34 From Mythical Serpents to Dragon Women: An Exploration of Women’s Agency in Myth and Media

Throughout history, dragons have been prominent figures in mythology and fantasy as symbols of power and rule. However, there has always been a rather large discrepancy between the portrayal of dragons in different cultures. In European mythology, dragons are often portrayed as fierce, fire-breathing beasts with scales as hard as steel and an insatiable hunger for treasure. However, in some indigenous American cultures and some African ones, dragons are associated with rainbows and the world’s creation. These dragons are much closer to the Chinese representations of dragons. Eastern dragons are often associated with the rains and are seen carrying a pearl, and the dragon is such an integral part of Chinese culture even today. However, one unifying train of most dragons in patriarchal societies has been the connection of masculinity with the dragon. Recently, this connection has become less concrete, but the concept of a woman or female dragon, much like a woman in power, has been something to be feared or hated. The concept of the “Dragon Lady” as a derogatory term to refer to Asian women in the media has been a tool of oppression and, more recently, a common descriptor of an Asian woman protagonist. This paper aims to explore the significance of female dragons in Chinese culture and the concept of the “female dragon” as a tool of both oppression and rebellion. In order to do so, the paper will begin by examining the origin stories of dragons in China and tracing their roots to ancient times. The paper will then focus on the story of Empress Dowager Cixi and her revolution of women’s rights in China as well as how she earned her dragon moniker. Finally, the paper will explore how the term “dragon women” started being used in the 1930s as a derogatory term for Asian women and how that has transitioned into modern-day usage.

The origins of dragons in Chinese mythology can be traced back to the earliest recorded dynasties, where they were revered as powerful and benevolent creatures created by the gods to help govern the world. The dragon is often depicted as a giant beast that dwells in water sources or clouds. For thousands of years, dragons have been a central figure in Chinese mythology, with some of the earliest known depictions of dragons found in the remains of the Hemudu culture from around 6000 BC. The dragon’s status as a powerful and benevolent creature is demonstrated in ancient texts such as the Huainanzi 淮南子, which describes the dragon as a creature created by the gods to help govern the world.^[1]

Female dragons in China have a significant place in Chinese culture and mythology. Although most dragon depictions tend to focus on their male counterparts, the presence of influential female figures in early Chinese folklore suggests that the concept of powerful and influential female creatures was already established in the culture, paving the way for later depictions of female dragons. Dragons, in general, are seen to be beings in harmony with yin and yang, but their representations of rain and water seem to lean towards the feminine energy yin. In contrast, their fiery counterpart, the phoenix, leans much more towards the masculine yang. One of the biggest reasons why modern dragons in China are almost always male is because of the connection between dragons and sovereignty. Despite this, some scholars argue that the pre-T’ang Dynasty had not only female dragons but also female shamans and leaders who directed their people through rituals to the dragons.^[2] Although the evidence supporting this is dubious, there is evidence of powerful female dragons in Chinese history.

Longmu is one of the earliest known associations with dragons. While she herself was not a dragon, she is known as the mother of dragons for taking care of a baby dragon and protecting their pearls, something very important and powerful. The power of the pearl allowed her to summon and control the dragons, and she used this power to protect the people from harm. Another early dragon was Nuwa, also known as Nu Kua. She is described as a goddess who rescued the world after the male god Gonggong broke a mountain which was one of the pillars attaching heaven and earth. Nuwa was and is seen as a powerful and benevolent figure who demonstrates the established concept of powerful and influential female creatures in Chinese mythology. Longmu and Nuwa are both important figures in Chinese mythology and are often associated with the creation and protection of humanity. However, Nuwa was the closest to an actual female dragon, and there is much contention on whether it has a human head and a dragon body or a serpent body.^[3] This body became a more important conversation considering the way dragons were represented in China and the way that snakes were represented were very different.

It is also important to note the differences between dragon women and snake women in ancient Chinese stories and how these differences reflect the values and beliefs of Chinese culture. In ancient Chinese mythology, the dragon was often associated with the emperor and masculinity, while the snake was associated with the empress and a more servile role. The difference in the representation of the two creatures reflects the values and beliefs of Chinese culture, which places a high value on masculinity and power, leading to Nuwa being categorized as a serpent body, potentially fitting with current ideas on gender.

