Year of the Dragon in the Chinese Zodiac

Fifth in the cycle

The World History Encyclopedia article on the dragon calls it the fifth sign of the Chinese zodiac, and a page on chinaculture.org says the same.

The Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture entry on the zodiac says the animals were associated with the twelve Earthly Branches, each representing a year. In its combined list of animals and branches, the Dragon appears as chenlong.

Smithsonian Magazine calls the dragon the only mythological animal in the zodiac system, and the chinaculture.org page says it is the only zodiac animal that does not exist in the natural world.

Two legends, told separately

In the race legend Smithsonian Magazine retells, a deity often identified as the Jade Emperor calls all the animals to a race, and the first twelve to finish are included in the zodiac calendar. The dragon, expected to win easily because of its powers of flight, stops halfway to bring water to a village in a drought. The article says this immortalized the animal as a symbol of selfless benevolence.

The Lam Museum’s page tells a different legend, in which the Jade Emperor needs twelve palace guards. Tiger and Dragon think it unfair but can only settle behind Ox. Rabbit challenges Dragon to a race and wins. The museum adds that this is only a story.

Emperors, rain and luck

A page on chinaculture.org says that in traditional Chinese culture the dragon symbolizes imperial power and high status, as well as good fortune and success.

The World History Encyclopedia article says the populace in general considered the dragon a lucky symbol and bringer of wealth, and that ancient farmers thought dragons brought much-needed rains. It also says the dragon associated with the emperor always had five claws, to tell it apart from lesser dragons with four.

Traits and beliefs the sources mention

The chinaculture.org page describes people born in the Year of the Dragon as physically vigorous, full of energy and highly ambitious, and says they do not easily admit defeat. It also says they may be rather irascible and expect a lot from others.

Smithsonian Magazine reports that birth rates in China tend to boom when the Year of the Dragon arrives, and that many parents believe a child born then will be destined for success.

Dragons in art

The National Palace Museum describes an anonymous Song dynasty painting called Beneficent Rain. A dragon with four bright claws on each foot coils among dark clouds and gazes down at a smaller aquatic dragon in the lower left corner.

The World History Encyclopedia article names a C-shaped jade dragon of the Hongshan culture, found in eastern Inner Mongolia, as the earliest known depiction of a dragon.