Asian Dragons

Often just called "Asian dragons" (or their countries' counterparts, Chinese dragons, Japanese dragons, etc) in English, these are mythological creatures that take part in the stories and religions of various parts of eastern Asia. They are considered to be long and snake-like in their body, with short limbs like a weasel (though not often described as such) with sharp, large talons. Their heads have a short nose that is sometimes cat-like (wet part) with large, flaring nostrils and big lips hiding an often even set of fangs. Their eyes are huge and round with extra long and thick eyelashes and bushy eyebrows. They have a mane like lions', going around their neck. They may have the antlers of a young buck. They are not always considered to be animals, typically being highly intelligent with the ability of speech. In Chinese religions, they can talk and some individuals spend more time in human-like forms than in their natural dragon forms, such as the four dragon kings of the four seas. In Japan seahorses might have been considered to have been their literal offspring, though I'm slightly unsure. But nevertheless they were named as such, and as a group are called dragon's bastards. They take part in important holidays, such as in the lunar New Year where dances hold sticks that lead to a very long puppet and perform the dragon dance, waving the puppet around and twisting and turning for the delight of the audience. Eastern dragons (as they are also called) are associated with water, and are typically understood to be rain gods. In older times and even modern times, people pray to dragons for rain in times of drought.
Category:Taoism
Category:Chinese folk religion
Category:Mythology