around nearby villages, and the participants would put out in front of their house a piece of yellow paper calligraphed with the text: "The position of the Dragon King of the Four Seas 四海龍王之位, Five Lakes, Eight Rivers and Nine Streams", sprinkle it with water using willow withes, and burning incense next to it. Rainmaking rituals ĭragon processions have been held on the fifth and sixth moon of the lunar calendar all over China, especially on the 13th day of the sixth moon, held to be the Dragon King's birthday, as ritualized supplication to the deity to make rain. One of his epithets is Dragon King of Wells and Springs. The Dragon King has been regarded as holding dominion over all bodies of water, and the dispenser of rain, in rituals practiced into the modern era in China. There are also the cosmological "Dragon Kings of the Four Seas" ( 四海龍王 Sihai Longwang).īesides being a water deity, the Dragon God frequently also serves as a territorial tutelary deity, similarly to Tudigong "Lord of the Earth" and Houtu "Queen of the Earth". He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the lóng in Chinese culture. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. ![]() The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. Dragon King of the Seas (海龍王), painted in the first half of the 19th century. ![]()
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