●(Book of the Later Han, Treatise on the Five Elements): A dragon descended upon the Warming and Brightening Hall. This sentence is quoted in the Qing dynasty's "Luoyang County Gazetteer, Treatise on Anomalies" as "black like a carriage canopy, rising swiftly with five colors," which is more explicit than the "Book of the Later Han."
On the day of Dingchou in the sixth month of the first year of the Guanghe reign of Emperor Ling of Han, a black vapor fell into the eastern courtyard of the Warming and Brightening Hall of the Northern Palace. It was black like a carriage canopy, rose swiftly, had a body of five colors, a head, and a body over ten zhang long, resembling a dragon in appearance.
●(History of Yuan, Treatise on the Five Elements) states: In the seventh month of the twenty-seventh year of the Zhiyuan reign, a dragon appeared at Longshan in Linqu County, Yidu. A boulder weighing a thousand jin rose into the air.
●In the twenty-fourth year of the Jian'an reign of the Eastern Han, a yellow dragon appeared in the Chishui River at Wuyang, lingered for nine days before departing. At the time, a temple was built and a stele erected to commemorate this event.
●In the first year of the Yonghe reign of the Eastern Jin (345 AD), in the fourth month, one black and one white dragon appeared at Longshan. The Prince of Yan personally led his court officials to conduct a sacrificial ceremony at a distance of over 200 paces from the dragons.
●In local gazetteers of the Ming and Qing periods, records of dragons are still occasionally found. According to the "Linfu Prefecture Gazetteer," in the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign (1631 AD), a giant dragon was discovered in Yilong Lake, southeast of Shiping County, Yunnan. "Its whiskers, claws, scales, and armor were all fully exposed; it was several arm-spans in girth and dozens of zhang in length." The appearance of dragons at Longshan and Yilong Lake may not have been a one-time event. Otherwise, they would not have been named "Dragon Mountain" and "Dragon Lake"!
●The "Tangnian Bulu" records that on a certain day in the late Xiantong reign of the Tang dynasty, a green dragon fell within the borders of Tongcheng County. Due to an injury to its throat, it died on the spot. The dragon was over ten zhang in total length, with the body and tail each accounting for half. The tail was flat. Its scales were similar to those of a fish. It had double horns on its head, mouth whiskers up to two zhang long, and legs beneath its belly with red membranes on the feet.
●Lang Ying's "Qixiu Leigao" records that in the late Chenghua reign of the Ming dynasty, a dragon fell on the beach of Xinhui County, Guangdong, and was beaten to death by fishermen. This dragon was about the height of a person, several dozen zhang in length, closely resembling a dragon in paintings, except that its belly was red.
●In the thirty-second year of the Shaoxing reign of the Southern Song (1162 AD), a dragon was discovered by the shore of Taibai Lake. It had giant scales and long whiskers, a white belly and a blue back, fins on its back, and tall double horns rising from its head. A fishy smell could be detected from several li away. The local people covered its body with mats, and the government sent officials to personally conduct sacrifices. After a night of thunder and rain, the dragon disappeared. A deep ditch was left where it had lain.
●The "Yongping Prefecture Gazetteer" records that in the summer of the nineteenth year of the Daoguang reign (1839 AD), a dragon fell within the borders of Leting County at the lower reaches of the Luan River. Its body was covered with flies and gnats. The local people set up a shed for it to block the sunlight and continuously splashed water on its body. Three days later, during a great thunderstorm, the dragon left its original location.
●In August 1944 AD, behind Chenjiaweizi Village in Fuyu County, along the southern bank of the Songhua River, several hundred people gathered to watch a black dragon lying on the sandy beach. According to Ren Dianyuan, a surviving eyewitness, the dragon was over 20 meters long. This creature looked like a four-legged snake on the outside, with a face similar to that of a dragon in paintings, sporting seven or eight thick and stiff long whiskers. The diameter of the front half of its body was about one meter or more. Its four claws were deeply embedded in the sand. Its entire body was covered in scales, shaped like crocodile scales. Ren Dianyuan remains full of doubt to this day: why did that giant creature look so much like a dragon in paintings?
