The nine sons of the dragon are called Prison Ox, Jair, Mocking Wind, Pu Prison, Fox, Cunning, Cunning, Cunning, Negative Cunning, and Kissing. It is said that it is not the dragon that gave birth to nine sons, because in traditional Chinese culture, the number nine is often used to represent a very large number, which is both an imaginary number and a valuable number, so it is used to describe the son of an auspicious beast like a dragon.
Some scholars' notes in the Ming Dynasty, such as Lu Rong's "Shuyuan Miscellaneous Records", Li Dongyang's "Huailu Tang Collection", Yang Shen's "Sheng'an Collection", Li Xu's "The Old Man's Writing of the Ring Nunnery", Xu Yingqiu's "Yuzhitang Tanyun", etc., have recorded the situation of the dragons, but they are not uniform. We mainly use the "Chinese Auspicious Illustration", which is older and has been compiled into a book by later generations, to understand which nine sons are specific.
1. Prison cow [qiúniú]
It is the eldest of the nine sons of Longsheng, and he loves music all his life, so he often squats on the headstock to enjoy the music of plucked strings, so the headstock is engraved with its image. This image has been used, and some of the precious huqin headparts are still engraved with the image of a dragon's head, called "dragon's head huqin".
2. 睚眦 [yázì]
Ranked second among the nine sons of the dragon, with a jackal head and a dragon body, he has a strong and aggressive personality in his life, and is the god of war of the dragon's son. The ferocious eyes that stare at Jairus when he is angry are also used by the ancients to describe "angry eyes", "the virtue of a meal will be repaid, and the grievances of Jairus will be repaid".
3. Mock wind [cháofēng]
It is a mythical beast in ancient Chinese myths and legends, the third son of the nine sons of the dragon, and often uses its shape as the decoration of the temple corner. The mocking wind resembles a beast, and it is often used to symbolize auspiciousness, and the beast on the corner of the stage is his image.
4. 蒲牢 [púláo]
Shaped like a coiled dragon, ranked fourth, good roaring in life, the dragon-shaped beast button on the bell is its image. It turned out that Pu Lao lived by the sea, and although it was a dragon, it had always been afraid of the behemoth whale, and when the whale attacked, it was so frightened that it roared loudly.
5. 狻猊 [suānní]
Resembling a lion, ranking fifth, he likes to be quiet and does not like to move, he is good to sit, and he likes fireworks, so the foot decoration on the Buddha seat and the incense burner is its image.
6. 赑屃 [bìxì]
Also known as Baxia, resembling a turtle, ranking sixth among the nine sons of the dragon, good weight in life, infinite strength, the turtle under the stele is its image.
7. 狴犴 [bìàn]
Also known as the charter, the seventh of the nine sons of the dragon, it is a rui beast in ancient Chinese myths and legends. Shaped like a tiger, it is litigious in life, but it is powerful, and the decoration of the tiger's head on the upper part of the prison door is its image.
8. Negative 屃 [fùxì]
He was the eighth son of a dragon born in ancient Chinese mythology. The body resembles a dragon, Ya Hao Sven, coiled above the head of the stone tablet. Like a dragon, the eighth in line, a good life, the dragon on both sides of the stele is its image.
9. 螭kiss [chīwěn]
Also known as the owl's kiss and owl's tail, it is the ninth son of the dragon. The mouth is wide and noisy, and it is easy to swallow in life, and the curly-tailed dragon heads at both ends of the temple ridge are its image. The shape of the mantis is like a four-legged snake with its tail cut off, and this dragon son is fortunate to look around in dangerous places, and he also likes to swallow fire.
