49 



paddy fields were all scorched and black, some tens of acres in 

 all.' Then we moored the boat to the bank and asked those 

 villagers (for the reason). They said: 'Yesterday noon there was 

 a big dragon which fell from the sky. Immediately he was burned 

 by terrestial fire and flew away. For that what the dragons fear 

 is fire' " '. 



B. Dead dragons. 



When dragons, wounded in a battle, tumbled down and died, 

 this was believed to be a very bad omen. The Boohs of the Han 

 dynasty"^ relate the following: "On the day jen-tsze of the sixth 

 month of the seventh year of the Yen-hi era (A. D. 164), imder 

 the Emperor Hwan, there was a dragon which died on Mount 

 Ye Wang in Ho nei (one of tlie districts of that time). Its length 

 was about some tens of chang. Siang K'iai was of the following 

 opinion : 'Taking into consideration that the dragon is a felicitous , 

 symbol of an Emperor or King, and that the Yih lun ta jen says : 

 "In the T'ien-feng era (A. D. 14 — 19) there was a dead dragon 

 inl the Hwang-shan palace. The Han troops killed Mang (i. e. the 

 Emperor Wang Mang, killed in A. D. 22), and Shi Tsu (i. e. Kwang 

 Wu, the first Emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty) rose again 

 (ascended the throne, in A. D. 25)", this omen must be a sign 

 of change (of the dynasty)'. In the 25th year of the Kien-ngan 

 era (A. D. 220) the Emperor Wen of the Wei dynasty replaced 

 the House of Han" ^ 



1 Kwei sin tsah shih, ^ ^ ^ ^ (<^^- ^E Groot, Rel. Sijst. Vol. II, p. 399 : 

 "a collection of miscellanies written by ChEU MiH, ^ ^ , in the earlier part of the 

 fourteenth century), quoted T. S., Sect. -^ ^, Ch. 130, f | ^ ^E ^ H , 



^ gp ffij ^. ^ ^ f^ ^^ ii§ iE«i* 3/c^ ^ . '^ ^^^ 



2 Shuh Han shu, Ch. XVII, Sect. ^ ^ , nr 5, f | ^'^ ^ , P- 2a. 



Verb. Kon. Akad. v. Wetensch. (Afd. Letterk.) N. R. Dl. XIII, N° 2. 4 



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