The Yinglong Dragon
There are many, many dragons in Chinese stories and mythologies, but there is only one Yinglong dragon, a great and powerful dragon with enormous wings. There are many stories of the Yinglong Dragon in classical Chinese texts. However, Yinglong is first mentioned in the 4th century BCE classical Chinese text, The Classic of the Mountains and Seas.
The Yinglong Dragon, which translates to “Responding Dragon”, is said to have descended from the Celestial Realm to assist the Yellow Emperor Huangdi in a battle against his enemy, the war god ChiYu. Yinglong held the powers of the rain and the waters, and so attacked from above with great rains and storms against the armies.
After the battle, Yinglong had used all his power and was unable to return to the heavens, and so settled in the south of China. This is why it is seen as the cause of it being so rainy in southern China. When Huangdi passed and ascended to the celestial realm, Yinglong was able to travel with him, and so returned to his rightful home.
There is also a story that, during a great deluge of floods, Yinglong came to the aid of Yu and used his tail to dig out channels and riverbeds, thus allowing the water to return to the seas.
Because of the ability to give, or withhold, the rains, Yinglong would eventually become a revered figure to farmers especially (being in need of regular and plentiful rainfall to ensure a bountiful harvest) and would be the object of rituals and celebrations to ensure prosperity.
The Yinglong is one of the few dragons in Chinese mythology that has wings. As the stories claim, it takes a dragon 3000 years to grow to the point of having wings, thus making Yinglong one of the oldest of all the dragons.
Resources:
Yinglong, the Winged Dragon (Chinese myth)
Shanhaijing, from An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art
