Tianlong

Tianlong, the "celestial" or "heavenly" dragon, is the Chinese dragon said to guard the palaces of the gods and hold them up so they do not fall, the highest of four classes of dragons in a scheme of Buddhist origin.

What the Name Means

Tian means "heaven" or "sky," so tianlong is the "heavenly dragon." The phrase has two lives in Chinese. In Buddhist texts, tianlong is short for "devas and nāgas," the gods and serpent beings who gather to hear the Buddha preach. The common phrase tianlong babu, "the eight classes of devas and nāgas," names the eight kinds of supernatural beings that protect the Buddhist teaching. Jin Yong borrowed it as the title of his famous martial arts novel, usually translated Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.

In Western books on dragons, Tianlong means one specific class of dragon: the guardian of heaven.

The Celestial Dragon

Mahayana Buddhists divided the nāgas, which Chinese translators called lóng, into four classes. According to the list M. W. de Visser found in a Ming dynasty encyclopedia, the first and highest were the heavenly dragons, "who guard the Heavenly Palace and carry it so that it does not fall." The others were the divine dragons that bring rain (shenlong), the earthly dragons that manage rivers (dilong), and the hidden dragons that guard treasure (fucanglong).

The American scholar Cyrus Adler described the same four kinds in an 1888 report for the U.S. National Museum, saying the celestial dragon "guards the mansions of the gods and supports them so that they do not fall." Ernest Ingersoll's Dragons and Dragon Lore (1928) repeated the list and linked the celestial dragon to the emperor, whose power on earth mirrored the order of heaven. The neat division is a Buddhist and scholarly classification, not a category found in the oldest Chinese myths.

In Art and Imagination

Chinese art is full of dragons ascending through clouds toward heaven, and these are often what Western writers mean by celestial dragons. In Japan, the same characters are read tenryū, and the Zen temple Tenryū-ji in Kyoto takes its name from a dream, attributed to Ashikaga Tadayoshi, of a golden dragon over the nearby Ōi River, a story told in the temple's own tradition.

In modern fantasy, "celestial dragon" has become a catch-all label for any Eastern-style sky dragon in role-playing games and fiction. For the traditional background, see our page on Chinese dragons.

Related

• Shenlong: Shenlong, the "spiritual" or "divine" dragon, is the Chinese dragon that raises clouds and sends wind and rain for the good of people, one of four classes of dragons in a scheme of Buddhist origin.
• Dilong: Dilong, the "earth dragon," is the Chinese dragon said to mark out and clear the courses of rivers and streams, the third of four classes of dragons in a scheme of Buddhist origin.
• Fucanglong: Fucanglong, the "dragon of hidden treasures," is the Chinese dragon said to lie hidden underground guarding buried wealth, the fourth of four classes of dragons in a scheme of Buddhist origin.
• 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.
• Nāga: Nāgas are serpent beings of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain tradition, often cobras or half-human figures with cobra hoods, who live in underwater or underground kingdoms, guard treasure, and control rain and water.
• Chinese Dragons
• Dragon Types

Sources and Further Reading

• M. W. de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan (Amsterdam: Johannes Müller, 1913)
• Ernest Ingersoll, Dragons and Dragon Lore (New York: Payson & Clarke, 1928)
• William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms (London: Kegan Paul, 1937)

Cite this entry: “Tianlong,” Draconika Encyclopedia of Dragons, https://www.draconika.com/dragons/tianlong.