●In the summer of 1953, an unidentified animal fell in a certain place in eastern Henan. Many curious people walked several li on foot to see it. According to the description of eyewitnesses, the thing looked like a giant shark. Its fishy smell attracted many flies. This fish should have been a rare deep-sea species. As for why it fell from the sky, it seems possible to connect it with the reasons for dragons falling.
●In the summer of 1934, Yingkou experienced continuous overcast and rainy weather, with heavy rain lasting for more than 40 days. The Liao River swelled, and the reed marshes on the north bank of the Liao River became a vast expanse of water. Fish and shrimp floated on the surface, and a strong fishy and foul smell spread through the air. After the heavy rain, people living on the north bank of the Liao River could all smell the putrid odor from the reed marshes, but they could never figure out the cause. One day, a man watching over the reed marshes followed the smell. When he pushed aside the reeds, he was astonished to find the carcass of a giant monster in the marsh. The reed keeper was terrified and fled home in a panic. It is said that after arriving home, he threw himself onto the kang and was bedridden from then on. Some elderly locals recalled that this monster had appeared twice before, the first time at a location 20 kilometers from the river mouth.
Other records:
Before Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ascended the throne, he once raised a dragon in the pond of Xingqing Palace. When he became emperor, a small dragon in the Xingqing Palace pond swam into the imperial ditch outside the palace. It was strangely shaped, winding and coiling, appearing as if about to soar away. All the men and women in the palace came out to see it.
Later, when Emperor Xuanzong traveled to Western Shu, on the eve of his departure, that dragon leaped up from the pond into the sky, riding on white clouds, stretching across a thousand li, and flew off toward the southwest. All the civil and military officials around saw this magnificent sight. When Xuanzong reached the Jialing River and boarded a boat to cross, he saw the small dragon clinging to the side of the boat as it moved forward. All the attendants witnessed this scene.
Xuanzong was so moved that tears streamed down his face, and he said to his attendants: "This is the dragon from my Xingqing Palace pond!" He then ordered wine to be poured into the river and personally prayed. Only then did the dragon shake its scales and bristle its mane, and depart from the water.
(From "Xuanshi Zhi")
In the gengwu year of Shu, Wang Zonglang, the prefect of Jinzhou, reported that beside the Xun River in Xunyang County there was a Qingyan Temple. For several days in a row, smoke and clouds darkened the temple, and the sound of music continued day and night without stopping.
Suddenly, one morning, the waves churned and leaped, and a group of dragons appeared on the water surface, moving toward the Han River. The large ones were several zhang long, the small ones over one zhang long, in all colors. They looked like oxen, horses, donkeys, and sheep, with large and small ones each making up half, jostling and crowding into the Han River, passing by the temple. They came and went repeatedly, lingering for several li, sometimes appearing and sometimes disappearing. Only after three days did they vanish from sight.
(From "Luyi Ji")
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was in the eastern capital Luoyang. Resting in the palace hall during the day, he dreamed of a woman kneeling in supplication beneath his bed. The woman was gorgeous in appearance, with her hair combed into a cross-knot style, draped in a large shawl and wide robes.
Xuanzong asked her: "Who are you?" She said: "I am the dragon maiden from Your Majesty's Lingbo Pond. I have guarded the imperial palace and protected the imperial carriage, and I have indeed rendered meritorious service. Now that Your Majesty has a thorough understanding of celestial music, I beg Your Majesty to grant me a tune, so as to bring glory to my kind."
In his dream, the emperor picked up a huqin and played a tune for her, the "Lingbo Melody." The dragon maiden bowed twice to Xuanzong and departed.
When he woke up, the emperor still remembered the tune, so he ordered a ban on music in the palace that day. The emperor personally held a pipa and practiced and refined it repeatedly to become familiar with the tune. He then hosted a banquet for all officials at Lingbo Palace and performed the new tune by the pond.
The waves in the pond surged up and then calmed, and a goddess appeared on the water surface—exactly the woman he had seen in his dream the day before. The woman listened on the water for a long time before disappearing. The emperor then ordered a temple to be built over Lingbo Pond, and sacrifices were made to her every year.
