Thread by @serbiaireland

Thread: In which I will talk about the Chinese legend about the "Blue Boy", which, I think, identifies animal calendar marker behind the Chinese water dragon. The legend can be found in "Myths of China and Japan", page 80 archive.org/details/mythso… #mythologymonday

Here it goes:

One day Wang Shuh, a herbalist, went out looking for the Red Cloud herb. He followed the course of a mountain stream on a hot summer day, and at noon sat down to rest and eat rice below shady trees beside the deep pool of a waterfall...

As he lay on the bank, gazing into the water, he was astonished to see in its depths a blue boy, about a foot in height, with a blue rush in his hand, riding on the back of a red carp, without disturbing the fish, which darted hither and thither...

In time the pair came to the surface, and, rising into the air, turned towards the east. Then they went swiftly in the direction of a wall of cloud that was creeping across the blue sky, and vanished from sight...

The herbalist continued to ascend the mountain, searching for the herb, and when he reached the summit was surprised to find that the sky had become completely overcast. Great masses of black and yellow clouds had risen over the Eastern Sea, and a thunder-storm was threatening...

Wang Shuh then realized that the blue boy he had seen riding on the back of the red carp was no other than the thunder-dragon. He peered at the clouds, and perceived that the boy and the carp had been transformed into a black Kiao (Jiaolong)...

He was greatly alarmed, and concealed himself in a hollow tree. Soon the storm burst forth in all its fury. The herbalist trembled to hear the voice of the black thunder-dragon and to catch glimpses of his fiery tongue as he spat out flashes of lightning...

Rain fell in torrents, and the mountain stream was heavily swollen, and roared down the steep valley. Wang Shuh feared that each moment would be his last...

In time, however, the storm ceased and the sky cleared. Wang Shuh then crept forth from his hiding place, thankful to be still alive, although he had seen the dragon. He at once set out to return by the way he had come...

When he drew near to the waterfall he was greatly astonished to see the little blue boy riding on the back of the red carp, returning from the east and settling down on the surface of the pool. Soon the boy was carried into the depths and past the playful fish again...

Struck with fear, the herbalist was for a time unable to move. When at length he had summoned sufficient strength and courage to go forward, he found that the boy and the carp had vanished completely...

Then he perceived that the Red Cloud herb, for which he had been searching, had sprung up on the very edge of the swirling water. Stooping, he plucked it greedily...

The end...Of the important bit...

So this legend links several of my threads about the Chinese thunder folklore.

First the thread about carps which transform into dragons

https://twitter.com/serbiaireland/status/1477690807280979976

Dragons which are in China linked with water and thunderclouds and which can cause violent storms

https://twitter.com/serbiaireland/status/1483933358543486981

Dragons which are (sometimes) ridden by thunder gods

https://twitter.com/serbiaireland/status/1485301884680384515

Basically here we have a "blue (colour of water) boy riding on a carp", carp being animal calendar marker for Apr/May, start of the thunderstorm season in China, cause this is when migratory carp go up rivers to mate...Thunderstorm frequency in China... ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

Who flies into "the wall of cloud coming from the east", the typhoon cloud front...Typhoons arrive from the south east during the summer monsoon period...

The typhoon season in South China Sea starts in May, right after carp finishes mating, and "transforms into a dragon"...Typhoon frequency chart

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Which makes it obvious that "the blue boy on the carp" is no other than "the thunder dragon", dragon being animal calendar marker for the peak of the monsoon and thunderstorm season in China, Jul/Aug...Climate charts from four regions of South Eastern China...

I have linked carp, dragon and thunderstorms through analysing animal calendar markers present in the Chinese thunder folklore. This legend confirms that my analysis was correct...

Cool. But there is something in this legend which makes it very very very...cool...

The fact that during the thunderstorm, the boy and the carp transform into black Kiao (Jiaolong)...

Eeee, WTF is en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaolong?

Kiao (Jiaolong) is "a type of dragon which lives in Yangtze River and is linked to heavy rains and thunderstorms"...

And this is cool why?

Kiao (Jiaolong) is is described as "a black scaly walking snake with four legs"...

Meet Yangtze River alligator also known as en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_a… It's black, it's scaly, it looks like a snake with four legs, and most people agree that this animal was the origin of the Kiao (Jiaolong).

But why would alligator be linked to "heavy rains and thunderstorms"?

Animal Calendar Markers derived from the mating or birthing season of depicted animal...

Chinese alligators reproduce during rain and thunderstorm season. They mate in Jun, nest in Jul/Aug, and hatch in Sep.

After the eggs are laid, the females stay to protect the eggs, meaning there are suddenly a lot of aggressive alligators on riverbanks during the peak of the rain and thunderstorm season...

Hence "dragons" linked with water, rain, thunderstorms???

Cool. But "the really cool bit" is:

"Jiaolong" consists of: long (龍) meaning "dragon" and Jiao (蛟), meaning "flood"...Making Jiaolong "the flood dragon"...

Yangtze river peaks in Jul/Aug nature.com/articles/s4159…, when Yangtze alligators start to nest...

Hence flood dragon?

But I am unsure if it was Chinese Alligators who were the original flood dragons. 1105 CE Yuhu qinghua 玉壺清話 says people in the southern state of Wu called Jiaolong "fahong" 發洪 which means "swell into a flood" because they believed flooding resulted when Jiaolong hatched...

Now as I said, the peak flood season in Yangtse river (and other rivers in the South Eastern China) is Jul/Aug...Too early for Chinese Alligators. If only there was some other black scaly four legged snake like creature...There is. Actually there was...

According to Chinese records, starting from the Han dynasty, "A large, man-eating crocodile (presumably the saltwater crocodile) was once present throughout coastal southern China)"... crocodilian.com/cnhc/cst_cpor_…

Remember, the herbalist Wang Shuh from our legend was scared shitless and "thankful to be still alive, although he had seen the dragon"...He wouldn't have been scared of the Chinese Alligators, cause they don't attack people. Man eating saltwater crocodiles on the other hand...

I don't know exactly when saltwater crocodiles which once lived in China hatched. We know that saltwater crocodiles nest during the wet season...Which is in China Apr/May to Sep/Oct...

But the data from Indian region of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_G…, where the wet season peaks at the same time as in Southern China says that "Hatching occurs during...July and August in salt water crocodiles". eptrienvis.nic.in/All%20PDF%20Fi…

That is exactly when the flood peaks in China...So was the original terrifying, black, four legged, scaly, "flood dragon associated with rains and thunderstorms" from Chinese mythology, actually an ancient animal calendar marker based on now extinct Chinese Saltwater Crocodile?

Neolithic Yangshao culture burial, discovered in Puyang, Henan Province, Northwestern China and dated to 4000BC...A person was buried between a dragon (on the east side, summer monsoon) and tiger (on the west side, winter monsoon)...

oldeuropeanculture.blogspot.com/2021/08/tiger-…

I guess there are parts of Chinese culture that didn't come from the steppe...

PS: for those interested why tiger, symbol of yin, winter is placed on the west, not north and why dragon, symbol of yang, summer, is placed on the east, not south...It's to do with the direction from which winter and summer monsoon winds blow in China

https://twitter.com/serbiaireland/status/1476671972805328901

@threadreaderapp please unroll