First Storey

At Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum main hall, above the One Hundred Buddhas, there are One Hundred Dragons dancing around in harmony and peace, paying tribute to the Hundred Buddhas.

These specially accentuated One Hundred Dragons form an enchanting swirling ring around the Hundred Dragons Hall, providing protection and vitality to all who worship in this Hall. If you look carefully, you will see them in pairs, with one dragon with closed mouth (Om) and the other with its mouth open (Ha).

Mounted a storey high along four walls surrounding our main prayer hall, are twenty dragons depicted on the side facing Buddha Maitreya’s statue, thirty- nine dragons each on the left and right sides and one dragon each at the wall corners at the back of Maitreya’s statue, making a total of a hundred dragons alto rilievo (high relief) carvings.

The dragons are exquisitely sculpted with two long whiskers, antlers, dark glaring eyes and a bulging forehead. They have golden scaly serpentine bodies and four limbs sporting powerful grasping claws. If they open their mouths, terrifying fangs and tongues reveal their pernicious nature.

Striking a vivid contrast with the peaceful Buddha statues in the hall, the densely packed dragons writhe, entwine with each other amidst thick billowing clouds and swelling ocean waves, posturing themselves as wrathful formidable creatures never to be trifled with.

In both Chinese and Japanese mythology, the dragon is closely associated with the watery realm, and in artwork it is often surrounded by water or clouds.

In Chinese myths, there are many types of dragons described. There are mainly nine types of dragons:

1. The Celestial Dragon (tian long), the ruler of the dragons, in charge of protecting the heavens and homes of the deities.


2. The Spiritual Dragon (shen long) controls the weather and had to be appeased, or weather conditions would turn disastrous.


3. The Earth Dragon (di long) controls rivers. It spends springtime in heaven and autumn in the sea.


4. The Underworld Dragon (fu cang long) is the guardian of precious metals and jewels buried in the earth. Volcanoes are said to be created when these dragons burst out of the ground to report to heaven.


5. The Crocodile Dragon (jiao long), hornless or scaled dragon, leader of all aquatic animals.


6. The Flying Dragon (fei long), winged dragon that rides on clouds and mist.


7. The Coiling Dragon (pan long), lake dragon that has not ascended to heaven.


8. Yellow Dragon (huang long), hornless dragon symbolizing the emperor.


9. The Dragon King. In Chinese myths, there are four dragon kings who rule over the four seas (which in the old Chinese conception limited the habitable earth). As they appear in the classical novel Journey to the West, they became one of the most popular depictions of dragon in Chinese culture. They are:
    
   1. Ao Guang（敖广）, Dragon King of the East Sea
   2. Ao Qin (敖钦), Dragon King of the South Sea
   3. Ao Run（敖闰）,Dragon King of the West Sea
   4. Ao Shun (敖顺), Dragon King of the North Sea

In China, dragon lore existed independently for centuries before the introduction of Buddhism. Bronze and jade pieces from the Shang and Zhou dynasties (16th - 9th centuries BC) depict dragon-like creatures. By at least 2nd century BC, images of the dragon are found painted frequently on tomb walls to dispel evil. Buddhism was introduced to China sometime in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.

In India, the birthplace of Buddhism around 500 BC, pre-Buddhist snake or serpentine-like creatures known as the Naga were incorporated early on into Buddhist mythology. Described as "water spirits with human shapes wearing a crown of serpents on their heads" or as "snake-like beings resembling clouds," the Nagas are among the eight classes of deities who worship and protect the Historical Buddha. After the Historical Buddha (Siddhartha, Guatama) attained enlightenment, the Naga King Mucilinda (Sanskrit) is said to have protected Siddhartha from wind and rain for seven days. This motif is found often in Buddhist art from India, represented by images of the Buddha sitting beneath Mucilinda's hood and coils.

Nāga (Sanskrit: नाग, IAST: nāgá, IPA: [nəɡá], Burmese: နဂ ါး, Javanese: någå, Khmer: នាគ neak, Thai: นาค nak, Chinese: 那伽, Tibetan: ཀླུ་, Bengali: নাগ) is the Sanskrit and Pāli word for a deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very great snake—specifically the King Cobra, found in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Note: For more information about Nagas, see section on "Naga Trees".

The mortal enemy of the dragon is the Phoenix, as well as the bird-man creature known as Karura. In contrast to Western mythology, Asian dragons are rarely depicted as malevolent. Although fearsome and powerful, dragons are equally considered just, benevolent, and as bringers of wealth and good fortune. The dragon is also considered a shape-shifter who can assume human form and mate with people.