(From "Yishi")
The Fen River runs through Taiyuan and flows southward. There are two bridges over the river. A dragon once appeared beneath the southern bridge, so a dragon temple was built beneath it.
Previously, when Chancellor Linghu Chu was residing in the northern capital, a dragon flew out from the temple. All the men and women in the city watched to their heart's content. After about the time it takes to eat a meal, it soared away with vigor and vigor. Immediately there came thunder and a torrential rain. That was in the early Taihe reign of the Tang dynasty.
(Source: "Xuanshi Zhi")Shi Zhi》)
To the southeast of Zhengyang Commandery, there was a temple called Faxi Temple. The temple was a hundred li from the commandery seat, situated directly west of the Wei River. At the end of the Yuanhe reign of the Tang Dynasty, a monk in the temple frequently dreamed of a white dragon coming from the Wei River, stopping beneath the western pillar of the Buddha hall, coiling around it for a long time, and then flying straight toward the east. The day after the dream, it would rain. This happened many times. The monk found it strange and told others about it. Someone told him, "A blessed land is where spirits dwell, and it is originally a dragon's abode. Buddhist temples also rely on dragons, which is why Shakyamuni has the Eight Divisions of Dragons and Gods—this is the meaning. Moreover, for a temple in the wilds, with its clean and spacious halls, wouldn't it be fitting as a dragon's dwelling? I suggest you make an earthen dragon and place it between the hall pillars to verify your dream."
The monk then gathered craftsmen and made a dragon out of clay. He described in detail the appearance of the dragon from his dream to the craftsmen. When it was finished, they placed it beneath the western pillar of the hall. It was made to look like a living dragon amid clouds and mist, with vivid scales and mane, its movements sinuous and lifelike, capturing the essence perfectly—even a skilled painter could not have rendered it more realistically.
At the beginning of the Changqing reign, a person residing in this temple was lying on his back outside the gate one day when he saw something emerge from the window, drifting lightly like a cloud, flying out of the temple and toward the Wei River. As dusk approached, the thing returned to the western window. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a white dragon.
The next day, he told the monks in the temple. The monks found it strange. A few days later, all the monks in the temple went to the villagers' gathering for a vegetarian feast and did not return until noon. When they entered the hall, they saw that the earthen dragon was gone. The monks were astonished and puzzled, looking at each other and saying, "This must be a dragon. Even though it was made of clay, it can still transform and disappear. When it leaves, we do not know where it goes; when it comes, we do not know where it comes from. It is indeed a spiritual creature!" By evening, dark clouds drifted from the Wei River, and soon they were about to approach the temple. Suddenly, something leaped out from the clouds and flew in through the western window. The monks were startled and frightened. When they approached to look, they saw that the earthen dragon had attached itself to the western pillar. Upon closer inspection, the dragon's mane, scales, and horns seemed to be all wet.
From then on, they locked it with an iron chain. Later, whenever there were floods or droughts, prayers offered to it were very efficacious.
(Source: "Xuanshi Zhi")
In Shazhou, northwest of Beiting, there was a river called the Black River. The river was deep enough for boats, but its waters often overflowed, destroying houses and flooding the plains. As a result, the crops in the northwest were all submerged, the fields were abandoned, and farming became impossible. The local residents all fled to distant places to escape the disaster of flooding. Those who served as officials in Beiting or Shazhou all had to first prepare offerings, go to the riverbank to sincerely pray and make sacrifices, and only then could they attend to government affairs. Otherwise, there would be incessant rain lasting for months, or the river would surge violently, flooding the cities.
During the Kaiyuan reign of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Song of Nanyang was ordered by imperial decree to serve as the Protector-General of Beiting. He arrived within the borders of Beiting and summoned the officials who had come to welcome him at the outskirts to inquire about this matter. Some said, "There is a great dragon in the Black River that especially likes to eat sheep, cattle, dogs, pigs, and the like. It often stirs up wind and waves, floating on the water, watching how people make sacrifices by the river. I have known this for a long time."
