Birth of a Chiao-Lung
A Chiao-Lung dragon can be born from a fish called kiai-lin, [1] and it is said that eggs left by pheasants and snakes, if incubated for a thousand years in the ground, hatch Chaio-Lung. [6] Chiao-Lung are also born when water accumulates and becomes a new river. [5] Some very old tiger fish transform into Chiao-Lung, and sometimes the transformation occurs when a fish weighs over two thousand catty. [6]
Once a Chiao-Lung lives for a thousand years, it becomes a lung dragon. [1]
Physical Description
Chiao-Lung has the head of a tiger and the shape of a snake. [6] In other accounts, the Chiao-Lung has the body of a fish and the tail of a snake, [3] and it is a dragon with many scales. [2] Chiao-Lung are also described as snakes that wear a white necklace that have four legs and thin necks. [6] A Chiao-Lung's eyebrows are connected; thus they earned the name Chiao. [6]
Their voices of Chiao-Lung are like mandarin ducks [3] or like the bellowing of a cow. [6]
Habitat and Life Cycle
Where the water flows South through the Tao Kwo Mountains to the Sea, Chiao-Lung abound, especially the 'tiger-Chiao.' [3] Chiao-Lung will lie hidden in pools to sleep, [4] and they live in special mountain rivulets. [3]
These dragons need water to invigorate their energy. [4] As the gods of water animals, [4] or in some cases the head of three hundred and sixty scaly animals, [5] the water they live in gives them their power. [4] This is why, when people drain marshes, the Chiao-Lung do not fare well. [4]
Chaio-Lung lay their eggs up in the hills. [4] Since the Chiao-Lung mostly inhabit rivulets, pools, and under rock caves, [6] the eggs are left to incubate spontaneously. [4]
Chiao-Lung as Deities
In Ancient China, the Chaio-Lung were considered common water animals and dangerous to people, [6] and they were the principal god of the rivers and brooks. [6] If someone eats swallows, they are warned not to cross a body of water or to go into a body of water, for the chaio-lung love swallow, and will surely eat that person. [5]
Eating the flesh of a chiao-lung cures and prevents boils and piles. [3]
Footnotes
For more information on footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.
