Throughout Chinese history the dragon has been equated with weather. It is said that some of the worst floodings were caused when a mortal has upset a dragon. Legend says that they could cause a drought by gathering up all the water of a district in baskets, or they could eclipse the sun. The dragon was also a symbol of the emperor whose wisdom and divine power assured the well-being of his subjects.
Many legends draw connections between the dragon and the emperor.
Some emperors claimed to have descended from the dragon. Chinese dragons of myth could make themselves as large as the universe or as small as a silkworm. They could also change color and disappear in a flash. They rise to the skies in the spring and plunge into the waters in the autumn. Ch'ien represents what is great, the creative penetration of the correct, the firm and the advantageous.