Zhang Song then ordered the preparation of sacrificial cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, and sweet beverages, arranged a banquet by the river, and secretly gathered his attendants, armed with bows and arrows, to ambush on both sides. Zhang Song led his subordinates in formation on the riverbank, standing respectfully and solemnly, waiting. Before long, a dragon about a hundred feet long leaped out of the water and quickly came to the shore. Its gaze was like fire, shooting toward the people on the bank. When it was still about several dozen steps away from the people, Zhang Song ordered the archers to draw their bows fully. The dragon indeed came to the banquet table, and its body gradually shrank to only a few feet in length. Just as it was about to eat but before it could, Zhang Song ordered the archers to release their arrows. In an instant, a volley of arrows was fired, and the dragon, unable to defend itself, was struck by the arrows and died. After the dragon died, the people of the area all came to see it, bustling like a market.
Zhang Song, delighted at having eliminated a scourge for the people, presented the dead dragon to the emperor. The emperor praised him for his decisiveness and had the dragon's tongue cut out, placed in a small box, and bestowed it upon him. Moreover, his descendants inherited the position of Prefect of Shazhou for generations, and to this day they are known as the "Dragon-Tongue Zhang Clan."
(Source: "Taiping Guangji")
A woman of the Wei family from Jingzhao, daughter of a distinguished household, was married to Meng of Wuchang. At the end of the Dali reign of the Tang Dynasty, Meng and his brother-in-law Wei Sheng were both selected for official posts at the same time. Wei Sheng was appointed as the county constable of Yangzi County, and Meng was appointed as the recorder of Langzhou. They each set out separately for their posts.
Wei followed her husband to Shu, but since carts could not pass, she had to ride a horse. As she followed her husband into the mouth of the Luogu Valley, the horse was suddenly startled, throwing her off, and she fell into a ravine several hundred zhang deep. Looking down, it was pitch black, with no path leading down. Meng wailed in grief, the whole family wept bitterly, not knowing what to do. Meng and his family then set up offerings and held a memorial service, donned mourning clothes, and reluctantly left her behind. As for Wei, she fell onto a layer of dead leaves several zhang thick and suffered no injury. At first, she seemed to have suffocated, but soon she regained consciousness. After a day, she was extremely hungry, so she wrapped snow in leaves and ate it. Looking to the side, she saw a crevice in the rock, of unknown depth. Looking up at the place from which she had fallen, it was like a great well, and by all reason she should have died.
Wei suddenly saw, from within the rocky valley, a light like that of a lamp, which gradually grew larger. It turned out to be two points of light. As they drew nearer, she could see clearly that they were the eyes of a dragon. Wei was terrified and stood with her back against the rock wall. The dragon gradually emerged, about five or six zhang long, and when it reached the mouth of the cave, it leaped up and flew out through the opening. In an instant, she saw another pair of eyes, and another dragon was about to go out. Wei, believing she was doomed to die, would rather be harmed by the dragon—so as the dragon was about to leave, she suddenly grabbed hold of it and straddled its back. The dragon paid her no heed and leaped straight out of the cave, soaring into the air. Wei did not dare look down and let the dragon fly as it pleased. After what seemed like half a day, she suspected they had flown over ten thousand li, so she opened her eyes and looked down. The dragon gradually flew lower, and she could again see rivers, seas, and vegetation. When she was about four or five zhang above the ground, fearing that the dragon would carry her into the river, she jumped off and landed right in the deep grass, and it was a long time before she regained consciousness.
Wei had not eaten for three or four days and was utterly exhausted, walking extremely slowly. She encountered an old fisherman, who was startled to see that she was not a ghost. Wei asked where this place was. The fisherman said it was Yangzi County. Wei was secretly overjoyed and asked, "How far is it to the county seat?" The fisherman said twenty li. Wei recounted her story in detail, and being hungry and thirsty as well, the old fisherman felt both sympathy and astonishment. There was tea and porridge on his boat, and he let her eat to satisfy her hunger. Wei asked, "Has the young constable Wei of this county assumed his post?" The fisherman said he did not know whether he had arrived or not. Wei said, "I am the elder sister of Constable Wei. If you can take me to the county office, I will surely repay you well."
