Qiulong

Qiulong (zh-stpw |s=虬龙|t=虯龍|p="qíulóng"|w="ch'iu-lung"; lit. "curling dragon") or qiu was a Chinese dragon that is contradictorily defined as "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".

Name

This Chinese dragon name can be pronounced "qiu" or "jiu" and written 虯 or 虬.

Characters

The variant Chinese characters for the "qiu" or "jiu" dragon are and , which combine the "insect radical" with phonetics of "jiu" "connect" and "yin" "hidden". This 虫 radical is typically used in Chinese characters for insects, worms, reptiles, and dragons (e.g., "shen" 蜃, "jiao" 蛟, and "hong" 虹). Compare the word "jiu" or "twist; entangle; unite" that is written with the "silk radical" and the same alternate phonetics as "qiu" 虯 or 虬.

"Qiu" 虬 or 虯 is also an uncommon Chinese surname. For example, Qiuranke Zhuan 虯髯客傳 "The Legend of the Curly-whiskered Guest" is a story by the Tang Dynasty writer Du Guangting 杜光庭 (850-933 CE), and Qiu Zhong 虬仲 was the Chinese style name of the Qing Dynasty painter Li Fangying.

In Japanese, the kanji "Chinese characters" 虬 or 虯 are sometimes used for the "mizuchi" 蛟 "river dragon".

Etymologies

Sinological linguists have proposed several etymologies for the "qiu" or "jiu" 虯 dragon.
Bernhard Karlgren (1957:274) reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciations of "qiu" < *"g'yŏg" or "jiu" < *"kyŏg" for 虯 "horned dragon" and "horn-shaped; long and curved". This latter word combines the "horn radical" and 虯's "jiu" 丩 phonetic.

Carr (1990:151-2) follows Karlgren's reconstructions and suggests "qiu" < *"g'yŏg" or "jiu" < *"kyŏg" 虯 is "part of a 'twist; coil; wrap' word family" that includes:
*"qiu" < *"g'yôg" "long and curved; curled up horn"
*"jiu" < *"klyŏg" "curving branch; twist"
*"miu" < *"mlyŏg" or "jiu" < *"klyŏg" "bind; wind around; wrap; twist"
*"liu" < *"glyôg" or "lu" < *"glyôk" "join forces; unite"
*"jiao" < *"klôg" "glue; unite"
*"liao" < *"glyôg" "tie around; strangle" This "twisting; coiling" etymology can explain both the meanings "horned dragon; twisted horns" and "curling; wriggling" below.

Schuessler (2007:435) reconstructs Old Chinese "qiu" < *"giu" or "jiu" < *"kiu" for 觓 or 觩 "horn-shaped; long and curved" and 虯 "horned dragon", and cites Coblin's (1986:130) comparison of "horned dragon" with Written Tibetan "klu" "Naga, serpent spirit". Schuessler compares "jiu" < *"kiuʔ" 糾 "to twist, plait" and concludes the "most likely etymology is 'twisting, wriggling'".

Meanings

Chinese dictionaries give three "qiu" 虯 or 虬 meanings: "dragon without horns ", "dragon with horns", and "curling; coiling".

Hornless dragon

Several Chinese classic texts and commentaries from the Han Dynasty identified "qiu" 虯 as a "hornless dragon; dragon without horns", which is interpreted as "young dragon; immature dragon".

The (2nd century BCE) "Chuci" uses "qiu" 虬 seven times, which is more frequently than any other classical text. The standard Sibu Beiyao 四部備要 edition gives the character as 虬 instead of 虯. "Qiu" is a dragon name in four contexts. The first uses "yuqiu" 玉虬 "jade hornless-dragon"; (離騷, tr. Hawkes 1985:73) "I yoked a team of jade dragons to a phoenix-figured car, And waited for the wind to come, to soar up on my journey." The second uses "qiulong" 虬龍 "hornless dragon"; (天問, tr. Hawkes 1985:128) "Where are the hornless dragons which carry bears on their backs for sport?" In both contexts, commentary of Wang Yi 王逸 (d. 158 CE) says "qiu" means "hornless dragon" and "long" means "horned dragon". The third uses "qingqiu" 青虬 "green dragon" referring to the legendary Shun as Chong Hua 重華; (涉江, tr. Hawkes 1985:160) "With a team of azure dragons, white serpents in the traces, I rode with Chong Hua in the Garden of Jasper." Wang notes "qiu" and "chi" are types of "long" "dragons". The fourth uses "qiu" 虬 alone; (通路, tr. Hawkes 1985:271) "With team of dragons I mount the heavens, In ivory chariot borne aloft."

