Made by student of 8 “E” Aigerim Bakyt Topic : Ancient China’s Culture and Beliefs

Chinese Ancient Dragon is …  a magic creature from Chinese mythology who is known for his kindness and gentleness. He strongly influenced on cultural and spiritual development of China.  “The dragon was a benevolent creature with powers to bring rain, floods, and even hurricanes to a land. Along with this ability, the dragon signified power, strength, and good luck.” ( Annie Wu, 2015 )

The legend Carp saw a mountain and wanted to go up to here. To reach this peak of mountain he swam up with help of waterfall. When fish achieve his goal, he went across the Dragon Gates and became a dragon. So by this cause Dragons represent flood, rain, tsunami and other things which are connected with water

The symbolizes  Power  Kindness  Wisdom  Energy  Tolerance  Heroism  Optimism  Greatness  Superiority  Calm

5 elements  Except these values dragon ideate five elements. Values which were said before are belong to these elements 1.Water ( caring and optimism) 2.Wood ( creativity and inspiration) 3.Fire ( power and emperor) 4.Earth ( calm and tolerant) 5.Metal ( strong and fail)

The Role of Chinese Dragon  The dragons always helped to people in their life, so that’s why they were known as their teachers. Dragons’ goal was to tutor nation to survive and care about themselves. According to legend, exactly dragons taught people in such as branches like agriculture, cattle, fishing and so forth. Also, they enlighten them to express themselves and their culture by art and music. By this they could keep balance in the world

Dragon in different dynasties  In the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC), the dragon was known as a deity in the mind of ancient Chinese, and it was adoration as very powerful and silent animal  “In the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-221 BC), the image of the dragon was greatly weakened owing to the emergence of the image of the phoenix, and the phoenix coronet was even grafted on the head of the dragon in some patterns, making the dragon more feminine (Yin) and artistic. “ ( Annie Wu, 2015 )  In the Qin (221 BC-207 BC) and Han (206 BC- 220) dynasties, the image of the dragon was developed. There was added ears, horn, paws and belly. The dragon was used as national flag of Qin dynasty

Culture  “The dragon is used as a symbol of strength and gentleness for the nation itself in virtually all forms of Chinese art – from paintings on ancient Chinese scrolls to modern day dances, and of course the architecture.” ( Annie Wu, 2015 )  With the appearance of such as sacred creature humans wanted to show their respect to him. They started to picture him in some of their works. Most artists and sculptors have been inspired by the Dragon and tried to do their best to express their attitude to “their teacher”.

Dragon dance  In China they have a special Dragon dance, which mostly performing on festivals and Chinese Happy New Year to bring with dance good luck and happiness. For this dance dancers needed a costume of dragon which can be hold by more than 6 people. “Generally a long dragon, spanning up to 70 meters, was historically constructed using hoops made of bamboo covered by glistening fabric and supported by poles, held by dancers moving fluidly as one body. They bring the dragon to life by raising and lowering their poles to let the majestic creature undulate through the air.” ( Annie Wu, 2015 )

Chinese dragon in Home  According to China’s traditions to have a Chinese symbol in home brings to your family care and protection. This symbol is calling – a hanja. This symbol may imaged in pictures, calligraphy, paintings and so on. In Dragon’s hanja there used a variety of symbols which represents his kindness and prosperity

Idioms from Chinese literature about dragon  龙马 精神 (spirit of a dragon horse): referring to vigorous spirit in old age.  鱼龙 混 杂 (fish and dragons jumbled together): referring to good and bad people mixed together.  龙腾 虎 跃 (dragon rises and tiger leaps): referring to a scene of hustling and bustling activity.  车 水 马龙 (carriages move on like a stream and horses pass like a long dragon): referring to a scene of heavy traffic.  龙 潭虎穴 (dragon's pool and tiger's den): referring to a very dangerous spot.

Apa Style  Jim Orrill, Demand Media, “ Why are Dragons Important in Chinese Culture?”  CrystaLinks, 2012, “Chinese dragons”  Terry Hurley, LoveToKnow, “Understanding The Chinese Dragon Symbol”  Annie Wu, China Highlights, December 7, 2015, “The Chinese Dragon: Symbol of strength and power”

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