Chinese dragon

Chinese dragon

The Azure Dragon depicted on the flag of the Qing dynasty
Grouping	Mythical creature
Sub grouping	Dragon
Folklore	Chinese mythology
Country	China

Chinese dragon
"Dragon" in oracle bone script (top left), bronze script (top right), seal script (middle left), Traditional (middle right), Japanese new-style (shinjitai, bottom left), and Simplified (bottom right) Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese	龍
Simplified Chinese	龙
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin lóng Bopomofo ㄌㄨㄥˊ Wade–Giles lung2 IPA [lʊ̌ŋ] Wu Suzhounese lón Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization lùhng Jyutping lung4 IPA [lʊŋ˩] Southern Min Tâi-lô lîng (col.) liông (lit.) Middle Chinese Middle Chinese lɨoŋ Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *mə-roŋ Zhengzhang *b·roŋ or *mroːŋ

The Chinese dragon or loong^[1] is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture generally. 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.^[2] They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water and weather.^[3]