CHAPTER VII. 



TRANSFORMATIONS. 



§ 1. The dragon's transformations are unlimited. 



From Kwan tze and the P% ya, quoted above ', we have learned 

 that the ^diagofl^s—tiaji^or inations ar ejanlimited. Therefore it is 

 no wonder that Chinese literature abounds with stories about 

 dragons which had assumed the shape of men, animals or objects. 

 When_th ey transformed th emselves into human beings, they 

 ^mostly appea red^-as-eld-jpen or^feautitul women : the latter remind 

 us of the Naga maidens of InHian tales. !:^iometimes fishes, which, 

 when being cooked, spread a five-coloured light, or spoke with 

 human voices, were recognized to be dragons; but also quadrupeds, 

 as dogs, rats or cows, sometimes proved to be the temporary 

 shapes of these divine animals. Snakes, of course, closely akin to 

 the dragons, often served them as metamorphoses to hide their 

 real nature, and new-born dragons were said to creep out of the 

 eggs in this form. Finally, trunks of trees or other objects floating 

 in the water sometimes suddenly resumed their real dragon shapes. 

 One passage ^ says that dragons can always transform themselves 

 except at the time of their birth, when they sleep, or when 

 they are angry or lustful, but this stands alone among the 

 innumerable other statements with regard to their nature and 

 capacities. 



§ 2. Appearing as old men or beautiful women- 



As to their appearing as old men we may refer to the Suen 

 skill chi ', where a yellow dragon is said to have come to a house 



. 1 Pp. 63 and 65. 



2 Chen chu chw'en, ?^ ^^ ^ (cf. above, pp. i\9, note 7), quoted T. S., same 



section, Ch. 130, f| ^ H ^, P- 66. 



3 M.^ ^^' written by Chang Tun, 5^ U, in the ninth century. Quoted 



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