| Longma | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A Dragon Horse | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 龍馬 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 龙马 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | dragon horse | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The longma is a fabled winged horse with dragon scales in Chinese mythology. Seeing a longma was an omen of a legendary sage-ruler,particularly one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
The Chinese word longma combines long 龍 "dragon" and ma 馬 "horse". Compare hema 河馬 (lit. 'river horse') "hippopotamus" and haima 海馬 (lit. 'sea horse') "seahorse". In addition to naming the mythic creature,longma龍馬 "dragon horse" can refer to an eminent person,such as in the four-character idiom longma jingshen 龍馬精神 ("vigorous spirit in old age").
Longma interconnects traditional Chinese beliefs about dragons and horses. An early example comes from the Zhouli ( 周禮 ;' Rites of Zhou '),which differentiates names for horses of different heights,measured in the chi 尺 ;'Chinese foot' (historically around 23–33 centimeters,see Chinese units of measurement). Horses up to 8 feet tall are called long龍 "dragon",those up to 7 feet are called lai 騋 ,and those up to 6 feet are called ma馬;'horse'. The Han dynasty scholar Wang Fu says,"The people paint the dragon's shape with a horse's head and a snake's tail (世俗畫龍之象，馬頭蛇尾。)." [1]
Edward H. Schafer describes the horse's "tremendous importance" to Tang dynasty rulers for military tactics,diplomatic policy,and aristocratic privilege.
Still, this patrician animal owed his unique status to more than his usefulness to the lords of the land. He was invested with sanctity by ancient tradition, endowed with prodigious qualities, and visibly stamped with the marks of his divine origin. A revered myth proclaimed him a relative of the dragon, akin to the mysterious powers of water. Indeed, all wonderful horses, such as the steed of the pious Hsüan-tsang which, in later legend, carried the sacred scriptures from India, were avatars of dragons, and in antiquity the tallest horse owned by the Chinese were called simply "dragons". [2]
This "steed" refers to Tang Sanzang's famous bailongma白龍馬 "white dragon horse".
The Japanese loanword ryūma or ryōma龍馬 (simplified 竜馬) has several meanings. Ryūma refers to the legendary Chinese "dragon horse" and the name of a chess piece in shogi (translated "promoted bishop", also pronounced ryūme). Ryōma is commonly used as a Japanese name, for instance Sakamoto Ryōma. See Visser for details about the dragon-horse in Japan. [3]
Many Chinese classic texts refer to the longma "dragon horse".
The most famous longma occurrences are connected with the mythical Hetu河圖 "Yellow River chart", which along with the Luoshu洛書 "Luo River writing; Lo Shu Square" are ancient magic square arrangements of the Bagua "8 Trigrams" and Wuxing "5 Phases". They are traditionally linked with prehistoric Chinese rulers, a longma revealed the Hetu to Fu Xi or Shun, and the shell of a gui 龜 "tortoise" revealed the Luoshu to Yu. "The Great Treatise" commentary to the Yijing explains.
Heaven creates divine things; the holy sage takes them as models. Heaven and earth change and transform; the holy sage imitates them. In the heavens hang images that reveal good fortune and misfortune; the holy sage reproduces these. The Yellow River brought forth a map and the Lo River brought forth a writing; the holy men took these as models. [4]
"The water of the Ho sent forth a dragon horse; on its back there was curly hair, like a map of starry dots", says the Yijing commentary, [5] "The water of the Lo sent forth a divine tortoise; on its back there were riven veins, like writing of character pictures." Hetu河圖 is alternately named longtu龍圖 and matu馬圖, with "dragon" and "horse". For instance, the Baihutong 白虎通 (封禪) says 河出龍圖 "the Yellow River sent forth the dragon chart" while the Liji (禮運) [6] says 河出馬圖 "the Yellow River sent forth the horse chart".
The Shujing (顧命) [7] records the original Hetu "river plan" among the royal treasures of King Cheng of Zhou (r. c. 1042–1021 BCE). Kong Anguo's Shujing commentary explains the longma.
