A number of scholars point to non-Sinitic southern origins for the legendary creature and ancient texts chronicle that the Yue people once tattooed their bodies to ward against these monsters.
In English translations, jiao has been variously rendered as "jiao-dragon", "crocodile", "flood dragon", "scaly dragon", or even "kraken".
Name
The jiao蛟 character combines the "insect radical" 虫, to provide general sense of insects, reptiles or dragons,[a] etc., and the right radical jiao交 "cross; mix", etc. which supplies the phonetic element "jiao". The original 交pictograph represented a person with crossed legs.
The Piya dictionary (11th century) claims that its common name was maban (馬絆).[1][2]
The jiao is also claimed to be equivalent to Sanskrit宮毗羅 (modern Chinese pronunciation gongpiluo) in the 7th-century Buddhist dictionary Yiqiejing yinyi.[c][3] The same Sanskrit equivalent is repeated in the widely used Bencao Gangmu or Compendium of Materia Medica.[4] In Buddhist texts this word occurs as names of divine beings,[d][e] and the Sanskrit term in question is actually kumbhīra[7] (कुम्भीर). As a common noun kumbhīra means "crocodile".[8]
The form kău is used as the Tang period pronunciation by American sinologist Edward H. Schafer.[11] The transliteration kiao lung was given by Dutch orientalist Marinus Willem de Visser [de]'s book on dragons.[12]
Most etymologies for jiao < *kǒg蛟 are unsupported speculations upon meanings of its phonetic *kǒg交 'cross; mix with; contact', e.g., the *kǒg蛟 dragon can *kǒg交 'join' its head and tail in order to capture prey, or moves in a *kǒg交 'twisting' manner, or has *kǒg交 'continuous' eyebrows. The only corroborated hypothesis takes *kǒg交 'breed with' to mean *kǒg蛟 indicates a dragon 'crossbreed; mixture'. (1990:126-7)
The word has "mermaid" as one possible gloss,[13] and Schuessler suggests possible etymological connections with BurmesekhruB or khyuB "scaly, furry beast" and Tibetanklu "nāga; water spirits", albeit the Tibeto-Burman are phonologically distant from OC.[9]
Crossed eyebrows
The explanation that its name comes from eyebrows that "cross over" (交jiao) is given in the ancient text Shuyi ji [zh] "Records of Strange Things" (6th century).[14][f][g]
Early sense as mating dragons
It has been suggested that jiaolong might have referred to a pair of dragons mating, with their long bodies coiled around each other (Wen Yiduo 2001a:95–96[17])
Thus in the legend around the jiaolong蛟龍 hovering above the mother giving birth to a future emperor i.e., Liu Bang, the founding emperor of Han, r. 202-195 BCE [h] (Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian),[18] the alternative conjectural interpretation is that it was a pair of mating dragons.[16]
The same legend occurs in nearly verbatim copy in the Book of Han, except that the dragons are given as 交龍 "crossed dragons".[18] Wen noted that in early use jiaolong交龍 "crossed dragons" was emblematic of the mythological creators Fuxi and Nüwa, who are represented as having a human's upper body and a dragon's tail.[19]
Semantics
In textual usage, it may be ambiguous whether jiaolong蛟龍 should be parsed as two kinds of dragons or one, as Prof. Zhang Jing (known in Japan as Chō Kyō [ja]) comments: "It is difficult to determine whether jiaolong is the name of a type of dragon, or [two dragons] "jiao" and "long" juxtaposed 蛟龍はそもそも龍の一種の名称なのか、それとも「蛟」と「龍」からなる複合なのかは判断しにくい。.[20]
Zhang cites as one example of jiaolong used in the poem Li Sao (in Chu Ci), in which the poet is instructed by supernatural beings to beckon the jialong and bid them build a bridge.[20] Visser translated this as one type of dragon, the jiaolong or kiao-lung.[21] However, it was the verdict of Wang Yi, an early commentator of this poem that these were two kinds, the smaller jiao and the larger long.[22][23]
Translations
Since the Chinese word for the generic dragon is long (龍), translating jiao as "dragon" is problematic as it would make it impossible to distinguish which of the two is being referred to.[24] The term jiao has thus been translated as "flood dragon"[25][26] or "scaly dragon",[27][28] with some qualifier to indicate it as a subtype. But on this matter, Schafer has suggested using a name for various dragon-like beings such as "kraken" to stand for jiao:
The word "dragon" has already been appropriated to render the broader term lung. "Kraken" is good since it suggests a powerful oceanic monster. ... We might name the kău a "basilisk" or a "wyvern" or a "cockatrice." Or perhaps we should call it by the name of its close kin, the double-headed crocodile-jawed Indian makara, which, in ninth-century Java at least, took on some of the attributes of the rain-bringing lung of China. (1967:218)
Some translators have in fact adopted "kraken" as the translated term,[18][29] as Schafer has suggested.