One example of the snake in Chinese culture is the White Snake stories. The story of “The White Snake” also reinforces traditional gender roles, particularly the female role of wife. The difference between the female dragon and the white snake is that there is some agency lost with the snake that we do not necessarily see within the story of Nuwa. White snake stories started much like a demonic succubus, with her lying about who she is and taking the lives of men. However, as time went on, her story was altered to be the model woman and wife, forsaking her past, and sometimes her identity, for her love. In the tale, the white snake transforms into a woman and becomes the wife of the male protagonist. She is portrayed as obedient, supportive, and submissive to her husband. Her entire existence revolves around pleasing and serving him. This reinforces the idea that a woman’s primary purpose is to be a wife and fulfill the needs of her husband. Stories like this were fairly commonplace throughout China as well as other parts of the world in different forms. The changing of the white snake story as well as Nuwa, was a larger push of Confucian rigidity of gender roles, something that Empress Cixi went against.

Empress Dowager Cixi was a concubine of Emperor Xianfeng after being paraded in front of him, as was routine for many women in China, and was seen as the top of what a woman could be. However, she refused to be defined by her circumstances and fought hard to establish herself in the royal court. She and the emperor had to flee further north when the British invaded during the Opium War and burned down the Old Summer Palace to try to force China into opening trade routes. The emperor was so heartbroken and ashamed that he self-exiled and died. He only had one son with Cixi, who was five at the time. Because of his age, eight “advisors” planned to rule as regents until the new emperor came of age, but Cixi and one of Xianfeng’s daughters ran a successful coup against the young emperor’s advisors to rule as regents. This big power grab was the beginning of Cixi earning her title as Dragon Empress, and even more so as she ordered the beheading of the leader or “head” of the eight men and ordered two others to hang themselves with a silk scarf, which was called an imperial favor. Part of the reasoning behind her brutality was to send a message, as some supporters of the eight advisors believed that a woman would not be able to handle a position of authority, let alone run the country. This, however, has followed her and led to her being characterized as an overly cruel, power-hungry monarch.

Despite being in the most powerful position in China, Cixi had to rule behind a silk screen to preserve her modesty, which shows how deeply ingrained the gender roles were at the time. It was also difficult because in the Forbidden City where the emperor ruled, there were only some places where women were allowed, and that was if they were maids, wives, or concubines. So, the empress had to live with some of the lowest classes in the city, despite being in the most authoritative position. She was also still in a very precarious position as the widow of an emperor. She was surrounded by eunuchs and fell in love with one, but because of China’s rules for both windows and eunuchs, he and anyone involved was beheaded for it, and his corpse was hung up outside of the imperial walls. Despite her power, she was still constrained by her gender in many aspects of her rule.

When the emperor turned sixteen, he took over the throne but died two years later, and Cixi put a three-year-old on the throne to ensure her reign. During this second rule, Cixi brought a lot of Western concepts into China: she took photographs and sent them to leaders of the West; she began to bring in Western law to replace some of the more torturous methods of punishment, like the death by a thousand cuts; and she started the process of stopping the practice of Chinese foot binding, even issuing an anti-footbinding edict. She is a complicated figure in Chinese history, as many ascribe the end of the Qing dynasty to her, and others believe that she was the beginning of much modernization that China benefits from, even today.

Despite the challenges and tragedies she faced, Cixi was a trailblazing leader who made significant contributions to China’s modernization. She banned foot binding, introduced Western legal systems to replace Chinese punishments, replaced education with Western models, created newspapers and journals, and tried to establish an elected parliament. Even though she required people to kneel in front of her, her ultimate goal was to implement a dynasty for the Manchu people.

Dowager Empress Cixi rose from a low-ranking concubine to become the de facto ruler of China. She faced numerous challenges, including British invasions, strict gender rules, personal tragedies, and resistance from traditionalists, but she persevered and made significant contributions to China’s modernization. Cixi was a pioneer who introduced Western systems and ideas to China, and despite her faults, she remains a symbol of strength and empowerment for women in Chinese history. Before her reign, women in Chinese society had very limited rights and were relegated to subservient roles. Women were expected to follow the older Confucian ways and be obedient to their fathers, husbands, and sons, and they were not allowed to participate in politics or hold official positions. Women were also subjected to painful foot-binding rituals and were often considered to be inferior to men in terms of intelligence and worth. The emperors before Cixi did not believe in women’s rights, and many of them were known to have numerous concubines and mistresses. After her rule, however, a lot of the rights that had been given to women were immediately repealed by the next emperor in a failed attempt to erase her mark.

One of her legacies that has continued to this day, because of her rule as an authoritarian and powerful leader in Chinese history, was the creation of the “Dragon Lady” stereotype. This stereotype refers to a cunning and manipulative Asian woman who uses her sexuality to achieve her goals and often portrays her as a villain. Cixi’s reputation as a ruthless and calculating ruler who effectively controlled the Qing Dynasty and maintained her power for half a century has cemented her place in this stereotype. Her rule, coupled with the rigid gender norms of the time, created a sense of fear and awe around her, making her seem almost mythical and dragon-like in her power.