The old fisherman took her to the gate of the county office. Wei Sheng had already been in office for many days. Wei arrived at the gate and had someone announce that the thirteenth sister of the Meng family had arrived. Wei Sheng did not believe it and said, "The thirteenth sister went to Shu with Brother Meng—how could she suddenly appear here!" Wei had the messenger recount the circumstances in detail. Although Wei Sheng was astonished, he was not fully convinced. When he came out and saw her, his elder sister wailed and recounted her ordeal, her appearance haggard and withered beyond description. He then had her brought inside to rest. Before long, she recovered. Wei Sheng remained somewhat doubtful. A few days later, the grim news from Shu indeed arrived, and only then did Wei Sheng's mind clear, and he felt even more mixed sorrow and joy. He rewarded the old fisherman with twenty thousand cash and sent someone to escort his sister to Shu. Meng was overcome with joy and grief beyond measure.
Several decades later, Wei's cousin Pei Gang, during the Zhenyuan reign, served as the constable of Gao'an in Hongzhou, and he personally recounted this story.
(Source: "Yuanhua Ji")
At the end of the Xiantong reign of the Tang Dynasty, Kong Wei, the Prefect of Shuzhou, presented a dragon skeleton, along with a memorial memorializing the matter.
The memorial said: In Shanzheng Township, Tongcheng County, under Shuzhou's jurisdiction, there was a commoner named Hu Ju, who had...A green dragon fought to the death in his courtyard.
At the time it was the fourth month, and there were silkworm trays in the courtyard used for raising silkworms. Suddenly dark clouds and thunder burst forth, and only the sound of fighting and clashing could be heard within the clouds. Blood fell like rain, sprinkling onto the silkworm trays. The blood did not stain the trays, and gradually gathered and congealed, so that it could be picked up and placed in one's palm.
After a short while, people felt a bone-piercing cold pain.
At first, a dragon's tail dragged along the ground, coiling around a bucket of slop water, then it soared back up into the clouds. When the rain came, it was entirely slop water.
After the dragon died, it was cut open, and a large sore was found in its throat. The dragon's body was over ten chi long, with the body and tail each accounting for half. The tail was thin and narrow. Its scales and mane were like fish scales. Only its whiskers were two zhang long. Its feet were covered with a red membrane-like substance. Its two horns were each two zhang long.
At the time, the Grand Granary Commissioner was dispatched to command troops to transport the dead dragon to Shuzhou. Because the dragon's flesh was very heavy and could not be moved whole, it was cut into dozens of pieces and carried to the prefectural seat.
(From "Tang Nian Bu Lu")
In Guankou Baisha, there was a Temple of the Grand Mountain Lord. Every spring in the third month, people of Shu would go there to burn incense and offer sacrifices, and it also became a gathering place for physicians and diviners from various prefectures. At that time, there was a man dressed in patched clothing, haggard in appearance, who also walked toward the temple. The crowd paid him no heed.
When he reached the riverbank, the crowd was resting in the shade of trees, and this poor scholar also sat down on a rock. After sitting for a while, he said to the crowd, "There is a dragon sleeping in this river." No one responded. An old man nearby said, "How do you know?" The poor scholar said, "I have seen it." The crowd said, "Let us see it too, how about it?" The poor scholar said, "That is not difficult." He took off his outer garment and jumped into the water, then emerged holding a sleeping dragon in his arms. The stench was extremely strong. The dragon's eyes were tightly closed, and its claws, teeth, scales, and tail were all intact. Mist and clouds suddenly gathered, wind rose, and waves surged. The crowd all stood up in shock and bowed to the poor scholar from afar, calling him a sage.
The poor scholar set down the sleeping dragon in his arms, letting it sink to the bottom of the water. He picked up his clothes from the ground, draped them over his shoulder, and walked away, saying to the crowd, "All of you make your living by healing and divination, saving people from urgency and knowing fortune and misfortune—this is close to practicing the Way. Never look down on or insult those who are poor and lowly!" Hearing this, the crowd felt ashamed and thanked the poor scholar. They walked together with him for another ten or more li, and in the blink of an eye he vanished.
