Since the birth of the Chinese characters, the image of "dragon" seems to have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, making people awe and fear. Although dragons have long been recognized as superstitious in modern times when science and evidence are emphasized, people's desire to seek "real dragons" has always existed.
For example, in August 1934, the Shengjing Times reported an incident in Yingchuan that "the skeleton of a giant dragon descended from heaven". The dragon also overturned three small boats, overwhelmed many houses, and killed 9 people. With the testimony of countless people, as well as the precious photos left behind, the existence of the "real dragon" seems to have become a reality.
In 1966, Guanling County, Anshun City, also unearthed the fossils of the new Chinese dragon, whether its body skeleton or skull is very similar to the dragon in Chinese myths and legends, so it has the name of "New China Dragon". Today, the fossil of this new Chinese dragon is still preserved in the Xingwei Paleontological Fossil Museum in Guizhou Province.
Therefore, while people regard the dragon as an illusory existence, they will have infinite reverie about it, is the dragon in the ancient books real? Is it just that they are so rare that they are difficult to find? Otherwise, the history would not have recorded so many things about dragons.
For example, in the "History of Liao", it is recorded that Liao Taizu Yelü Abaoji once shot a black dragon, when it was May 920 AD, Liao Taizu was galloping on the grassland, and suddenly the sky was fierce and cloudy. Liao Taizu saw that there was a black dragon in the water of the Mountain Yang, so he immediately bent his bow to shoot this black dragon into serious injuries and captured it, and then took his bones into the palace.
In later records, Hong Hao, an envoy of the Southern Song Dynasty, also saw the bones of this black dragon in the treasury of the Liao State Palace. Hong Hao wrote in the Song Desert Chronicle that the dragon tail and body of this black dragon were still there, but the dragon horns were not seen. Historians of the late Jin Dynasty also included the bones of the black dragon in the list of treasures of the Liao Dynasty in the "Continued Yi Jianzhi".
With the history books of the Southern Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty as a "guarantee", the "Liao Taizu Shooting Dragon" incident seems to be a true fact. But so far, people have only seen dragons in calligraphy and paintings, and have never seen the "real dragon bones" preserved by the ancients, plus what Hong Hao said in the "Song Desert Chronicle", perhaps it is just that the ancients regarded some creature as a dragon.
After all, when Zheng He went to the West, he also brought the "Qilin" back to China, and Zhu Di also joyfully ordered the court painter to paint, and as a result, modern people saw the painting and found that it was just a giraffe. Therefore, the "Liao Taizu Shooting Dragon" can only be given to the Liao Taizu by the ancients for the sake of the mythical emperor.
There are many such records in the ancient books, for example, in the "Records of History", it is also solemnly said that when Liu Mi, the mother of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, was pregnant with him, the sky was lightning and thunder, the clouds were heavy, and a dragon climbed on her. Therefore, Liu Bang became the son of "destiny".
Later, when Liu Bang was the chief of the Pei County Pavilion, he also gathered a high prestige in Bai Xinjian because he killed the "White Emperor". This white emperor was just a snake, but the people were convinced that Liu Bang had killed a great dragon and possessed divine power. Even Qin Shi Huang was "afraid" of this Heavenly Son's qi in Liu Bang's body.
In the eyes of modern people, this is nonsense, but the ancients believed in this. It is estimated that Liao Taizu's shooting of the "black dragon" was either a fake, or he also took a black snake to indiscriminately count. Moreover, Liao Taizu was still a complete Han fan, and he admired Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao. Then he must have seen the "History of History", and he must have been "envious" of it.
Therefore, Liao Taizu also staged a big drama of "shooting black dragons" by "drawing a tiger according to a cat" to show that he was a child of the Mandate of Heaven. It has to be said that it does not matter whether the "dragon" is true at this time, what is important is that Liao Taizu has already gained the worship of the tribe and given full play to the role of "kingly power and heavenly authorization".
Therefore, this "dragon" is either a giant python or a product invented by ancient kings to oppress the people's thoughts, and it is only a symbol of the "Mandate of Heaven".