The Dragon King of the Four Seas: A Study of Chinese Folklore and its Influence on Animation

3. The Dragon King of the Four Seas

In addition to the myth of dragons in the feudal political system mentioned earlier, the 'Dragon King' is worshipped by the people as a water deity who commands the wind and rain. Especially after the Song Dynasty, the worship of the Dragon King became more widespread.

The concepts of 'Dragon King' and 'Dragon' are completely different on historical and religious levels, but they are often confused by people. In ancient China, the myth of the Dragon King was recorded and spread in the form of folk stories. As a traditional cultural material for film and television creation, the Dragon King culture is closely related to animation creation, so it is necessary to clarify and analyze this concept.

The Dragon King, as a personified dragon image, is a product of the localization of the Indian Naga culture in China. As De Visser stated in 'Studies of Dragons in China and Japan', 'The dragon with a human head is an Indian motif that came to China from India.' Naga is a guardian deity in Buddhist culture, and its prototype is a giant python in the South Asian region that resides in the Mekong River, governing precipitation and rivers. In Mahayana Buddhism, the core of the Dragon King belief is 'advocating the protection of the Buddhist doctrine and providing rainfall relief.' The divine beast Naga and the Chinese dragon both originated from the belief that all things have spirits, and they have similarities in appearance and duties.

Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, trade between China and foreign countries has become increasingly close, and Buddhist culture has been widely introduced to China along the Silk Road and has begun to localize and develop among the people. After the Song Dynasty, the integration of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism further promoted the development of dragon culture. The idea of the Dragon King 'helping and saving the people' was emphasized, and the 'Four Seas Dragon King' merged with the Dragon King representing the Yellow Emperor to become the 'Five Great Dragon Kings.' It was during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty that the water deity was first named Dragon King, and since then, the Dragon King has become a native Chinese deity.

In folk culture, the Dragon King, as a water deity, governs rivers and lakes, is responsible for cloud formation and rainfall, and can bring disaster relief and blessings. The worship of the Dragon King embodies the desires of the agricultural society and the people of the agricultural civilization era for favorable weather and abundant harvests. The worship of dragon deities is not limited to Chinese society but covers the Asian region, where rice cultivation is predominant. Although the Southeast Asian 'Naga Dragon', the Japanese 'Wa Dragon', and the Chinese 'Four Seas Dragon King' have different forms, cultural aspects, and ethnic characteristics, their cultural appeals are consistent. Therefore, compared to the dragon culture representing feudal autocracy, the formation and development of folk Dragon King culture is more complex.

(1) The Transformation of Dragon Images in Chinese Animation

The dragon image appears in Chinese animation history as a form and shape, reconstructing mythology through mediums such as myths, legends, and folk stories. The development of dragon mythology in the animation medium conforms to the general laws of mythology development. While continuing the core cultural connotations, it secularizes and demystifies the old mythology, thus 'disenchanting' the divine dragons.

There are roughly two sources of dragon images in Chinese animation. One is the mythical beast image that symbolizes Chinese culture, such as 'The Twelve Zodiacs', 'Carved Dragon Chronicles', and 'The Book of Miracles'. The other is the Dragon King image based on adaptations of ancient Chinese novels, such as 'Havoc in Heaven', 'Nezha Conquers the Dragon King', and 'Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child'. The former originates from the early stages of dragon totem in Chinese history, while the latter is mostly based on adaptations of novels from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as 'Journey to the West' and 'Fengshen Yanyi'. Although the creation of dragon characters in domestic animation spans a long period of time and has a wide range of works, there are limitations in character adaptation, such as insufficient exploration and development of dragon culture, lack of awareness for international cultural output, and inconsistency between the status of dragons and traditional culture.