Why is the Chinese dragon special to Chinese people?

Answer 1

*special

There is a story behind the Dragon Lords and the Dragon Dances and Lanterns. Long ago, there was a village in China. The villagers live happily most of the time, but every 365 days, a monster would attack and steal children and food from them. At first, they didn't know when the monster would come, and usually vulnerable when the monster attacked. Only after the monster attacked that they tried to be prepared, but after a while, the monster was forgotten, and the villagers became defenceless again.

Over time, people realized that the monster, which they called a "Dragon, 龍", comes only once every 365 days, and named it a Year. To protect themselves, elders suggested a method of scaring it away.

So then, the villagers started making fake Dragons and start to dance in it. They hang lanterns at night to keep the place bright and use fire crackers to scare the Dragon away. They do this a few days before the New Year, and on the day, they would stay in the house. Families would split all their money and put it in red pockets, to hand down for each family member so that, if their homes were destroyed, they can escape with money.

The families bath in strong herb baths that covers their flesh smell, leave cooked chickens and other food outside of the doors and paint Dragon figures on the walls, hoping that the Dragon would eat the food and leave in peace. The dragon never bothered them again.

This is why Dragon is sacred to Chinese people, it signifies strength, nobility and eventually became one of the gods and zodiac signs. Many phrases in Chinese are related to Dragons, with stories about Dragon gods, and spring couplets such as "龍馬精神" are popular too.