A dragon horse is the [qi氣] vital spirit of Heaven and Earth. As a being its shape consists of a horse's body, yet it has dragon scales. Therefore it is called 'dragon horse'. Its height is eight ch'ih five ts'un. A true dragon horse has wings at its sides and walks upon the water without sinking. If a holy man is on the throne it comes out of the midst of the Ming river, carrying a map on its back. [8]
The Bamboo Annals which record ancient Chinese mythology and history describe the longma in a context of Yao conveying the throne to Shun. The spirits of the five planets appeared on the Yellow River and predicted, "The river scheme will come and tell the emperor of the time. He who knows us is the double-pupilled yellow Yaou." (Yao supposedly had double-pupil eyes, indicating insight). The Yellow River gave off light, beautiful vapors, and clouds.
Then a dragon-horse appeared, bearing in his mouth a scaly cuirass, with red lines on a green ground, ascended the altar, laid down the scheme, and went away. The cuirass was like a tortoise shell, nine cubits broad. The scheme contained a tally of white gem, in a casket of red gem, covered with yellow gold, and bound with a green string. On the tally were the words, 'With pleased countenance given to the emperor Shun'. [9]
A subsequent Bamboo Annals context describes the spirit of the Yellow River as a person rather than a dragon-horse, and says Yao rather than Yu received the Hetu in order to control the Great Flood.
As he was looking at the Ho [Yellow River], a tall man, with a white face and fish's body, came out and said, 'I am the spirit of the Ho.' He then called Yu, and said, 'Wan-ming [Yu] shall regulate the waters.' Having so spoken, he gave Yu a chart of the Ho, containing all about the regulating of the waters; and returned into the deep. [10]
The 4th-century Shiyiji (拾遺記) [11] records that Emperor Mu of Jin, "drove around the world in a carriage, drawn by eight winged dragon horses." This context uses the modified expression long zhi jun龍之駿 "dragon's excellent-horse".
The 10th-century Taiping Imperial Reader says a longma that appeared in 741 was considered as a good omen for Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.
It was spotted blue and red, and covered with scales. Its mane resembled that of a dragon, and its neighing was like the tone of a flute. It could cover three hundred miles. Its mother was a common horse which had become pregnant by drinking water from a river in which it was bathed. [12]
Longma or "dragon horse" connects with other creatures in Chinese folklore. While longma sometimes applies to the Qilin, [13] the closest relative is the legendary tianma 天馬 "heavenly horse" or the "Chinese Pegasus", which was metaphorically identified with the hanxuema汗血馬 "blood-sweating horse" or Ferghana horse. A poem attributed to Emperor Wu of Han celebrates a 101 BCE victory over Western tribes.
The Heavenly Horses are coming, Coming from the Far West. They crossed the Flowing Sands, For the barbarians are conquered. … The Heavenly Horses are coming; Jupiter is in the Dragon. Should they choose to soar aloft, Who could keep pace with them? They will draw me up and carry me To the Holy Mountain of K'un-lun. The Heavenly Horses have come And the Dragon will follow in their wake. I shall reach the[ clarification needed ] of Heaven, I shall see the Palace of God. [14]
In Chinese astrology, the Dragon and Horse are two of the twelve animals. A Zhuangzi (列禦寇) story mentions finding a "pearl worth a thousand pieces of gold" under the chin of a lilong驪龍 "black-horse dragon".
Some mythic elements of the longma "dragon horse" are culturally widespread. Schafer elucidates:
The legend of water-born horses was known in various parts of Turkestan. In Kucha, for instance, when that city was visited by Hsüan-tsang in the seventh century, there was a lake of dragons in front of one of its temples. "The dragons, changing their form, couple with mares. The offspring is a wild species of horse (dragon-horse) difficult to tame and of a fierce nature. The breed of these dragon-horses became docile." This story must have had its origin farther west in Iranian lands, where winged horses were familiar in art and myth. Even the long-legged small-bellied horses of the "Tajik," that is, of the Arabs, were said to have been born of the conjunction of dragons with mares on the shores of the "Western Sea.". [15]
The Chinese longma "dragon horse" is not culture-specific. Mythological hybrid animals or chimeras are known worldwide, including combinations of dragons and horses. In Greek mythology, the Hippocamp or Hippocampus (lit. "horse sea-monster"), which supposedly has the head and front legs of a horse and the hindquarters of a dragon or fish, parallels the longma. [16] In Babylonian mythology, "dragon-horse" is a title of the goddess Tiamat. [17] Among the prehistoric hill figures in Oxfordshire, Dragon Hill is below the Uffington White Horse.