The (121 CE) "Shuowen Jiezi" dictionary gives inconsistent definitions of "qiu" 虯. Some early editions define 龍無角者 "a dragon without horns", while later editions define 龍子有角者 "a young dragon with horns". Carr (1990:93-4) notes the discrepancy of three "Shuowen" definitions for "hornless dragon": "qiu" 虯, "jiao" 蛟, and "chi" . The "Shuowen Jiezi" scholar Zhu Junsheng 朱駿聲 (1788-1834 CE) explains that male "long" 龍 "dragons" have horns and female ones do not, and among young dragons, "jiao" 蛟 has one horn, "qiu" 虯 has two, and "chi" 螭 is hornless.

A few later sources, such as the (ca. 1011 CE) "Guangyun" rime dictionary, concur with early "Shuowen Jiezi" editions and define "qiu" 虯 as "hornless dragon", but most dictionaries define a contrast set between "qiu" 虯 "horned dragon" and "chi" 螭 "hornless dragon".

Horned dragon

The (ca. 139 BCE) "Huainanzi" "Peering into the Obscure" chapter (6) mentions "qingqiu" 青虯 "green horned-dragon" twice. First, "The Fable of the Dragons and the Mud-Eels" uses it with "chichi" 赤螭 "red hornless-dragon"; (tr. Le Blanc 1987:144) "When the red hornless dragon and the green horned dragon roamed the land of Chi 冀, the sky was limpid and the earth undisturbed." The commentary of Gao Yu 高淯 (fl. 205 CE) notes "qingqiu" and "chichi" are types of "long" 龍 "dragons", but without mentioning horns. Second, a description of Fu Xi and Nüwa, who are represented as having dragon tails, uses "qingqiu" with "yinglong" 應龍 "winged dragon"; (tr. Le Blanc 1987:161-2) "They rode the thunder chariot, using winged dragons as the inner pair and green dragons as the outer pair."

The (ca. 100 BCE) "Shiji" "Records of the Grand Historian" biography of Sima Xiangru quotes his "fu" 賦 poem entitled "Zixu" 子虛 "Sir Fantasy". Like the "Huaiananzi", it contrasts "qingqiu" 青虯 "green horned-dragon" with "chichi" 赤螭 "red hornless-dragon", which Watson (1993:2:309, 312) translates "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".

Ge Hong's (4th century CE) "Baopuzi" 抱朴子 (外篇, tr. Visser 1913:73-4) has four references. It mentions: "jiu" 虬 "As to the flying to the sky of the "k'iu" of the pools, this is his union with the clouds", "shenjiu" 神虬 "divine horned-dragon" "If a pond inhabited by fishes and gavials is drained off, the divine "k'iu" go away", and "qingjiu" 青虬 "green horned-dragon" "The ts'ui k'iu (kingfisher-"k'iu") has no wings and yet flies upwards to the sky", "Place the shape (i.e. an image of this dragon) in a tray, and the kingfisher-"k'iu" (shall) descend in a dark vapoury haze".

The (ca. 230 CE) "Guangya" dictionary defines "qiu" 虯 (written with a rare "frog"-radical graphic variant) as "horned dragon" and "chi" 螭 as "hornless dragon". This semantic contrast is repeated in later dictionaries such as the (997 CE) "Longkan Shoujian" and the (ca. 1080 CE) "Piya", which says (tr. Visser 1913:73) differentiates: "If a dragon has scales, he is called "kiao-lung" (蛟龍); if wings, "ying-lung" (應龍); if a horn, "k'iu-lung" (虬龍); and if he has no horn, he is called "ch'i-lung" (螭龍)."