(From "Ye Ren Xian Hua")
Within the borders of Pengzhou Mengyang County, there is a place called "Qingliu," where there is a pond. The villagers all say that the dragon in this pond and the dragon in the Cimu Pond of the Western Mountains are husband and wife, meeting once each year. Wang Rui of Xinfan was a man of broad learning who could distinguish the truth of things. He had once not believed the above account.
Once, after an autumn rain, he passed by this pond and happened to encounter thunder, rain, and darkness from the west, with fierce winds uprooting trees. Wang Rui tied his horse to a tree to take shelter from the rain. After a short while, thunder and lightning arrived above the pond and then stopped. Suddenly the rain cleared and the sky became bright, with not a cloud for ten thousand li. When he asked the local residents what this was about, their account matched exactly what had been said before.
One day, wind and thunder came down from Xiaotang Creek along the Shu River, arriving at Yun'an County. A thing in the clouds spun down into the creek, and as it entered the water, wind, thunder, and lightning were truly fearsome. There is the matter of Liu Yi delivering a letter from Dongting, which matches this account.
(From "Bei Meng Suo Yan")
During the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a monk named Puan, a virtuous and eminent monk, later honored by posterity as "Patriarch Puan."
Once, in the twenty-sixth year of the Shaoxing reign (1156 AD), in the seventh month, he held a Dharma assembly. Because countless believers had benefited from him in ordinary times, the temple was flourishing with incense. Some Taoist priests, harboring jealousy, secretly reported to the governor's office that Puan was a demon monk who deluded believers. Thus the governor dispatched a patrol officer leading several hundred official soldiers to arrest Puan. When the great procession was marching in full force toward the temple, about several li outside the temple, a light rain suddenly began to fall, and in an instant dark clouds gradually rose.
At that moment, a giant dragon several li long appeared, with majestic horns and radiant divine light, tumbling within the clouds. The soldiers who had come to arrest Puan were all shocked and shaken by this sight. Later, the leading patrol officer knelt and begged for forgiveness with repentance, and immediately the dragon submerged and the rain stopped. The procession then returned to the governor's office, and the patrol officer reported to the governor, saying, "Master Puan is a holy monk, not a demon monk."
True cultivators all have the protection of the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons. No matter what reason or justification, persecuting cultivators is sinful. The protective dragon appearing in the clouds is a warning to people not to believe lies and persecute cultivators, and not to commit sins.
(Source: "Biography of Puan")
In the early Northern Song Dynasty, there was a minister named Zhang Ji (pronounced Ji), courtesy name Shi'an, also styled Jieren. He once told of a miraculous event he had personally experienced. One year, Zhang Ji, as an envoy of the Central Plains dynasty, went to Goryeo. While the ship was sailing at sea, he asked the helmsman, "Have you ever seen dragons at sea?" The helmsman replied, "On cloudy days, I have seen dragons several times, but I only ever saw their tails hanging down among the waves, moving and contracting, and before long wind and rain would rage. As for the entire dragon, or its head and horns, I have never seen them." After hearing this, Zhang Ji immediately and respectfully dressed in formal ceremonial robes, burned incense with devotion, and prayed for the true dragon to appear. At that time the sky was clear, when suddenly dragons leaped out of the water—not just one, but more and more, until in the end countless dragons appeared on the sea surface, clearly visible. The dragons did not disappear until after a long while. Zhang Ji and all those on the same ship witnessed this utterly awe-inspiring scene.
According to the record, the reason Zhang Ji could see dragons was that he truly believed in their existence and respectfully burned incense in prayer, and only then did the dragons appear. But people today, influenced by atheism, do not believe in dragons at all, and have also lost their reverence. Even when they pray, it is only to satisfy their own attachments—perhaps this is one reason why modern people rarely see dragons.
In the Qing Dynasty "Jiaxing Prefecture Gazetteer, Auspicious Anomalies Section": "In Pinghu County, a white dragon soared over the sea, its light reddening half the sky. Compiler Shen Maoxiao recorded that the dragon's head hung half down, and between its two horns stood a golden-crowned, purple-robed divine figure, holding a sword, over one chi tall. The dragon emitted a pearl of light from beneath its chin, round and large as a dou measure." In Pinghu County, a white dragon soared over the sea, radiating light that reddened half the sky. At the time, Shen Maoxiao made a record of it. The dragon's head hung half down, and between its two horns stood a purple-robed divine figure wearing a golden crown, one chi tall, holding a sword. Beneath the dragon's head appeared a bright mass of pearl light, round and as large as a dou.
