Etiquette Guide to China. Boye Lafayette De Mente

more fanciful-looking than Western ones, are common throughout the country.

      There are four kinds of dragons in Chinese mythology: celestial dragons that guard the heavens; spiritual dragons that are in charge of the weather, and can cause havoc when fighting or angered; earth dragons that rule the waters and live in seas, lakes, rivers, and ponds; and treasure dragons that are in charge of the precious minerals in the ground.

      According to myth a celestial dragon brought the first emperor down from heaven to the Middle Kingdom, and thusly became the badge of the imperial family. The beds emperors slept on were called dragon beds, the ceremonial dresses they wore were known as dragon robes, and the throne they sat on was called the dragon seat.