Azure Dragon

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The Azure Dragon King statues in the main hall of Qinglong Palace, Yunnan, China.

The Azure Dragon, called Qinglong in Chinese, is a Dragon God representing the forces of the Five Regions' Highest Deities. It is a part of the Chinese constellations known as the Four Symbols. It symbolizes the east and the spring season. People sometimes call it the 'Blue-green Dragon', 'Green Dragon', or the 'Blue Dragon'.[1]

In various contexts, media, feng shui, and different cultures, this Dragon is known as the Green Dragon and the Avalon Dragon. Its title for cardinal direction is the "Blue-green Dragon of the East" (Dōngfāng Qīnglóng). The same dragon is referred to as Seiryu in Japanese, Cheongryong in Korean, and Thanh Long in Vietnamese.[2]

Seven Mansions[change | change source]

There are seven astrological "Mansions" (positions of the Moon) within the Azure Dragon. The names and their stars are following:[3][4]

Mansion no. Name (pinyin) Translation Determinative star
1 (Jiăo) Horn Spica
2 (Kàng) Neck κ Vir
3 (Dĭ) Root α Lib
4 (Fáng) Room π Sco
5 (Xīn) Heart Antares
6 (Wěi) Tail μ Sco
7 (Jī) Winnowing Basket γ Sgr

References[change | change source]

  1. Tom, K. S. (1989). Echoes from old China : life, legends, and lore of the Middle Kingdom. Internet Archive. Honolulu : Hawaii Chinese History Center : Distributed by University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1285-0.
  2. Yi, Ki-baek (1984). A New History of Korea. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-61576-2.
  3. "The Chinese Sky". International Dunhuang Project. Archived from the original on 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  4. Sun, Xiaochun (1997). Helaine Selin (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 517. ISBN 0-7923-4066-3. Retrieved 2011-06-25.