14 The Cultural Importance of the Chinese Long 龍 and Her Sister the She 蛇

It is known that humans and primates have an innate negative response to the presence of snakes.^[1] Based on this study, imagery resembling anything reptilian would generate a fear response from primate animals. Theory on the matter would suggest that ancient primates evolved a fear response to snakes in order to avoid predation by them. Considering that many snakes in nature are venomous, there was little room for discrimination between snake species during earlier primate development making a universal fear of all snakes necessary for early primate survival. When human beings began to develop a recognizable culture in prehistory, snakes are some of the first creatures represented. It was theorized that snakes may have been used to educate youth about their existence in cave paintings. Snakes in this manner spread their way into most representations of human culture where they are treated as tricksters or enemies in most stories. The snake in the Chinese zodiac calendar gains its place in front of the dragon when it tricks a horse as it crosses a stream. In western culture, Satan in the bible has been most commonly represented as a serpent or a dragon. From Norse mythology the giant serpent Jormungandr is said to kill Thor during Ragnarok. Medusa in Greek mythology has the hair of snakes to accentuate her fear factor that comes with her terrifying ability of petrification. This contrasts with the symbolism found on Hermes’ attire which depicts snakes as a positive creature known for its healing ability, telling us that even in a culture with positive interpretations of a snake, they are still recognized as figures to be apprehensive of. In ancient times there was a biological understanding that snakes’ nature was oppositional to humans, and the Classic and premodern depictions of snakes heavily influenced the modern day, cementing an image of snakes and the serpents as almost entirely antagonistic. It is mysterious, then to an outside perspective, why the praised and worshiped Chinese dragon, long 龍, would resemble the almost universally despised snake in its appearance.

The Chinese long is one of the most revered and praised animals in all of mythology. In Europe, dragons stem from snakes in their appearance and character, making them the penultimate villain for any European questing hero. But this fact could not be further from the truth in China, as the dragon represents power and benevolence. Dragons are worshiped but are seldom represented around Chinese architecture, making appearances at only the most important and significant of areas. Dragons often represented the emperors that ruled the country, presented this way to give them a holy appearance, and their depictions among emperors would give dragons a larger than life quality. Dragons are also chimerical creatures, said to take on a whole host of aspects of different animals, making them greater than all of them put together, emphasizing supremacy. With a dragon being so mighty in its depiction and a snake being so lowly and mundane, why do the two bear so many physical similarities in appearance in the east? What are the significant differences between snakes and dragons as told to us through two Chinese tales: “Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Dongting Lake” by Li Chaowei and Madam White Is Kept Forever under Thunder Peak Tower by Feng Menglong?

In the “Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Dongting Lake,” our first mention of a mighty dragon is when Liu Yi asks for the master of Dongting. A warrior who accompanies him informs him that the master of Dongting is a dragon who is debating with a human Taoist monk. He goes on to say that dragons are masters of the elements of water, and that humans are masters of the element of fire. This usage of the elements juxtaposes one another in complete contrast. The warrior states: “My Lord is a dragon, and dragons use water as their divine element. By wielding a single drop they are able to engulf valleys and hills. The Taoist master is a human, the race that uses fire as its sacred element. A man could burn down the Epang Palace, by putting a single lamp to it.”^[2] This symbolism of water and fire usage portrays the dragon as a powerful master of the elements, able to use nature to its advantage like people can. Drawing a parallel with people’s mastery of the environment allows the story to give an object of comparison for the mighty dragons that exist in myth.

Soon after this exchange, a dragon spontaneously appears to have slain the people who wronged the palace master’s daughter whom the story revolves around. This dragon is called Qiantang and is described as cracking open the earth and bursting forth from it, and thunderbolts whirled about amongst it in addition to sleet, snow, rain, and hail. It then bolts off “ripping the blue sky asunder” as the story states.^[3] The master of the palace tells him that he was too hasty in his actions, forcing him to apologize. This would indicate that even for all their godly power, dragons still have the ability to make mistakes in myth. They are worth worshiping, but even they have their limits as creatures of the earth, still answering to “The Monarch on High” as the story states. The dragons in the palace of the story are continually represented with the finest symbols and luxury goods and practices befitting dragons. They have the most lavish feasts, the happiest guests, the most extravagant plays, and fantastic poetry. These things are represented frequently in the story almost as if to highlight a dragon’s aversion to the mundane. Even after all of these praises to their names, the dragons in the story still need more, going so far as to present Liu Yi with a rhinoceros horn with the ability to control water. This gesture would be staggering in reality, as the dragon’s ability to control water is reserved for them, and Liu Yi is just a mortal man who is said to have control over fire according to the very story he comes from.

