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For decades, Chinese dragons on my mind

 

As a teenager, I once bought a white T-shirt from Honolulu’s Chinatown that had black letters noting the location and a red curving dragon representing Chinese culture.

Its mouth was agape, its teeth were sharp, its pointed toes jutting out and its spiny body swirled on the white cotton. For some reason, I liked it.

Since then, I’ve tried to keep my eyes open for Chinese-style dragons in the United States, China or other parts of Asia. I like seeing designs, learning the history behind them and noting where they pop up.

In fact, I once bought some note cards printed by The Metropolitan Museum of Art that featured a yellow dragon on a Chinese emperor’s silk robe.

When I went to the New York City museum’s Web site, I didn’t spot that image but I found this eye-catching piece of history.

 

 

You can see why history, architecture and design interest me – particularly when a ladle design can surprise because of a dragon head at one end and its place in history.

Also, as the museum notes, dragons have appeared in art and artifacts in other places on the globe.

I appreciate the Metropolitan for putting a digital image on its Web site and for letting bloggers such as myself use the photograph under its terms.

Years ago, I visited the Metropolitan, the actual museum.

But it is easy to become overwhelmed by everything in it. Also, years later, it is hard to remember all the images on artifacts.

This ladle image, as well as the bell photograph below, do the trick – and remind me how long the dragon has been around in history.

 

 

Many people have posted stories online about Chinese dragons in history – as well as images.

Apparently, there are nine types of Chinese dragons – some with horns, others with wings - and the history of the creature in what is now China stretches to 3000 BC, according to an article from tour operator Beijing Service.

The mythical creature represents “happiness, immortality, procreation, fertility and activity” and the fierce creature could chase bad spirits away, the company explains.

Dragon images, as I noted, have appeared on the clothing of Chinese emperors because, as the Beijing Service notes:

Chinese emperors think they are the real dragons and the sons of heaven. Thus the beds they sleep on are called the dragon beds, the throne called the dragon seat, and the emperor’s ceremonial dresses called the dragon robes.

Legend has it that the snake-like creatures reside under the Earth and only surface during the Chinese calendar’s second month.

Their purpose, the article points out: To cause rain and thunder.

In Seattle, I’ve seen dragon images in the Chinatown Gate, in a license plate holder and documented by photographers.

In Beijing, I’ve even bought a dragon kite, similar to this one, and watched old men fly large ones in the sky over Tiananmen Square.

The name of Bruce Lee in Mandarin is Li Xiao Long – with Long being the Chinese character for dragon.

 

 

The other day when the afternoon sun hit a dragon’s head in Seattle’s International District, I pulled over near the intersection of South Jackson Street and Fifth Avenue South.

If you’re in a rush, it’s easy to pass these dragons, though I’ve noticed that tourists often spot them.

Dragons have even surfaced in my family’s history with my grandfather handing down stories to my mom about his home village in the Taishan area of Guangdong province.

As I note in an essay published in Cultural Curiosity: Thirteen Stories about the Search for Chinese Roots: 

He used to tell my mother that the village and its rolling hills – which locals say resemble a dragon’s curvy back – were paradise.

I write later that my family’s village in China looks romantic to an outsider - but it’s difficult work if you actually toil in the humidity, stagnant water and fields.

Oh yes, back in Seattle, across the street from that red dragon is a yellow one that looks at its counterpart.