At the same time as her rule, a Russian sociologist coined the term “Le Péril Jaune” or “The Yellow Peril,” which became a frequently used term for an increasing anti-Asian sentiment mounting in the West. This panic, coupled with regressive ideas of womanhood in the West, led to some disparaging remarks about Cixi which grew to a general stereotype about Asian women being power-hungry and promiscuous, using sex and relationship for power rather than love. This manifested into the empress’s moniker of “the Dragon Empress,” being transformed by comic author Milton Caniff to “Dragon Lady” to describe one of the main characters in the series. Madame Deal was a beautiful but cold pirate queen known for her aggression and brutality. She falls in love with one of the side characters but then betrays him for money and power. After this series, Caniff began to get letters talking about the beauty of the character, but that is where her appeal ended. The comic strip was written before WW2 and depicted some of the Chinese and Japanese tension. Despite showing support for China, Caniff still portrayed her as a cold power hungry woman, showing her as a resistance leader attacking Japanese forces, making it clear that her actions were not out of patriotism but from wanting to keep her riches intact.

The comic, through its imagery and writing, helped to construct a fundamental difference between Asian women and white women in how they approached their love interests. This kind of divide led to the aggression and otherness of the dragon lady stereotype, but the over-sexualization came later with other men, particularly men in the navy or army, making hyper-sexualized depictions of Deal. In an interview with Anna May Wong, one of the only Chinese actors at the time these comics were being sexualized, “They took away her weapons, her wit, and finally her clothes.”^[4] This objectification and othering are two key components to what we consider the Dragon Lady stereotype in modern media.

This image of an evil-hyper-sexualized woman was used as justification in aggressive anti-Asian legislation and associated Asian women with sexual promiscuity and diseases. In fact, one of the laws passed at the time, The Page Act, banned the import of Asian women for the purpose of prostitution, which ended up being a law that banned the immigration of almost all Asian women and blamed them for sexually transmitted disease outbreaks at the time. These concepts have continued to pigeonhole Asian women into roles of being hyper-aggressive, hyper-sexualized, or both, even today, through the term dragon lady. The dragon lady in modern media is almost always seen with the counterpart, “the lotus blossom,” or the objectified and purely subordinate Asian stereotype. The dragon lady is seen as simply a villain, and not as a person with a backstory. She is also almost always seen using some kind of “Asian” fighting style to further push her into a stereotypical role, compared to the white actors.

Today, Asian women have begun to subvert this role by giving the characters they play context and depth, both of which they have been historically deprived from. Lucy Liu is one of the most well-known Asian actresses in the United States. One of her biggest roles was O-Ren Ishii, a half-Chinese and half-Japanese, American-born villain in the Kill Bill franchise. Like Cixi, O-Ren Ishii is portrayed as a powerful and cunning woman who rises to the top of the criminal underworld. She is shown as being ruthless in her pursuit of power and maintaining control, and her character draws heavily on Asian stereotypes. Despite the initial reaction being so close to the stereotypical “Dragon Lady,” Ishii is given a very in-depth backstory and a reason for her violence, something that had not been given to any characters like her before. Another important distinction between this character and role, in general, is that she is not the only character that draws upon these stereotypes, the lead, known as “The Bride,” uses a lot of traditional “Asian” fighting styles, as many of other characters do.

There is also a sense of duty, honor, and revenge that is often associated with that stereotype within all of the main characters. This is why in an op-ed to The Washington Post, Lucy Liu asked the question of why she was being called a dragon lady in magazines and media despite “Kill Bill” featuring three other female professional killers in addition to Ishii. She wrote about all the moves and progress that has been made since Madam Deal and Anna May Wong, but emphasized that there is still progress to be made. She concludes that “it is time to Exit the Dragon”^[5] and that the concept of an Asian woman does not need to be immediately characterized as a stereotype and instead can be seen as a reclamation of power.

This op-ed sparked a larger question of whether or not flawed representations are better than no representations. From the origins of the dragon myth, the concept of the powerful feminine has always been qualified and constrained, with the negative characteristics always being brought to the forefront. The distinction from the brutal and powerful dragon contrasted to the mysterious and subservient snake has transformed into the “dragon lady” and the “lotus blossom” in modern media. Recently, the concept of a powerful woman has not only been examined in Asian women, but across many cultures; from the Sapphire or Jezebel stereotypes of black women, to the objectification of Latin women as “spicy,” the concept of sexuality has been portrayed as something dangerous for women to have agency over.

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