The Classic Fashion of the Contemporary Dragon

The Chinese Dragon symbol is friendly but also potentially dangerous.  It is considered to be a benign creature of myth while at the same time very powerful.  In fact, the Chinese Dragon has been worshipped for a long time as a dynamic symbol representing vitality throughout East Asia.  The dragons of old rose into the heavens and called forth the rains.  This helped to keep life, as we observe it, constant within an ancient civilization fundamentally dependent on agriculture.  The dragon was thought to make an appearance in the heavens whenever a new emperor was born.  Therefore, it became a symbol of imperial Chinese leadership and authority.

For all these reasons and more, the Dragon symbol has made its way into the fashion trends of Asian people for a very long time.  Dragons began to appear on robes as a purely informal fashion trend during the Ming dynasty.  However, they quickly rose to the highest form of official dress.  Dragon robes were adopted by the rulers of the Qing dynasty.  After that, they became a vital part of the wardrobe of the imperial court of China.

Today, most dragon robes are found in the West since they were removed from China during a time of national distress:  i.e. the sacking of the Summer Palace in 1860 amd the removal of the Qing dynasty in 1911.  However, a trend among younger Asian people of modern times would be the tatoo of a dragon symbol on the body.  Since the symbol is a powerful one, it seems understandable why so many remain fascinated by it.  The symbol of the dragon is by no means confined to China.  It remains a symbol of power throughout most of East Asia and beyond!

Harlan Urwiler

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