The Shuowen Jiezi dictionary (121 CE) glosses the jiao as "a type of dragon (long),[32][33] as does the Piya dictionary (11th c.), which adds that the jiao are oviparous (hatch from eggs).[2][15] The Bencao Gangmu states this also,[34] but also notes this is generally true of most scaled creatures.[35]
Jiao eggs are about the size of a jar of 1 or 2 hu [zh] capacity in Chinese volume measurement, according to Guo Pu's commentary;[36][37] a variant text states that the hatchlings are of this size.[38][39] It was considered that while the adult jiao lies in pools of water, their eggs hatched on dry land, more specifically on mounds of earth (Huainanzi).[40][41]
The jiao did eventually metamorphose into a form built to fly, according to Ren Fang [zh]'s Shuyi ji [zh] ("Records of Strange Things"), which said that "a water snake (hui虺) after 500 years transforms into a jiao (蛟); a jiao after a millennium into a dragon (long), a long after 500 years a horned dragon (角龍), a horned dragon after a millennium into a yinglong (a winged dragon)".[32][42][j]
General descriptions
The hujiao虎蛟 or "tiger jiao"[k] are described as creatures with a body like a fish and a tail like a snake, which made noise like mandarin ducks. Although this might be considered a subtype of the jiao dragon, a later commentator thought this referred to a type of fish (see #Sharks and rays section).[29]
The foregoing account occurs in the early Chinese bestiary Shanhaijing "Classic of Mountains and Seas" (completed c. 206–9 BCE), in its first book "Classic of the Southern Mountains".[44][l][m]
The bestiary's fifth book, "Classic of the Central Mountains"[n][45] records the presence of jiao in the Kuang River (貺水, "River Grant") and Lun River (淪水, "River Ripple").[46][o]Guo Pu (d. 324)'s commentary to Part XI glosses jiao as "a type of [long龍] dragon that resembles a four-legged snake".[48] Guo adds that the jiao possesses a "small head and a narrow neck with a white goiter" and that it is oviparous, and "large ones were more than ten arm spans in width[p] and could swallow a person whole".[36][50]
A description similar to this is found in the Piya dictionary, but instead of a white "goiter (ying)" being found on its neck, a homophone noun of a different meaning is described, rendered "white necklace" around its neck by Visser.[15] Other sources concurs with the latter word meaning white "necklace" (or variously translated as white "tassels"), namely, the Bencao Gangmu quoting at length from Guangzhou Ji (廣州記) by Pei Yuan (裴淵, 317–420):[q]
The jiao measures 10 chi or more in length. Snake-like in appearance, but it has four feet. The shape broad and shield-like, it is small-headed and thin-necked. On the neck there are white tassels. Its chest is sienna brown and its back flecked with blue-green spots. Its flanks resemble brocade-work. On its tail there are fleshy rings. The largest attain several arms' spans around.
—adapted from Luo tr. 2003, p. 3508. "Vol. 43: The Category of Animals with Scales", Bencao Gangmu.
A later text described jiao "looks like a snake with a tiger head, is several fathoms long, lives in brooks and rivers, and bellows like a bull; when it sees a human being it traps him with its stinking saliva, then pulls him into the water and sucks his blood from his armpits". This description, in the Moke huixi墨客揮犀 (11th century CE), was considered the "best definition" of a jiao by Wolfram Eberhard.[48]
Scales
The description as "scaly" or "scaled dragon" is found in some medieval texts, and quoted in several near-modern references and dictionaries.
