[Emagazine]. Many stories about dragons.

According to folklore, dragons create clouds and rain, bringing benefits to all living things. In Vietnamese culture, the dragon is a revered, majestic, and auspicious symbol. The Vietnamese people have the legend of "Children of the Dragon and the Immortal," with Lac Long Quan as the father and Au Co as the mother, and the story of "One hundred eggs hatching into one hundred children"... these are ways of explaining the sacred and proud origins of the nation. In 1299, Emperor Tran Nhan Tong instructed his descendants to remember their origins and ancestors through the custom of tattooing dragon images on their thighs.

Dragons are one of the four sacred animals that the people of Tinh Ky ( Quang Ngai City) carve and decorate on boats during the boat racing festival at the beginning of the new year.

The dragon is a combination of many animals, harmoniously blending strength and gentleness, power and kindness, ultimately resulting in the symbolic entity of the dragon, a revered mythical creature in religious beliefs, royal power, and everyday life. The book "Etymological Dictionary" by Lê Văn Hòe, published by Quốc học thư xã in 1941, states: "The dragon has horns like deer antlers, a camel's head; eyes like those of a monster; a snake's neck; a crocodile's belly; claws like those of a hawk; ears like those of a cow, but it hears with horns. The dragon represents the emperor, depicted with five claws on its feet." The dragon's form is only found in emperors; therefore, the feudal dynasty had the phrase "True Dragon of Heaven" to refer to the king. It is said that in July 1010, when King Lý Thái Tổ moved the capital from Hoa Lư to Đại La (present-day Hanoi ), a golden dragon flew up to greet him, so the king renamed the capital Thăng Long from then on.

Dragons are sculpted in relief on the roof of the main hall of Ong Pagoda, in Nghia Hoa commune (Tu Nghia district).

In Vietnamese folklore, the dragon is one of the four sacred animals: Dragon,麒麟 (Kirin), Turtle, and Phoenix. The dragon's body is large and strong, its curves graceful, and its twelve segments symbolize the twelve months of the year, closely associated with the rice-farming civilization of the Vietnamese people. From ancient legends, the Jade Emperor commanded the Dragon King to bring rain, hence the folk tale of the dragon drawing water from the sea. In the vast sky, the ever-changing, diverse clouds, combined with the ever-changing colors from the sunlight, provide the basis for people to perceive the image of a dragon in the sky, hidden within the clouds. During stormy seasons, or even in the dry season when rain is imminent, looking out at the sea, one sometimes sees a column of clouds connecting the sky to the sea's surface; people say the dragon is drawing water, and often heavy rain follows. The Year of the Dragon (Giáp Thìn) is a year of auspiciousness, representing the dragon's ascent, a source of joy for the nation and every household.

We all know that "long" in Chinese means dragon. According to Li Luoyi in his book "Searching for the Origins of Chinese Characters," "long" is a pictographic character. This character depicts a dragon in oracle bone script and bronze inscriptions. The Vietnamese word for dragon is related to "long." Semantically, "long" and "long" are the same. From a historical phonetic perspective, "long" is the ancient pronunciation of "long." This is why in many Nôm script texts, "long" is written directly in Chinese characters as "long." Regarding the word "Thìn," it is the name of the fifth branch in the twelve zodiac signs, corresponding to the dragon. In East Asian culture, the month of Thìn is the third lunar month, and the hour of Thìn corresponds to the time from 7 to 9 a.m. Thìn/Thần also means "day, hour." This is the same word "Thần" in "sinh thần," meaning birthday, a term often used by young people recently.

In Vietnamese, there are several words containing the element "long" meaning dragon. Many things are named based on characteristics related to the shape and nature of a dragon, such as "long nhãn" (dragon's eye), "thanh long" (green dragon)... Dragons also appear in the names of many animals because of their similar physical features, such as dragon fish, dragon bean, dragon's eye plant/dragon scale plant, cactus... The familiar earthworm was called "earth dragon" or "earth dragon" by Trạng Quỳnh. Closely associated with the image of a dragon, "hợp long" is a rather special word. Its meaning is to connect bridge spans. This is a shortened form of "hợp long môn," meaning "connecting the dragon's mouth." "Hợp long môn" was originally used to refer to repairing a broken dike. Ancient people saw the long dike as a dragon. The gap where the dike broke was called "long khẩu" (dragon's mouth) or "long môn" (dragon's gate). Repairing this gap was called "hợp long môn." In modern times, the term "hợp long" has shifted its use to the bridge and road construction industry.

