The dragon has a long history as the sacred totem of the Chinese nation. We have always considered ourselves "descendants of dragons", but there are also legends of dragons in Japanese and Korean mythology. Some people say that the dragons of Japan and Korea both originated in China.
In ancient history, East Asian countries were influenced by Chinese culture, and most of them had dragon worship, most of which were the eastern neighbors of Japan and South Korea. The image of the dragon in Japan and South Korea is so distinct from China that many Japanese and Koreans believe that the dragon is of indigenous origin.
Below, we will explore the differences between the dragons of China, Japan and South Korea from the history of the development of Chinese dragons, and the reasons for this difference. The evolutionary history of Chinese dragons has mainly gone through 3 stages:
The first stage is the stage of the 2-clawed dragon, which lasted from the Neolithic era to the Qin and Han dynasties, most typical of the Kuí dragon of the Shang Dynasty.
The second stage is the stage of the 3-clawed dragon, which lasted from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, and is called Yinglong.
The third stage is the stage of the combination of 3-clawed, 4-clawed and 5-clawed dragons, which lasted from the Tang and Song dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the five-clawed dragon was used exclusively by the royal family, the 4-clawed dragon was generally used for the costumes of imperial court officials, and the dragons decorated by the people were not allowed to exceed 4 claws.
Understanding the evolution of Chinese dragons makes it easy to understand the history of Japanese and Korean dragons.
From the analysis of appearance, the biggest difference between the dragons of China, Japan and South Korea is the number of dragon claws. Chinese dragons have a variety of images of three-clawed, four-clawed to five-clawed dragons, Korean dragons are mostly four-clawed dragons, and Japanese dragons are three-clawed dragons.
When the 4-clawed dragon appeared in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it had begun to completely ban maritime trade, and the closure of the country made Japan basically disconnect from Chinese culture. As a result, the Japanese 3-clawed dragon has continued to become a fixed image to this day.
In Japanese history, there has been a dragon-like totem called the Yagi Great Snake, but it is actually a snake and is also derived from the Chinese dragon.
And then there's South Korea. Why is korean dragon 4 claws?
Because South Korea is different from Japan, as a neighbor of China on land, it is not affected by the policy of closing the country and has been following the development of the Chinese dragon. Chinese emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties stipulated that only the imperial family could use a 5-clawed dragon. According to the subordination relationship, the Korean level can only use 4-clawed dragons.
From the above analysis, it can be confirmed that the dragons of Japan and Korea did not originate in china, but from China. In the final analysis, the difference between the two and characteristics of the China-Japan-South Korean Dragon reflects the development and evolution of the Chinese dragon.