The Guangya (3rd century CE) defines jiaolong as "scaly dragon; scaled dragon", using the word lin鱗 "scales".[51] The paragraph, which goes on to list other types of dragons, was quoted in the Kangxi Dictionary compiled during the Manchurian Qing dynasty.[51] A similar paragraph occurs in the Shuyi ji [zh] (6th century) and quoted in the Bencao Gangmu aka Compendium of Materia Medica:[34]
Jiaolong.. [Explanation of Names] [Li] Shizhen says: The book Shuyi Ji by Ren Fang:: The jiao is a kind of dragon. As its eyebrows cross each other, it is called jiaolong. (jiao ≅ come across). The jiaolong has scales. The variety with wings is called yinglong. The variety with horns is called qiulong. The variety without horns is called chilong ...[r]
—Luo tr. 2003, p. 3508. "Vol. 43: The Category of Animals with Scales", Bencao Gangmu.
Aquatic nature
Several texts allude to the jiao being the lord of aquatic beings. The jiaolong is called the "god of the water animals".[54][s] The Shuowen jieji dictionary (beginning of 2nd c.) states that if the number of fish in a pond reaches 3600, a jiao will come as their leader, and enable them to follow him and fly away".[32] However, "if you place a fish trap in the water, the jiao will leave".[33] A similar statement occurs in the farming almanac Qimin Yaoshu (6th c.) that quotes the Yangyu-jing "Classic on Raising Fish", a manual on pisciculture ascribed to Lord Tao Zhu (Fan Li).[56] According to this Yangyu-jing version, when the fish count reaches 360, the jiao will lead them away, but this could be prevented by keeping bie鱉 (variant character 鼈, "soft-shelled turtle").[t][57][58]
Jiao and jiaolong were names for a legendary river dragon. Jiao蛟 is sometimes translated as "flood dragon". The (c. 1105 CE) Yuhu qinghua玉壺清話 Carr says people in the southern state of Wu called it fahong發洪 "swell into a flood" because they believed flooding resulted when jiao hatched.[59] The poem Qijian ("Seven Remonstrances") in the Chu Ci uses the term shuijiao水蛟 or water jiao.[60][u]
Hornlessness
The Shuowen Jiezi does not commit to whether the jiao蛟 has or lacks a horn.[v][33] However the definition was emended to "hornless dragon" by Duan Yucai in his 19th-century edited version.([61] A somewhat later commentary by Zhu Junsheng [zh] stated the contrary; in his Shuowen tongxun dingsheng (説文通訓定聲) Zhu Junsheng explained that only male dragons (long) were horned, and "among dragon offspring, the one-horned are called jiao蛟, the bicorned are called qiu虯, and the hornless are called chi螭.[62]
Note the pronunciation similarity between jiao蛟 and jiao角 "horn", thus jiaolong角龍 is "horned dragon".[w]
Female gender
Lexicographers have noticed that according to some sources, the jiao was a dragoness, that is, a dragon of exclusively female gender.[13][x]
Jiao as female dragon occurs in the glossing of jiao蛟 as "dragon mother" (perhaps "dragoness" or "she-dragon") in the (c. 649 CE) Buddhist dictionary Yiqiejing yinyi,[y] and the gloss is purported to be a direct quote from Ge Hong (d. 343)'s Baopuzi抱朴子.[3] However, extant editions of the Baopuzi does not include this statement.[citation needed] The (11th century CE) Piya dictionary repeats this "female dragon" definition.[dubious – discuss]
As aforementioned, jiao is fully capable of devouring humans, according to Guo Pu's commentary.[39][50]
It is also written that a green jiao which was a man-eater dwelt in the stream beneath the bridge in Yixing County [zh] (present-day city of Yixing, Jiangsu) according to a story in Zu Taizhi [zh] (祖臺之; fl. c. 376–410)'s anthology, Zhiguai.[38] The war-general Zhou Chu (周處; 236–297) in his youth, who was native to this area, anecdotally slew this dragon: when Zhou spotted the man-eating beast he leaped down from the bridge and stabbed it several times; the stream was filled with blood and the beast finally washed up somewhere in Lake Tai where it finally died.[38] This anecdote is also recounted in the Shishuo Xinyu (c. 430; "A New Account of Tales of the World")[28] and selected in the Tang period primer Mengqiu [zh].[38]
...caught a white kiao, three chang [ten meters] long, which resembled a big snake, but had no scaly armour The Emperor said: 'This is not a lucky omen', and ordered the Ta kwan[z] to make a condiment of it. Its flesh was purple, its bones were blue, and its taste was very savoury and pleasant.[15]
Three classical texts (Liji 6,[64]Huainanzi 5, and Lüshi Chunqiu 6) repeat a sentence about capturing water creatures at the end of summer; 伐蛟取鼉登龜取黿 "attack the jiao蛟, take the to鼉 "alligator", present the gui龜 "tortoise", and take the yuan黿 "soft-shell turtle"."