In addition to serving as a deity of rain and of Heaven, the blue-green dragon seiryuu 青竜 is the directional symbol of the east, and thus one of the "guardian animals of the four directions" *shishin 四神.

In both Chinese and Japanese mythology, the dragon is one of Four Legendary Creatures guarding the four cosmic directions (Red Bird - S, Dragon - E, Tortoise - N, and the Tiger - W). The four, known as the Four Celestial Emblems, appear during China's Warring States period (476 BC - 221 BC), and were frequently painted on the walls of early Chinese and Korean tombs to ward off evil spirits.

The Dragon is the Guardian of the East. According to the theory of Five Elements, dragon is identified with the season spring, the colour green/blue, the element wood (sometimes also water), the virtue benevolence, the Yang male energy; it supports and governs the country (such as controlling rain and is a symbol of the emperor's power). In Indian and Buddhist culture, the Phoenix or Garuda is the mythological enemy of all Nagas, a Sanskrit term covering all types of serpentine creatures, including snakes and dragons. In traditional Chinese culture, however, they are seen in another way. The Dragon (East) and Phoenix (South) both represent Yang energy. The Dragon represents the wood element and lesser Yang energy, while the Phoenix signifies the fire element and full Yang energy. In Five Elements, dragon (wood) generates phoenix (fire). They're also often depicted together in artwork as partners. The Dragon is the male counterpart to the female Phoenix, and together they match well and have wedded bliss—the emperor (dragon) and the empress (phoenix).

In Chinese zodiac, the dragon is one of the animals in the 12-year lunar cycle.

Kings of the dragons (Japanese: ryuuou 龍王) are said to live at the bottom of the seas. Eight dragon kings are depicted in the Lotus Sutra in the assembly at Vulture Peak:

In chapter 12 of the Lotus Sutra called Devadatta, The eight-year- old daughter of the dragon king Sagara attained Enlightenment after offering a jewel to Buddha Sakyamuni:

There is also The Dharma-Seal Sutra Spoken by the Buddha for Ocean Dragon King, translated into Chinese during Tang Dynasty by Tripitaka master Yi-Tzing:

By the Warring States or Han period (ca. 8c BC - AD 3c), dragons were frequently painted on tomb walls to ward off evil spirits. Beginning in the late Tang period (9c), the dragon was painted in ink monochrome *suibokuga 水墨画.

Naga King Mucilinda (Sanskrit) is said to have protected Siddhartha from wind and rain for seven days. This motif is found often in Buddhist art from India, represented by images of the Buddha sitting beneath Mucilinda's hood and coils.

A depiction of this event can be found in our museum artefact titled ‘Naga-protected Buddha’ (right; ZZ012). Donated to Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum by the late Justice Karthigesu, this statue shows Buddha sitting in a relaxed posture (lalitasana) on top of the body of Mucalinda with His right hand in the fear-dispelling mudra (abhaya mudra) and His left in meditative equipoise (dhyana mudra). The five-headed naga forms a canopy to shelter the Buddha from rain. This portrayal deviates from other more conventional representations of Naga-protected Buddha where He is usually shown seated in full lotus posture (vajrasana) with both hands in the dhyana mudra.

Dragons figure importantly in folk beliefs throughout Asia, and are dressed heavily in Buddhist garb.

Large-scale dragon compositions were often painted on the walls of imperial buildings and temples. In paintings for the Zen (禅) sects, especially, depictions of dragons and tigers *ryuuko-zu 竜虎図 were frequently paired. The famous ink paintings by Muqi 牧谿 (Jp: Mokkei, late 13c) at Daitokuji 大徳寺, Kyoto, served as the model for countless future Japanese paintings.

Depictions of dragons came to Japan long before ink painting. Examples are found in handscrolls, such as "Caricatures of Animals" Choujuugiga 鳥獣戯画 and Kegon engi 華厳縁起. In Buddhist paintings a dragon appears as the crown of the Dragon King (Ryuuou 龍王, one of the *Hachibushuu 八部衆). Japanese dragon painting reached its apogee in the late 16c-early 17c paintings by Kanou and Kaihou artists (*Kanouha 狩野派, *Kaihouha 海北派). It is often suggested that these dragon paintings were intended as symbols of heroic leadership because the dragon calling forth rain is a metaphor for the enlightened ruler seeking able ministers.

The ryuuou may be shown entirely as dragons, as humans with snake's tails, or as humans (usually in Chinese dress) with dragons or snake hoods or some other indication of identity. If multiple heads are shown, they may indicate the identity of the ryuu.

Particularly when termed Dragon Kings ( Japanese: ryuuou), they may appear independently in paintings, or they may be shown in groups or as attendants to Buddhist deities. When water is shown in a Buddhist painting, there will often be a dragon in it.