It was published in 1983. I wanted to find out if the dragon on the porcelain jar on page 218 might have special meaning. Well, I found out that Chinese dragons are friendly and good-natured, not at all frightening. Now that I know that, the dragon on the jar looks like he's smiling. It didn't look at all like a smile before.
Chinese dragons can make themselves shrink or swell, appear and disappear.
They are usually shown in the clouds or in the sea. There's no evidence in the text so go ahead and take a guess. When dragons were embroidered on Chinese jackets, the rank of the person wearing the jacket was evident in how many claws the dragon had. The Emperor's dragons had five claws, four claws belonged to a prince, and three or fewer belonged to a court official. Describe a similar situation in Western culture in which we know a person's rank or importance because we recognize the symbol or symbols on his or her clothes.