Dragon imagery at Thang Long Imperial Citadel.

Particularly during the monarchical era, the dragon was a symbol of the king. Many words related to the king include "long bào" (dragon robe, meaning the king's robe), "long thể" (dragon body/king's body), "long nhan" (dragon face/king's face), "long sàng" (dragon bed/king's bed), "long giá" (king's carriage), "long xa" (king's carriage), "thuyên rồng" (king's boat, carved with dragon images)... Many Sino-Vietnamese idioms containing the element "long" meaning dragon are still commonly used in Vietnamese today, such as: "Ngọa hổ tàng long" (a lying tiger hiding a dragon), "lưỡng long tranh châu/ triều nguyệt" (two dragons vying for a pearl/worshipping the moon), "long tranh hổ đấu" (dragon fighting tiger), "phục long phượng sồ" (a lying dragon, a young phoenix/a talented person not yet revealed)... The meaning of "long" associated with deities, kings, and power is a beautiful word used in many aspects of cultural and linguistic life, including the naming of places. In Vietnam, there are many place names associated with dragons, such as Thang Long (ascending dragon), Ha Long Bay (descending dragon), Bach Long Vi Island (white dragon's tail), the Mekong River (nine dragons), Ham Rong Mountain, Nha Rong Wharf, etc. Quang Ngai also has many place names associated with dragons, such as Long Phung Mountain, Xuong Rong Mountain, Long Dau Mountain, etc.

It can be said that in the treasure trove of Vietnamese culture and language, the dragon appears frequently and carries unique meanings. On the spring day of the Year of the Dragon, let's revisit some stories and meanings related to the dragon, the dream of a new year where lovers ride dragons, everyone is blessed with the spirit of the dragon and tiger, business and examinations are all transformed into dragons, and the country and homeland are blessed with good fortune as if encountering a dragon and clouds...

Dragons appear frequently in Vietnamese folklore, familiar to the cultural consciousness and language of the Vietnamese people. For example: "Descendants of the Dragon and the Immortal," "Carp Transforming into a Dragon," "Dragon and Cloud Meeting," "Flying Dragon and Dancing Phoenix," "Eating Like a Dragon," "Speaking Like a Dragon," "Dragon Visiting the Shrimp's House," "Drawing Dragons and Snakes," etc. In medieval literature, there are many poetic devices and allusions associated with the image of the dragon. "Dragon and Cloud Meeting," or "Dragon and Cloud Gathering," "Dragon and Cloud Meeting," or "Dragon and Cloud Conjunction" are poetic devices used to signify opportune timing and a successful career: "Now that I am this old, I hope my son will meet the dragon and cloud meeting and achieve success" (Phan Tran); "All the hard work and hardship will be in vain / Meeting the dragon and cloud, a man's opportunity" (Tay Suong)...

In particular, even today, many people still often mention the story of the carp leaping over the Dragon Gate. The story goes that during the Nguyen Dynasty, Vietnamese people migrated south to clear land and establish villages. Occasionally, the people encountered many strange phenomena. Every year, when the rains fell, carp would gather at the "three-tiered Dragon Gate," a waterfall cascading down three steps of rock. Those that passed the three steps transformed into dragons. Those that failed fell to their deaths. Therefore, the phrase "transforming into a dragon" means passing an exam, achieving a high rank, etc.

Dragon boat tour on the Perfume River (Hue City).

In Quang Ngai, there are folk songs that embody humanistic values, sharing joys and sorrows between people, and expressing the feelings of young men and women, such as: “Climbing Ho Mountain to light a bundle of golden incense / Praying for old friends to return as before / Looking at the sky, I see no rain / The dragon went to drink water, the dragon hasn't returned yet / Pomegranate seeks peach, peach doesn't seek pear / Climbing the mountain to find cinnamon, cinnamon returns to the green forest.” Or like: “The dragon lies on Chua Mountain / The crane dances on Tra River / My heart aches for my friend, tears mix with rice / Struggling like a fish in a net / In the morning, I look for my friend from the south, in the evening, my friend looks for me from the south.”

Content: VAN TAO - TUAN VU - AN HAN

Presented by: P.DUNG

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