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All About Chinese Dragons attempts to foster a wider understanding about the Chinese dragon and the many forms it took, in art, legend, and folklore. It is dedicated to the dragon, and its many offshoots and variations, and gives not only details of what a Chinese dragon was, where it was used, and what it was called, but also a few of the hundreds of legends about it that have arisen. The reader will become more acquainted with the dragon, and will gain a greater understanding of this magnificent beast. This book will interest and please the serious student and the enthusiastic tourist alike.
In ancient China, the different tribes lived under the protection of benevolent spirits that took the form of animals--fish, ox, bird, horse, and serpent. But, as often happens, the tribes grew envious of each other and began to fight amongst themselves in the names of their spirits. The children decided to declare a war on war by creating a creature that combined the best of all the spirits and would protect all the people. To this day, the dragon is a symbol of peace and plays an especially important role in the celebration of the Chinese New Year. This timely message of cooperation and empowerment makes this book especially appealing to trade and institutional accounts. Communities with significant Chinese populations will also have a special interest in this title. Catherine Louis' Liu and the Bird was a critical hit with review journals, teachers, and librarians.
Ancient artefacts and legends indicate that the concept of dragons was imprinted on the Chinese consciousness as far back as the Neolithic era. The dragon - considered divine by all - was sacred to the people and came to symbolize Chinese imperial power and majesty. Dragons are depicted in a wide variety of enchanting shapes and forms: embroidered or woven into textiles, glazed in pottery, carved into roof beams and temple pillars, designed in light or high relief on screens and panels, and cast in bronze. Dragons can change shape, have particular likes and dislikes, and have specific functions. There are said to be nine sons of the dragon, and a multiplicity of dragon types.Chinese Dragons takes us on a fascinating journey through the intriguing complexities of dragon lore, the evolution of the Chinese dragon, the different types of dragons and their uses, the art of the dragon in all its forms, and dragon legends and sightings. This unique book will appeal to anyone interested in folkore, as well as anyone who has ever been, or has dreamt of going, to China.
Modernization and conversion to world religions are threatening the survival of traditional belief systems, leaving behind only mysterious traces of their existence. This book, based upon extensive research conducted over a period of nearly four decades, brings scientific rigor to one of the questions that have always attracted human curiosity: that of the origin of the dragon. The author demonstrates that both dragons and rainbows are cultural universals, that many of the traits that are attributed to dragons in widely separated parts of the planet are also attributed to rainbows, and that the number and antiquity of such shared traits cannot be attributed to chance or common inheritance, but rather to common cognitive pathways by which human psychology has responded to the natural environment in a wide array of cultures around the world.
This book examines the paradox of China and the United States’ literary and visual relationships, morphing between a happy duet and a contentious duel in fiction, film, poetry, comics, and opera from both sides of the Pacific. In the 21st century where tension between the two superpowers escalates, a gaping lacuna lies in the cultural sphere of Sino-Anglo comparative cultures. By focusing on a “Sinophone-Anglophone” relationship rather than a “China-US” one, Sheng-mei Ma eschews realpolitik, focusing on the two languages and the cross-cultural spheres where, contrary to Kipling’s twain, East and West forever meet, like a repetition compulsion bordering on neurosis over the self and its cultural other. Indeed, the coupling of the two—duet-cum-duel—is so predictable that each seems attracted to and repulsed by its dark half, semblable, (in)compatible for their shared larger-than-life-ness.
Explores the characters of fantasy & folklore and places them in historical context.
Discover the truth about the world's most terrifying mythical creatures that have been scaring people for generations, from Beowulf's Dragon to Frankenstein. Featuring ancient legends and folklore, movie and modern monsters, this collection of more than 40 creatures will scare and entertain with stunning illustrations, maps and fascinating facts.
In 1931, China suffered a catastrophic flood that claimed millions of lives. This was neither a natural nor human-made disaster. Rather, it was created by an interaction between the environment and society. Regular inundation had long been an integral feature of the ecology and culture of the middle Yangzi, yet by the modern era floods had become humanitarian catastrophes. Courtney describes how the ecological and economic effects of the 1931 flood pulse caused widespread famine and epidemics. He takes readers into the inundated streets of Wuhan, describing the terrifying and disorientating sensory environment. He explains why locals believed that an angry Dragon King was causing the flood, and explores how Japanese invasion and war with the Communists inhibited both official relief efforts and refugee coping strategies. This innovative study offers the first in-depth analysis of the 1931 flood, and charts the evolution of one of China's most persistent environmental problems.