Rồng (Vietnamese dragon)

The rồng is the Vietnamese dragon, a rain-bringing, benevolent water spirit and symbol of the nation, whose people trace their descent from the dragon lord Lạc Long Quân and the mountain fairy Âu Cơ.

Children of the Dragon

Vietnam's founding legend begins with a dragon. Lạc Long Quân, the "Dragon Lord of Lạc," was the son of a ruler of the south and the daughter of a water lord. He lived in the sea and came ashore to help the people, killing monsters and teaching them to farm. He married Âu Cơ, an immortal from the mountains, and she laid a sac of a hundred eggs, which hatched into a hundred sons.

Because he was a creature of water and she of the mountains, the couple could not live together. They parted, and the children were divided: fifty went with their father to the sea and fifty with their mother to the highlands. The eldest son became the first of the Hùng kings, rulers of the ancient kingdom of Văn Lang. Vietnamese still call themselves con Rồng cháu Tiên, "children of the dragon, grandchildren of the fairy."

The story appears in two works of the 15th century, the Lĩnh Nam chích quái (Strange Tales of Lĩnh Nam) and the official chronicle Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, completed in 1479. Both drew on older traditions.

The Ascending Dragon

In 1010 the emperor Lý Thái Tổ moved his capital to the site of modern Hanoi. According to the chronicle, when he arrived he saw a yellow dragon rising into the sky, so he named the city Thăng Long, "Ascending Dragon." Hanoi celebrated the thousandth anniversary of Thăng Long in 2010.

Appearance and Powers

The rồng shares the basic shape of the Chinese dragon: a long scaly body, four legs, no wings, and control of rain and water. Vietnamese art gave it its own style. Dragons of the Lý dynasty (1009–1225) are slender and serpentine, curving in smooth, regular waves, often with a jewel in the mouth. Later dynasties, especially the Nguyễn, adopted heavier, more Chinese-looking dragons, and the five-clawed dragon became an imperial emblem.

Legacy

Dragons decorate Vietnamese temples, palaces, and pagoda roofs, and dragon dances are performed at Tết, the lunar new year. A popular legend explains the limestone islands of Hạ Long Bay, whose name means "Descending Dragon," as jewels spat out by dragons sent from heaven to defend the land from invaders. That story is a local legend, not part of the ancient chronicles. Read more on our Dragons Across Cultures page.

Related

• Lóng (Chinese dragon): The lóng is the Chinese dragon: a long, scaly, usually wingless creature with four clawed legs that rules rain, rivers, and seas and became the emblem of the emperor and of Chinese culture.
• Yong (Korean dragon): The yong is the Korean dragon, a benevolent water and weather spirit that brings rain, guards the sea, and protects kings and the nation, often shown holding the wish-granting jewel called the yeouiju.
• Dragon Kings (Longwang): The Dragon Kings are the dragon rulers of the seas, rivers, and lakes in Chinese religion and folklore, rain-giving lords who live in crystal palaces, take human form, and answer to the Jade Emperor.
• Phaya Naga: The Phaya Naga is the great serpent king of Thai and Lao Buddhist folklore, a crested, often many-headed serpent believed to live in the Mekong River and to guard temples, water, and the Buddhist faith.
• Dragons Across Cultures
• Chinese Dragons

Sources and Further Reading

• Keith Weller Taylor, The Birth of Vietnam (University of California Press, 1983)
• George E. Dutton, Jayne S. Werner, and John K. Whitmore, eds., Sources of Vietnamese Tradition (Columbia University Press, 2012)
• K. W. Taylor, A History of the Vietnamese (Cambridge University Press, 2013)

Cite this entry: “Rồng (Vietnamese dragon),” Draconika Encyclopedia of Dragons, https://www.draconika.com/dragons/rong.