Posted on Thursday 18 November 2004 to unknown

Five Clawed Imperial Dragon, Beijing

A friend, who is also a very proficient mural painter, once completed a wall sized panel which contained the image of a Chinese urn. It was inspired by traditional designs and used dragons as ornamentation. There were dragons for handles, dragons on the lid and dragon motifs over the body of the urn as well.

When he completed this work (which he designed in three dimensions using some CAD modelling software before printing out, transferring to the wall using the ancient "prick-through" cartoon method and then painting), a certain Chinese person I know looked at it and said.

"Nice. Too bad there are only seven dragons. "
"Er, sure there are." replied my friend "Um, so?"
"Well, it isn't right. There are always nine dragons."
"Always nine?"
"Yep. Always"

It was too late to do anything about it by this stage and the mural, which has since been on public display at a well known Melbourne shopping centre for more than a decade¹, continues to greet passersby sans its two dragons. The official explanation from the artist is that they are inside the urn.

Dragons exude nineness and nines exude dragoness. Dragons don't only come in nines, the body of a dragon is made up of nine parts which resemble other animals. Typically these components are listed as: the horns of a stag, the head of a camel, the eyes of a demon, the neck of a snake, the belly of a clam, the scales of a fish (81 scales to be precise), the talons of an eagle, the paws of a tiger and ears of an ox.

Most dragons have four claws on each foot although dragons used by the Emperor in motifs had five claws. Anyone other than the Emperor employing dragon images with five claws was put to death. Japanese dragons, incidentally, have three claws.

It is fitting that the dragon should have had nine sons although there is far from a consensus amongst the various folk traditions as to their names and characteristics. Here is a list of the nine most common ones (gotta catch 'em all).

	Baxia is valiant and powerful and likes to carry heavy columns. He is often seen bearing stone shelves and steles. Because he has the body of a tortoise and tortoises are associated with long lifespans, Baxia is also a symbol of longevity and of good fortune.
	Chiwen has the capacity to extinguish fire. Thus, he often is represented at the end of the ridges of temple and palace roofs in order to fight fire and to draw away any disaster.
	Though he is one son of the Dragon, Pulao is afraid of whales. He often appears on handles of bells and if a whale is nearby he will surely ring loudly.
	The figure of Bi An is like tiger. He is wise and can tell who is good or evil, so his figure was used in the decoration of prisions and courts.
	Gongfu loves water enormously and often appears as decoration on bridges, piers or as the mouths of fountains.
	Ya Zi is bad-tempered, fractious, and inclined to fight, so he often appears on ancient weapons. He can be seen on sword-hilts, knife hilts and battle axes. It is said that his figure can add power to these weapons.
	Suanmi is fond of smoke and fire; his likeness can be seen on the legs of incense-burners.
	Jiaotu is as tight-lipped as a mussel or a snail. His image is carved on doors and door knockers.
	Qiuniu loves music and his figure is a common decoration on the handle of stringed musical instruments