Near the climax of the story, Liu Yi becomes a benevolent figure following his marriage to the girl he aids at the beginning of the story. Due to his extreme humility and admirable qualities in the face of revered and mighty dragonkind, the protagonist is rewarded with the lifespan of a dragon. The story states that he continues his life younger in appearance than ever before. While there are multiple sources that have the ability to grant immortality, the dragon’s ability to bear immortality so easily and willingly, as it is part of their being, further emphasizes their strength and value of worship. The setting of Liu Yi’s story displays to its readers that dragons are sacred in everything they go about doing, as the setting never transitions to a wretched area, and there are no true antagonists to the story who oppose the protagonist. The dragons reward repeatedly for the virtuous actions, and the eventual granting of immortality serves as their final blessing to an already generous soul. The penultimate lesson of the story is to be kind to others because you never know what you will receive in return.

Conversely, we see what continuous help and a lack of backbone can do to someone in Madam White Is Kept Forever under Thunder Peak Tower. Madam White Is Kept Forever under Thunder Peak Tower is a story built on a series of legends revolving around a white snake woman. These stories begin portraying the white snake woman as a villain, but as the story becomes more and more well told, they begin to become more and more sympathetic for the white snake woman, shedding her snake aspects for more of her feminine aspects and treating her like a woman equal to the protagonist whom she interacts with. In this story, the protagonist Xu Xuan finds Madam White and her accompanying lady Miss Green. The pair cross a river and Xu Xuan pays for their crossing. Later, when caught in the rain, Xu Xuan gives his umbrella to Madam White once it is revealed that she has (mysteriously) been caught in the rain alone, without Miss Green. Through these two events, it is noted that Lady White takes a liking to the handsome Xu Xuan, who has already proven himself generous. However, the contrived events surrounding their meeting does not bode well for the bachelor. Xu Xuan, returning to Madam White’s home for his umbrella, is set upon by excuses for why he cannot receive it. He is instead presented with a humble feast and talk before he leaves, clearly disinterested in Madam White’s hospitality for the day. On the next day, he returns, and, having known this woman for all of three days now, she asks to marry him. Madam White’s aggressive hospitality begins to line up with the manipulation of a fictional snake. It is like one trying to attract prey to its hiding place before striking it. She furthers this behavior by offering Xu Xuan great wealth whenever he desires it. Such actions for the small hospitable favors Xu Xuan has done for her are very strange in this situation. It is unclear what her ulterior methods may be up to this point.

Upon telling his family that he has had a marriage offer, he was provided silver from Madam White, but they protested telling him not to rush. Xu Xuan’s brother in law discovers that the bar of silver Xu Xuan had the same characters inscribed on it as a local bounty in town. These warnings cause Xu Xuan to be taken to a court with a particularly boneheaded manner of justice where he reveals that he received his silver from Madam White. When the guards of the palace go to check for Madam White in her residence, she is nowhere to be found at all and evades justice, causing Xu Xuan to be punished for a crime she was responsible for. Madam White manages to dodge accountability in this situation. At this point in the story, her snake nature is still hidden from the reader, but this initial activity after fake praise and reward causes the reader to be suspicious of what Madam White really is, as on top of this action, she also seemingly disappears completely. After Xu Xuan’s term of over six months expires, he is rejoined with Madam White, who is waiting for him. She explains herself and the two are married after Xu Xuan’s partner enthuses them toward marriage.

Madam White sends a Taoist priest skyward when he accuses her of being a serpent. In this scene, we see that Madam White is being most uncouth in her mannerisms, concealing her form when suspicion is arisen to both her husband and the monk. In metaphor, it is as if the snake has acquired its prey and it is tightening its chokehold. On top of this, Madam White goes on to plant more stolen goods on Xu Xuan, sending him to another labor camp to serve out an undeserved sentence. When Xu Xuan goes to look for Madam White so she may answer for her crime, she again dodges accountability for it. The story repeats itself when Madam White again persuades Xu Xuan that she is not to blame for their situation, and foolishly Xu Xuan is none the wiser. Eventually, Madam White’s true form as a snake is revealed to a perverted eye. When the proper authorities finally pursue her, she threatens the whole town with destruction, finally shedding her guise as a woman and revealing that she is indeed a demonic spirit. In the end, Xu Xuan enlists the aid of a Buddhist monk in imprisoning Madam White beneath a tower for all time. The story itself ultimately serves to further Buddhist beliefs in the originally Taoist world of China, and Madam White’s many sins against her neighbors serve to demonstrate the characterization of a snake in the eyes of Feng Menglong, the author of this story. Consistently, Madam White will induce suffering on Xu Xuan who she has preyed upon since the beginning of the story, then seduce him back into a subservient place. Xu Xuan is robbed of individuality so significantly that it takes outside forces to drag him from the grip of the snake.

