Azure Dragon/Green Dragon/Qinglong/Seiryu/Seryu/Shōryū/Meng Chang

The Azure Dragon is a creature that was initially a Chinese symbol and was later adapted into Japanese myth. It is one of the Shijin along with the Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise. It is connected to the East, the colors blue and green (because there wasn’t always a clear distinction between the two), wood and spring. It was thought to represent new life and was connected to the Kamo-Gawa River. It was depicted as a long serpentine dragon with no wings, that was blue, green, or turquoise color, occasionally with a red or black mane. It has the associated mansions (these being associated with the phases of the moon) Su-Boshi, Ami-Boshi, Tomo-Boshi, Soi-Boshi, Nakago-Boshi, Ashitare-Boshi, and Mi-Boshi. These mansions lie in the constellations Virgo, Leo, Scorpio and Sagittarius. New cities were structured in accordance with this creature and the other Shijin, who were replaced by the Four Kings of Buddhism.

Citations:

10,000 Chinese Numbers. N.p., Lulu.com.

Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016.

Frydman, Joshua. The Japanese Myths: A Guide to Gods, Heroes and Spirits. United Kingdom, Thames and Hudson Limited, 2022.

Hartmann, Sieglinde, and Grafetstätter, Andrea. Islands and Cities in Medieval Myth, Literature, and History: Papers Delivered at the International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Austria, Peter Lang, 2011.

Japanese Mythology: Discover the Great History of Japan! Get ready to face Monsters, Spirits and the Strangest Creatures of the Rising Sun. Bonus: 3 Stories of Warriors from Nippon Folklore. N.p., Bruce Simons, 2023.

Okuyama, Yoshiko. Japanese Mythology in Film: A Semiotic Approach to Reading Japanese Film and Anime. United Kingdom, Lexington Books, 2015.