Chinese culture
Chinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and East Asian culture at large. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs. They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it in East Asian culture. During the days of Imperial China, the Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power and strength. They are also the symbol and representative for the Son of Heaven, the Mandate of Heaven, the Celestial Empire and the Chinese Tributary System during the history of China.
Chinese folk religion
The concept 神 ""shén"" (cognate of 申 "shēn", "extending, expanding") is translated as "gods" or "spirits". There are "shén" of nature; gods who were once people, such as the warrior Guan Gong; household gods, such as the Stove God; as well as ancestral gods ("zu" or "zuxian"). In the domain of humanity the "shen" is the "psyche", or the power or agency within humans. They are intimately involved in the life of this world. As spirits of stars, mountains and streams, "shen" exert a direct influence on things, making phenomena appear and things grow or extend themselves. An early Chinese dictionary, the "Shuowen jiezi" by Xu Shen, explains that they "are the spirits of Heaven" and they "draw out the ten thousand things". As forces of growth the gods are regarded as "yang", opposed to a "yin" class of entities called 鬼 ""guǐ"" (cognate of 歸 "guī", "return, contraction"), chaotic beings. A disciple of Zhu Xi noted that "between Heaven and Earth there is no thing that does not consist of yin and yang, and there is no place where yin and yang are not found. Therefore there is no place where gods and spirits do not exist". The dragon is a symbol of "yang", the principle of generation.