Divided Dragon
by ratray
The Year of the Water Dragon 2012
I have heard that the most popular tattoo worldwide is a traditional eastern style Chinese Dragon. This tattoo is said to embody strength power and good luck. In China, the Dragon has been the the bringer of rain, hurricanes and floods as well as the national emblem of the emperor. Some scholars believe that the Chinese dragon form originated from totems of different tribes in China. Huangdi, the first Emperor of China used a snake for his coat of arms. According to the myth, every time he conquered another tribe, he incorporated his defeated enemy’s emblem into his own, this may explain why the dragon appears to have features of various animals. Separating mythology from a China’s politics has been challenging in creating this series.
The series Divided Dragon is a tribute to the 9 animal resemblances of the dragon in Chinese mythology as documented by The Han Dynasty scholar Wang Fu :
“... as to the nine resemblances, they are the following: his horns resemble those of a stag, his head that of a camel, his eyes those of a demon, his neck that of a snake, his belly that of a clam, his scales those of a carp, his claws those of an eagle, his soles those of a tiger, his ears those of a cow. Upon his head he has a thing like a broad eminence (a big lump), called chimu. If a dragon has no chimu, he cannot ascend to the sky.”
