Why China is Called China

China is the appellation of our country given by foreigners.

The porcelain china is the transliteration of the place name Changnan, which was the old name for the porcelain town of today's Jingdezhen (Jingde Town). In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), people built their cave-houses and cut logs to make pottery. And in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people combined the advantages of celadon from the southern Yue kiln and white porcelains from the northern Xing kiln, and with the high-quality earth of the Gaoling Mountain in Changnan Town they produced a kind of white & green porcelain. This porcelain was smooth and bright, and hence earned another name of artificial jade. It became famous both home and abroad and exported to Europe in large quantities since people there did not know how to make porcelain before the 18^thcentury.

In Europe, people regarded Changnan porcelain as something precious and delicate and would take proud in possessing one. As time passed, people in Europe forgot the meaning of Changnan and switched the original meaning of porcelain of the word 'china' to the place of its origin ― China. Therefore, Changnan in people's eyes represented porcelain and China. In the Jingde reign of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Emperor Zhenzong loved Changnan porcelain so much that he ordered to build official cave-houses to make porcelain of all kinds. And porcelains paid as tributes to the emperor were required to print with made in the Jinde reign at the bottom. From then on, Changnan Town became Jingde Town and it remained as such until today.

Dragon Has Nine Sons

As the legend goes, dragon has nine sons who are different from each other in terms of temperament, appearance and even jobs. In the ancient buildings and containers we can sometimes find the dragon's sons.

The eldest son looks like a turtle that always likes to carry big stonework on his back and hence is titled the turtle carrying the stonework.

The second son always likes to stand in a high place and watch afar. He is the one we see on the fastigium of palaces.

The third is very small and likes to yell a lot. We can see him on bronze bells.

The fourth looks like a tiger with great power. We can only see him at gates of jails.

The fifth likes to eat and is often seen on bronze containers for food.

The sixth likes to play with water and is often carved on bridges.

The seventh likes to kill and fight and is often carved on hilts.

The eighth is like a lion and likes firework. He can always be found on censers.

The youngest looks like a spiral shell and likes to be quiet. We can always find him on doors.

Folk Dragon and Royal Dragon

The largest stonework in the Forbidden City is 1.7 meters thick and weighs 250 tons. There are nine dragons playing in the clouds floating above the sea. In the feudal society, dragon was a symbol of imperial power.

Liu Bang, the emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD) made up a story which said that his mother dreamed a dream that she united with a dragon and then gave birth to Liu. And it was even said that when Liu got drunk, his dragonhead would emerge. Therefore, Liu became the son of dragon. It was obvious that Liu intended to establish a high image of himself through the legend of dragon and thus to consolidate his position as an emperor. Subsequently, later emperors and those who dreamed to be emperors said that they were the sons of dragon.

After the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), dragon became the symbol of imperial power and represents the emperor. At that time, the body of the emperor was called dragon body, the face dragon face, clothes dragon robe, and even their offspring were titled dragon sons or dragon grandsons.

When it came to the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, those dragons embroidered in emperors' dragon robes and carved in the palace walls all became five-claw. The five-claw dragon was forbidden for use by common people, and those who dared to use them for decoration would be sentenced to death. The emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties lived in the Forbidden City and therefore, the walls, windows, ceilings and steps were all carved with dragons.

The common people did not like the royal dragon that stood for the imperial power. They liked another kind of dragon which could bring them good luck and happiness. In festivals, people liked to wield dragon lanterns and dance the dragon dance. In the Dragon Boat Festival, people would hold dragon boat race. There are also many beautiful folk legends about dragon, among which last touch added to a drawing and professed love of what one really fears are very popular.

There are a lot of operas, music, paintings and artworks and idioms about dragon. And the names of mountains, rivers and places with the word dragon are countless in China. Dragon is also one of the twelve animals, which represent the twelve Earthly Branches and are used to symbolize the year in which a person is born.

Nowadays, dragon can no longer represent imperial power; however, it is still believed that it can bless people good luck. And Chinese dragon has a new connotation -- it represents Chinese spirit of diligence and striving upwards. Dragon has become the symbol of the Chinese Nation.

Stories about Dragon

Last touch added to a drawing

Once a famous artist Zhang Sengyou drew four dragons on the walls of the Anle Temple, Jinling, but he left the pupils of the dragons unfinished. Someone asked him the reason of the omission. In answer, he said that if he put the pupils therein the dragons would become alive and fly away. The questioner did not believe it and requested him to complete the work. The artist nodded assent. But as soon as the two dots were drawn, all of a sudden, there were thunder and lightning and the dragon became alive and instantly flew away, while the other three without pupils still remained there.

Based on this fairy tale, the last touch added to a drawing is said to be the act of adding pupils to a dragon; that is to say, the last touch in a masterpiece is the most important part of a drawing, or any other important business. And now it becomes a phrase to suggest adding a word or two to clinch the point.

Professed love of what one really fears

In the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), there lived in the Chu state a person named Chu Zhuliang, who addressed himself as "Lord Ye". It is said that this Lord Ye was very fond of dragons. The walls had dragons painted on them. The beams, pillars, doors and windows were all carved with dragons. As a result, his love for dragons was spread out. When the real dragon in heaven heard of this Lord Ye, he was deeply moved. He decided to visit Lord Ye to thank him.

You might think Lord Ye would have been very happy to see a real dragon. But, in fact, at the sight of the creature, he was scared out of his wits and ran away as fast as he could.

From then on, people knew that Lord Ye only loved pictures or carvings that look like dragons, not the real thing

Origin of Chinese Dragon

Dragon is a legendary kind of creature, which does not exist in the world at all.

Apart from China, many other countries also enjoy the image of dragon in their legends. For instance, the dragon in western legends has a lot in common with Chinese dragon: huge body covered by squama and shells all over, four legs with sharp claws, horns, and both can fly in the sky. The differences are: western dragons have more heads varying from three, nine to twelve, while Chinese dragons just have one; western dragons spray water while Chinese, fire; western dragons usually represent evils while Chinese, good luck or fortune.

Chinese dragon is of magic power. It can change the length of its body as it wishes, it can either fly or swim and it can even bring rainfalls. People in ancient China often offered sacrifices to Dragon for favorable weather and good harvest.

It has been at least 6,000 years since dragon came into being.

Dragon was one of the totem worship images in remote times when people liked to use the images of creatures or plants which they held in awe as symbols of their tribes. They believed that totem worship could bring them protection and good luck.

What does dragon come of? There are a lot of answers such as crocodile, snake, pig or even lightening. Now many experts agree on that dragon came of a totem mainly consisting of snake. It had snake's body, pig's head, deer's horns, bull's ear, goat's beard, hawk's claws and fish's squama. This view introduces a penetrating insight towards the life of ancient society: in remote times of clanship, the Huaxia Clan symbolized by snake totem in the Yellow River drainage area conquered other clans and then grew into a big clan union by integrating others together with their totems. That was how the totem of dragon came into being.

In 1987 a grave of the Yangshao Culture in 6,000 years ago was unearthed in Ziyang, Henan Province, where a dragon made of mussel shells was found beside the male dead. This was the earliest dragon we have ever known by far. A jade dragon of more than 5,000 years of history was dug out in Inner Mongolia with a slim body crooked like the alphabet C and a pig-like head.

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties 3,000 years ago, dragons often appeared on utensil made of bronze or bones. We can even find the Chinese character of dragon in the inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones at that time. There are over 100 styles of writing the character of dragon.

In the Warring States Period (475-221BC), dragon was often drawn in the painting on silk. And the dragon in the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) looked much the same with today's dragons.