The Chinese dragon, also loong, is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs. Academicians have identified four reliable theories on the origin of the Chinese dragon: snakes, Chinese alligators, thunder worship and nature worship. They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water.
Chinese mythology is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural traditions. Populated with engaging narratives featuring extraordinary individuals and beings endowed with magical powers, these stories often unfold in fantastical mythological realms or historical epochs. Similar to numerous other mythologies, Chinese mythology has historically been regarded, at least partially, as a factual record of the past.
Tianlong is a flying dragon in Chinese mythology, a star in Chinese astrology, and a proper name.
Merfolk, Mercreatures, Mermen or Merpeople are legendary water-dwelling, human-like beings. They are attested in folklore and mythology throughout the ages in various parts of the world. Merfolk, Merpeople, or simply Mer refers to humanoid creatures that live in deep waters like Mermaids, Sirens, Cecaelia etc.
Panlong is an aquatic dragon resembling a jiaolong 蛟龍 "river dragon; crocodile" in Chinese mythology, an ancient motif in Chinese art, and a proper name.
Yinglong is a winged dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.
Japanese dragons are diverse legendary creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China, Korea and the Indian subcontinent. The style and appearance of the dragon was heavily influenced by the Chinese dragon, especially the three-clawed long (龍) dragons which were introduced in Japan from China in ancient times. Like these other East Asian dragons, most Japanese ones are water deities or kami associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet.
Jiaolong or jiao is a dragon in Chinese mythology, often defined as a "scaled dragon"; it is hornless according to certain scholars and said to be aquatic or river-dwelling. It may have referred to a species of crocodile.
Qiulong or qiu was a Chinese dragon that is contradictorily defined as "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".
In Chinese mythology, the shen or chen is a shapeshifting dragon or shellfish-type sea monster believed to create mirages.
Zhulong or Zhuyin, also known in English as the Torch Dragon, was a giant red solar dragon and god in Chinese mythology. It supposedly had a human's face and snake's body, created day and night by opening and closing its eyes, and created seasonal winds by breathing.
Feilong is a legendary creature that flies among clouds in Chinese mythology. Feilong is a proper name, and is often used as a title for other ideas and objects.
Teng or Tengshe is a flying dragon in Chinese mythology.
Ma Long or Malong may refer to:
The White Dragon Horse, known as Bai Long Ma, and Yu Long, in Chinese, is one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. He is Tang Sanzang's steed who later became one of the Babu Tianlong Guangli Bodhisattva at the end of novel.
Horses are an important motif in Chinese mythology. There are many myths about horses or horse-like beings, including the pony. Chinese mythology refers to those myths found in the historical geographic area of China. This includes myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups. There are various motifs of horses in Chinese mythology. In some cases the focus is on a horse or horses as the protagonist of the action, in other cases they appear in a supporting role, sometimes as the locomotive power propelling a chariot and its occupant(s). According to a cyclical Chinese calendar system, the time period of 31 January 2014 - 18 February 2015 falls under the category of the (yang) Wood Horse.
Yubu, translated as Pace(s) of Yu or Step(s) of Yu, is the basic mystic dance step of religious Daoism. This ancient walking or dancing technique typically involves dragging one foot after another, and is explained in reference to the legendary Yu the Great, who became lame on one side of his body from exerting himself while establishing order in the world after the Great Flood. Daoist religions, especially during the Six Dynasties period (220–589), incorporated Yubu into rituals, such as the Bugang 步罡 "pace the Big Dipper", in which a Taoist priest would symbolically walk the nine stars of the Beidou 北斗 "Big Dipper" in order to acquire that constellation's supernatural energy.
The Yellow River Map, Scheme, or Diagram, also known by its Chinese name as the Hetu, is an ancient Chinese diagram that appears in myths concerning the invention of writing by Cangjie and other culture heroes. It is usually paired with the Luoshu Square—named in reference to the Yellow River's Luo tributary—and used with the Luoshu in various contexts involving Chinese geomancy, numerology, philosophy, and early natural science.
Longma is a fabled winged horse with dragon scales in Chinese mythology.
Footnotes
