The term tianlong combines tian天 "heaven" and long龍 "dragon". Since tian literally means "heaven; the heavens; sky" or figuratively "Heaven; God; gods", tianlong can denote "heavenly dragon; celestial dragon" or "holy dragon; divine dragon".
Tianlong 天龍 is homophonous with another name in Chinese folklore. Tianlong 天聾 "Heavenly Deaf" (with the character long聾 "deaf" combining the "ear radical" 耳 and a long龍phonetic element) and Diya地啞 "Earthly Dumb" are legendary attendants to Wenchang Wang文昌王, the patron deity of literature.
Meanings
From originally denoting "heavenly dragon", Tianlong天龍 semantically developed meanings as Buddhist "heavenly Nāgas" or "Devas and Nāgas", "centipede", and "proper names" of stars, people, and places.
Dragons
Among Chinese classic texts, tian "heaven" and long "dragon" were first used together in Zhou dynasty (1122 BCE – 256 BCE) writings, but the word tianlong was not recorded until the Han dynasty (207 BCE – 220 CE).
The ancient Yijing "Book of Changes" exemplifies using tian "heaven" and long "dragon" together. Qian乾 "The Creative", the first hexagram, says:
Nine (it stands for a solid horizontal line that symbolizes the yang. Why nine is used is unclear.) in the fifth place means: Flying dragons in the heavens. It furthers one to see the great man.
Because the holy man is clear as to the end and the beginning, as to the way in which each of the six stages completes itself in its own time, he mounts on them toward heaven as though on six dragons.
The earliest usage of tianlong天龍 "heavenly dragon", according to the Hanyu Da Cidian, is in the Xinxu新序 "New Prefaces" by Liu Xiang (79–8 BCE). It records a story about Zigao, the Duke of Ye, who professed to love dragons.[5] After he carved and painted dragon images throughout his house, a [天龍] heavenly dragon [or fulong夫龍 in some editions] came to visit, but Ye was scared and ran away.
The Fangyan方言 dictionary by Yang Xiong (53 BCE – 18 CE) has another early usage of tian and long. It defines panlong蟠龍 "coiled dragon" as 未陞天龍,[6] syntactically meaning either "Dragons which do not yet ascend to heaven"[7] or "Heavenly Dragons which do not yet ascend".[8]
Tianlongza天龍座 "Heavenly Dragon Seat/Constellation" is the Chinese translation of Draco (from Latin "Dragon"), a constellation near the north celestial pole. The (1578 CE) Bencao Gangmu pharmacopeia's entry for long "dragon" describes "a pearl under its chin",[9] and Read notes,
The constellation Draco has the appearance of guarding and encircling the northern pole which is the centre of the movement of the fixed stars. The Chinese paintings of the Dragon straining after a mystical "Pearl" undoubtedly relate to this relationship to the North Pole Star, though other explanations are given for this.[10]
Tianlong天龍 "Heavenly Dragon" is the 3rd star in Fangxiu房宿 "Room (Chinese constellation)" and corresponds to the Western constellation Scorpius. "Room" is the 4th of the Twenty-eight mansions in the Azure Dragon, which is one of the celestial Four Symbols. Wolfram Eberhard notes, "When the dragon star appeared in the sky it was customary to make a sacrifice supplicating for rain," and this springtime dragon festival occurs on the 2nd day of the 2nd month.[11]
Centipede
The Bencao Gangmu entry for wugong蜈蚣 "centipede" lists tianlong天龍 "heavenly dragon" as an alternate name. Li Shizhen's commentary reviews earlier Chinese commentators and texts. The Zhuangzi says, "People eat meat, deer eat grass, [蝍且] giant centipedes savor snakes, hawks and crows relish mice."[12] The Huainanzi says, "The [騰蛇]ascending snake can drift in the mist, yet it is endangered by the [蝍蛆] centipede."[13] The Erya dictionary defines jili蒺蔾 "thorns; puncture vine; bramble" as jieju蝍蛆 "centipede; cricket";[14] which Guo Pu's commentary says resembles a huang蝗 "locust" with a large abdomen, long horns, and which eats snake brains. Although jieju can also mean xishuai蟋蟀 "cricket", Li concludes it means the snake-controlling wugong "centipede" that the Fangyan dictionary also calls maxian馬蚿 "horse/giant millipede" or juqu蛆蟝.[15] According to Eberhard, centipedes were snake predators, and "the enmity between snake and centipede occurs in many folktales and customs."[16]
Buddhist usages
In Chinese Buddhist terminology, tianlong means either "heavenly Nāgas (dragon gods)" or "Devas (heavenly gods) and Nāgas".
First, tianlong天龍 means "heavenly dragon/nāga" as the first of four nāga classes in Mahayana tradition.[17]
Heavenly Nāgas (天龍), who guard the Heavenly Palace and carry it so that it does not fall.
Divine Nāgas (神龍), who benefit mankind by causing the clouds to rise and the rain to fall.
Earthly Nāgas (地龍) who drain off rivers (remove the obstructions) and open sluices (outlets).
Hangzhou Tianlong 杭州天龍 "Heavenly Dragon from Hangzhou" was a 9th-century Chan Buddhist master who enlightened Juzhi Yizhi by holding up one finger. The Blue Cliff Record (tr. Cleary 1977:123-8) calls this "Chu Ti's One-Finger Ch'an" kōan.
Second, tianlong天龍 translates Sanskritdeva-nāga "Devas and Nāgas", the 2 highest categories of the Tianlong Babu天龍八部 "8 kinds of beings that protect the Dharma". The lower 6 categories are yecha夜叉 "Yaksha; cannibalistic devils; nature spirits", gantapo乾闥婆 "Gandharva; half-ghost music masters", axiuluo阿修羅 "Asura; evil and violent demigods", jialouluo迦樓羅 "Garuda; golden bird-like demons that eat dragons", jinnaluo緊那羅 "Kinnara; half-human half-bird celestial music masters", and maholuluojia摩睺羅迦 "Mahoraga; earthly snake spirits".
Tianlong is a common name in Standard Chinese. Tianlongshan 天龍山 "Heavenly Dragon Mountain", which is located near Taiyuan in Shanxi, is famous for the Tianlongshan Shiku Grottoes (天龍山石窟). The commercial name Tianlong "Heavenly Dragon" is used by companies, hotels, and gungfu schools.
Carr, Michael. 1990. "Chinese Dragon Names", Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 13.2:87–189.
Cleary, Thomas and J. C. Cleary. 1977. The Blue Cliff Record. Shambhala.
Eberhard, Wolfram. 1968. The Local Cultures of South and East China. E. J. Brill.
Mair, Victor H. 1990. Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way, by Lao Tzu; an entirely new translation based on the recently discovered Ma-wang-tui manuscripts. Bantam Books.
Read, Bernard E. 1934. "Chinese Materia Medica VII; Dragons and Snakes," Peking Natural History Bulletin 8.4:279–362.