In traditional Chinese art, dragons are commonly represented with two horns. According to the (2nd century CE) "Qian fu lun" (tr. Visser 1913:70), the dragon's "horns resemble those of a stag". The (1578 CE) "Bencao Gangmu" materia medica prescribes "longjue" 龍角 "dragon horn" (tr. Read 1934:9, "fossilized horns of the "Chalicotherium sinense"), "For convulsions, fevers, diarrhea with fever and hardened belly. Taken continuously it lightens the body, enlightens the soul and prolongs life."

Curling

"Qiu" can mean "curling; twisting; coiling; wriggling; writhing" in Chinese compounds. For instance:
*"qiupan" 虬蟠 "curled up like a dragon; curling and twisting (esp. tree roots)"
*"jiaoqiu" 蛟虬 "coil like a dragon"
*"qiuxu" 虬鬚 "curly beard; curly mustache"
*"qiuran" 虯髯 "curly whiskers"

Besides the four "hornless dragon" examples above, three "Chuci" contexts use "qiu" in words describing dragons "coiling; wriggling; writhing". Two use "youqiu" 蚴虬 to describe the "canglong" 蒼龍 Azure Dragon constellation; (惜誓, cf. "qingqiu" 青虯 "green horned-dragon" above, tr. Hawkes 1985:240) "I rode in the ivory chariot of the Great Unity: The coiling Green Dragon ran in the left-hand traces; The White Tiger made the right hand of my team", (遠逝, tr. Hawkes 1985:290) "To hang at my girdle the coiling Green Dragon, To wear at my belt the sinuous rainbow serpent." One uses "liuqiu" 蟉虬 with "chi" 螭 "hornless dragon"; (遠遊, tr. Hawkes 1985:198) "They lined water monsters up to join them in the dance: How their bodies coiled and writhed in undulating motion!"

Mythic parallels

The ancient Chinese "jiu" 虯 "horned dragon" is analogous with the Mountain Horned Dragon lizard and several legendary creatures in Comparative mythology.

Assuming trans-cultural diffusion, MacKenzie (1923:54) suggests that the Chinese "horned-dragon, or horned-serpent" derives from the Egyptian Osiris "water-serpent". The Chinese Hui people have a myth (Li and Luckert 1994:104) about a silver-horned dragon that controls rainfall.

In Babylonian mythology, the deity Marduk supposedly rode a horned dragon when he defeated Tiamat, and it became his emblem. In Persian mythology, the hero Garshasp killed an "Aži Sruvara" "horned dragon". In Greek mythology, the two-headed Amphisbaena dragon was represented with horns.

References

*Carr, Michael. 1990. "Chinese Dragon Names," "Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area" 13.2:87-189.
*Coblin, W. South. 1986. "A Sinologist's Handlist of Sino-Tibetan Lexical Comparisons". Nettetal.
*Hawkes, David, tr. 1985. "The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets". Penguin.
*Karlgren, Bernhard. 1957. "Grammata Serica Recensa". Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
*Le Blanc, Charles. 1985. "Huai-nan Tzu": Philosophical Synthesis in Early Han Thought: The Idea of Resonance ("Kan-Ying") With a Translation and Analysis of Chapter Six. Hong Kong University Press.
*Li Shujiang and Karl W. Luckert. 1994. " [http://books.google.com/books?id=gvPOAPar9XUC&pg Mythology and Folklore of the Hui, a Muslim Chinese People] ". SUNY Press.
*Mackenzie, Donald A. 1923. " [http://books.google.com/books?id=vzbeLy4TBa4C&dq Myths of China and Japan] ". Gresham.
*Read, Bernard E. 1934. "Chinese Materia Medica VII; Dragons and Snakes," "Peking Natural History Bulletin" 8.4:279-362.
*Schuessler, Axel. 2007. "ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese". University of Hawaii Press.
*Visser, Marinus Willern de. 1913. [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/GR830xD7xV8/# "The Dragon in China and Japan"] . J. Müller.
*Watson, Burton, tr. 1993. "Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian". Columbia University Press.

External links

* [http://www.internationalscientific.org/CharacterASP/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=+%E8%99%AF&submitButton1=Etymology 虯 entry] , Chinese Etymology
* [http://www.kangxizidian.com/kangxi/1076.gif虯 and 虬 entry page] , 1716 CE Kangxi Dictionary