In the seventh year of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, Yuanhe reign (812 AD), in what is now Tongcheng County, Anhui, there were two dragons, one yellow and one white, that leaped up from a pond, glided at low altitude for six li, and then fell into another pond: "In the seventh year of Yuanhe, sixth month, on the day dinghai (the first day of the month), within Meitian Slope in Tongcheng, Shuzhou, there were yellow and white dragons that rose from the slope amid wind and thunder, reaching two hundred chi in height, traveling six li, and entering Futang Slope." (From "Old Book of Tang, Annals of Emperor Xianzong, Part Two")
About sixty years later, in the late Xiantong reign (860–873), in a certain spring, a green dragon fell into the courtyard of a commoner's home in Tongcheng County. Its throat was injured, and as it fell, blood rained down in profusion, and it died on the spot. The county dispatched officials to transport the dragon's remains by cart to the prefectural seat. Because the body was too heavy, it had to be cut into dozens of pieces. Jia Wei's "Tang Nian Bu Lu" records the details of this event: "In the late Xiantong reign of Tang, Kong Wei, the prefect of Shuzhou, presented a set of dragon bones, and accordingly submitted a memorial recording the circumstances: In Shanzheng Township, Tongcheng County, a commoner named Hu Ju had a green dragon fight to the death in his courtyard. At the time it was the fourth month, and there were still silkworm cocoon trays in the courtyard. Suddenly clouds, thunder, and a violent storm arose, and sounds of striking and clashing were heard in the clouds. Blood fell like poured rain, sprinkling onto the cocoon trays. The blood did not stain the trays, and gradually gathered and congealed, so that it could be picked up and placed in one's palm. After a moment, it caused a bone-piercing cold pain. At first the dragon dragged its tail along the ground, coiling around a slop bucket, then it leaped into the clouds. When the rain came, it was entirely slop water. After the dragon died, it was cut open, and a large sore was found in its throat. Its total length was over ten chi. The body and tail each accounted for half. The base of the tail was thin and narrow. Its scales and mane were all like those of a fish. Only its whiskers were long."It was two zhang in length. Its feet were covered with red membranes obscuring them. Its two horns were each two zhang long. Its belly shone with a gnashing, grinding light. At the time, an official was sent from the Dayun Granary to supervise its delivery to the prefecture. Because the flesh was too heavy to be lifted whole, it was cut into dozens of pieces and carried to the authorities. (From "Taiping Guangji," volume 423, citing "Tang Nian Bu Lu")
In the sixtieth year of Kangxi (1721), in the sixth month, a dragon hung beside the school hall, with a stench that assailed the nose. People burned incense and prayed to it, and it soared into the air and departed. (From "Jintan County Gazetteer," Qianlong edition, volume 12)
In the thirty-second year of Qianlong (1767), in summer, during continuous rain, at the home of a man surnamed Dong on North Street in the county seat, a dragon descended onto a coal pile and flew away after several days. (From "Linyu County Gazetteer," Guangxu edition, volume 9)
On the twenty-fifth day of the sixth month in the fifteenth year of Jiaqing (1810), two dragons were seen in the clouds, and one fell into the fields, dragging itself from Liyao Village to Zhaojiatang, a distance of several li. (From "Xiao County Gazetteer," Jiaqing edition, volume 18)
According to Ji Xiaolan, the chief compiler of the "Complete Library of the Four Treasuries," his father had once gone to see a fallen dragon, but unfortunately arrived a step too late—the dragon had already ridden the wind and flown away: In the summer of the Guihai year, a dragon fell north of Gaochuan, and many villagers witnessed it. Lord Yao'an ordered his carriage to go see it, but by then it had already departed with wind and rain. The traces of its writhing and clawing, trampling about two mu of crops, were still clearly visible. (From "Notes of the Thatched Study of Close Observation, Records of Luanyang Summer Days, Volume 5")