Design

The oriental dragon is seen just about anywhere one looks–from temple walls to pagoda arches, from Mulan to The Dragon Pearl, from chopsticks to china plates.

Toes

They are long, serpenty creatures with whispy whiskers and pointy toes. Before writing this post, I didn’t realize that you can tell where a dragon is from based on those toes! Most oriental dragons have either three, four, or five toes. Japanese dragons have three toes. Korean dragons have four, and Chinese dragons have five. Each of the three countries have myths about why there are different amount of toes. The Chinese believe dragons lose toes as they travel away from China; hence no dragons made it to the western hemisphere because they had no toes by the time they would have gotten there. The Japanese believe dragons gain toes as they move away from Japan. While Koreans believe dragons either gain or lose toes depending on where they go.

Males vs Females

According to blackdrago.com, you can tell a dragon’s sex by their tail. Females hold fans in their tails, while male dragons hold clubs. Different horns indicate the different sexes as well. Male horns are almost a reverse cone in that they’re thinner at the base and get thicker and stronger as they move away from the head. Females are given the rounder and fuller manes with straighter noses and smaller bodies granting them thinner scales, and yet they have fuller, thicker tails compared to males.

Wings

Most oriental dragons do not have wings and yet they can fly! How can that be? Most say it is due to their magic. Dragons after all are magical creatures.

Temperament

Dragon temperaments may vary from country to country, but overall dragons are benevolent, wise leaders. Often embodying the spirit of the elements, they are friends, like in Spirited Away. In fact, they can be seen with a pearl which is called the Pearl of Wisdom. Dragons bring good luck. Just like in Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke.

“These people believe that a dragon brings a year of good luck–good luck and rain, which is the best luck of all in these parts.” ~Zubeida in Dragon Rider

Similarities

I never realized eastern dragons had any similarities to western dragons, but I discovered they do! The life-cycle of an eastern dragon actually involves wings. When a dragon reaches his thousandth birthday, he gains wings. I imagine there aren’t a ton of art with thousand-year-old dragons, and hence, the lack of pictures of oriental dragons with wings.

Another similarity comes from Japan. As I stated earlier the average oriental dragon is seen as benevolent and wise. However, in Japan dragons were known to kill innocent people and demand young maidens for food. This is much like the European dragons.

What does all this have to do with if dragons really existed? One of the main points to know if something actually was, is to study the different myths of different cultures. When many cultures separated by long distances have similar myths, there has to be a grain of truth somewhere. So, if cultures all around the world have similar stories about dragons with similar body types and abilities, just maybe it’s possible that dragons really did exist!

Find out more at my other blog posts:

Over the next several months, I’ll explore different aspects of this question. Each month, I’ll have a post exploring in more detail one of the points from today’s blog. Make sure you check back in to find out more information on this need-to-know question.

How do we go about answering a question when there doesn’t seem to be any proof that the creatures exist today? The most obvious answer to that is to look back at history. No, there are no fossil records of dragons per se, but the creatures have left their mark elsewhere.

There aren’t fossil records of #dragons per se, but the creatures have left their mark elsewhere.

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Dragons across cultures

It seems as if every single culture has a dragon myth or story. Asia is the most prevalent with the year of the dragon and their New Year celebrations with snake-like dragons weaving their way down streets. Europe, however, took a different twist on dragons. They showcase large winged creatures that breathe fire and hoard gold.

If something exists across cultures, then generally there is a grain of truth in the tale. It’s these cross-cultural connections that often intrigue me. I’ve questioned the theme of a day of the dead style celebration that spans from Mexico, to Taiwan, to England. Dragons span cultural barriers; therefore they represent some grain of truth. Could dragons have really existed? Maybe.

Dragons in Legends

From King Arthur to Beowolf to St. George and the Dragon legends tell of dragons and people. Just as dragons span cultures, their tales span countries. The website draconika has a list of legends from England, France, Austria, Japan, and others. The Week lists legends from India, Greece, Babylon, Australia, and Peru. However, generally where there are legends, there’s a grain of truth.

What really inspired the story of Daniel killing the dragon god of Babylon or St. George slaying a dragon? Were there creatures that our dragon tales come from? Over the course of the next few months, I’ll explore these and more.

Dinosaurs: Dragons in disguise?

The fossil records show creatures of varying sizes some with bird-like qualities some without. Kids have been fascinated with them ever since the first skeleton was constructed in New Jersey.  The question remains, could dinosaurs really be dragons?

With their large build, their lizard-like body, and some with the ability to fly, just maybe some dinosaurs were dragons. I’ll delve more deeply into this theory in a couple of months.

Fire-breathing Dragons

One of the issues that seem to make people think dragons couldn’t have existed is the claim that they blew fire. However, as we’ll explore in more detail later, other animals have many of the traits given to dragons, including fire.

Are you excited to explore more about the possibility of dragons existing? Every second Monday, I’ll delve deeper into this question. Next month, I’ll look into the Celtic dragons. In the meantime, enjoy a nice dragon ride by reading your favorite dragon fantasy, or explore Dragon’s Future or Uprooted if you haven’t read either of them already.