Madam White is a figure that quite literally disguises herself in the story as a woman. Being an afterlife spirit, she is granted the ability to shapeshift, but this ability is used very frequently by Madam White who prefers to keep up the appearance of an attractive human woman, likely to quicken her cultivation into the afterlife by preying upon men. This story would indicate an insecurity from male writers of the control exhibited by female sexuality on them, and by extension the fear of loss of control exhibited by all things. As mentioned previously, snakes are quickly recognized by primates like humans to ensure that they can’t hide in grasses. This story serves to be an exercise in avoiding similar scenarios socially through elaborate metaphor, by characterizing Madam White as a literal snake and seductress who causes suffering to Xu Xuan but manages to keep him under her grip through her reasoning.

Save their usage in the Chinese Zodiac, the snake is generally a despised being, especially in earlier works of fiction. It serves as an opponent to almost all of humanity not because of its oppositional nature to people, but because of its disarming way of hunting everything. There are not many animals as effective or diverse as the snake in its hunting methods and for that reason it has earned a place in the primordial fears of all apes; that primordial fear is preserved through Madam White Is Kept Forever under Thunder Peak Tower. Compare this fear now with the also primordial phenomena of dragons and their omnipresence across multiple cultures. While the fears of snakes have manifested in the aforementioned stories, eastern dragons have long been praised for their might and benevolence. Despite appearances, the two could not be further apart in depiction. All cultures recognize dragons as having some sort of supreme ability that people cannot attain. The snake, by comparison, is a foe that has haunted people for ages, but can be overcome. It is because of this that snakes draw their appearance to dragons, being similarly related as mighty scaled beings, but devoid of any of their divine qualities. Dragons as seen in the “Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Dongting Lake” never conceal their intentions and are far from gray characters. In addition, they carry a power that sends Liu Yi into awestruck panic, but this power does not cause them to be despised by the protagonist, it instead invokes admiration. They are shown to have humility when Liu Yi challenges Qiantang after he proposes to have his niece marry Liu Yi, shortly after killing his niece’s ex-husband and abuser. Liu Yi states that that wouldn’t be right so soon after the death of her husband, and he departs. Eventually, Liu Yi’s wife, who is also a dragon, seeks Liu Yi out and marries him, even after the inadvertent rejection she faces as Liu Yi marries multiple other women.

When Xu Xuan initially marries Madam White, it is after he is punished for Madam White’s actions, and he is forced into it by another relative. The foundations in both marriages are very different, almost reflecting one another. One comes from punishment, while the other comes from praise and ceremonies after death, that is gracefully glided over. In Madam White, Xu Xuan has the power of a serpent imposed on him, while in “Transcendent Marriage,” Liu Yi has power granted to him after a certain act. In both stories, the beasts are concealed in a human visage and only elect to show themselves in their original form when undertaking spiritual acts. Madam White’s concealing of her true form comes from a place of hiding herself where she desires to swindle Xu Xuan. The dragons of “Transcendent Marriage” take their human forms so as not to terrify Liu Yi. Both need to conceal their forms, but their reasons for doing so are entirely different. The dragon’s reasons are benevolent, while the snake’s reason is malicious. In this, the subtle subconscious differences between their respective forms can begin to be teased out.

A dragon’s power and ability is represented in its chimerical aspects: its claws, its head, its eyes, its belly and more. A snake is only one aspect of these things, and appears in depictions to be more rudimentary when compared with the dragon. Put simply, the visual distinction of the snake indicates its lack of power when compared to a dragon, and the stories that we examined emphasize this idea. It is more difficult to respect something that cannot impress you with its benevolence, honor, and ability to willingly grant immortality. Snakes are limited and opportunistic, and their appearance as more limited creatures translates to literary works as desperation and cunning to exert their will over other creatures, having lacked control and respect themselves as snakes. While they are similar in appearance and body shape, a dragon, whether intentional or not, serves as a human-made response to a primordial threatening enemy, driven by desperation through its own limits: the snake. Appropriately, Madam White in her story is desperately driven by the desire to cultivate herself into immortality, while the dragons of “Transcendent Marriage” simply have immortality they can easily give away. This lack of desperation allows the story to inform the reader that generosity and respect are tantamount to success, while Madam White’s means of domination and underhandedness will never properly grant one what they seek. Between these two stories, we can understand the subtle differences between a mighty dragon and a cunning snake.

Bibliography

Shibasaki and N. Kawai, “Rapid detection of snakes by Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata): An evolutionarily predisposed visual system.” Journal of Comparative Psychology, 123(2), (2009). https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015095.

Li Chaowei. “Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Dongting Lake.” Translated by Glen Dudbridge in Anthology of Tang and Song Tales, ed. Victor Mair and Zhenjun Zhang (World Scientific Publishing Company, 2020), 93-119.

Feng Menglong. Stories to Caution to the World: A Ming Dynasty Collection, Volume 2. Translated by Shuihui Yang and Yunqin Yang. University of Washington Press, 2005.