There is a legend surrounding the Dragon Boat Festival which purports to be the origin behind the offering of zongzi (leaf-wrapped rice cakes) to the drowned nobleman Qu Yuan during its observation. It is said that at the beginning of the Eastern Han dynasty (25 A. D.), a man from Changsha named Ou Hui had a vision in a dream of Qu Yuan instructing him that the naked rice cakes being offered for him in the river are all being eaten by the dragons (jiaolong), and the cakes need to be wrapped in chinaberry (Melia; Chinese: 楝; pinyin: liàn) leaves and tied with color strings, which are two things the dragons abhor.[65][66][aa]
Southern origins
It has been suggested that the jiao is not a creature of Sinitic origin, but something introduced from the Far South or Yue culture,[69] which encompasses the people of the ancient Yue越 state), as well as the Hundred Yue people.[70]
Eberhard concludes (1968:378-9) that the jiao, which "occur in the whole of Central and South China", "is a special form of the snake as river god. The snake as river god or god of the ocean is typical for the coastal culture, particularly the sub-group of the Tan peoples (the Tanka people)". Schafer also suggests, "The Chinese lore about these southern krakens seems to have been borrowed from the indigenes of the monsoon coast".[71]
It is recorded that in southern China, there had been the custom of wearing tattoos to ward against the jiaolong. The people in Kuaiji (old capital of Yue; present-day Shaoxing City) adopted such a custom during the Xia dynasty according to the Book of Wei (3rd c.).[ab][ac][74][75][76] The Yue created this "apotropaic device"[77] by incising their flesh and tattooing it with red and green pigments.[78][79][80]
Identification as real fauna
The jiao seems to refer to "crocodiles", at least in later literature of the Tang and Song dynasties, and may have referred to "crocodiles" in early literature as well.[69]
Aside from this zoological identification, paleontological identifications have also been attempted.
Crocodile or alligator
The term jiao e or "jiao crocodile" (蛟鱷; Tang period pronunciation: kău ngak)[81][ad] occurs in the description of Han Yu's encounter with crocodiles according to Zhang Du [zh]'s Xuanshi zhi [zh] or "Records of the House of Proclamation" written in the late Tang period.[83][84][ae]
The Compendium also differentiates between jiaolong蛟龍[4] and tuolong鼉龍,[87] Fauvel adding that tuolong (鼉; t'o2) should be distinguished as "alligator".[86][88]
In the foregoing example of the huijiao in the "Classic of the Southern Mountains" III,[44] the 19th-century sinologist treated this a type of dragon, the "tiger kiao",[43] while a modern translator as "tiger-crocodile".[30] However, there is also an 18–19th-century opinion that this might have been a shark. A Qing dynasty period commentator, Hao Yixing [zh] suggested that huijiao should be identified as jiaocuo蛟錯[ag] described in the Bowuzhi博物志,[29][91] and this jiaocuo in turn is considered to be a type of shark.[29][93]
As in the above example jiao蛟 may be substituted for jiao鮫 "shark" in some contexts.[92]
The jiao鮫 denotes larger sharks and rays,[94] the character for sharks (and rays) in general being sha鯊, so-named ostensibly due to their skin being gritty and sand-like[ah][ai] Compare the supposed quote from the Baopuzi, where it is stated that the jialong is said to have "pearls in the skin" 皮有珠.[3][92]
Schafer quotes a Song dynasty description, "The kău (jiao) fish has the aspect of a round fan. Its mouth is square and is in its belly. There is a sting in its tail which is very poisonous and hurtful to men. Its skin can be made into sword grips", which may refer to a sting ray.[99]
Derivative names
Usage
Jiaolong occurs in Chinese toponyms. For example, the highest waterfall in Taiwan is Jiaolong Dapu (蛟龍大瀑), "Flood Dragon Great Waterfall" in the Alishan National Scenic Area.
^The Buddhist dictionary purports to quote the Baopuzi抱朴子.
^The transliterations 宮毗羅 and 宮毘羅 are interchangeable.[5] The characters "毗" and "毘" are variants of each other.
^宮毘羅 (Japanese:Kubira [ja]) is attested in eastern Buddhist writings, as one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals. Cf. the Guardian Deity Kimbila (pinyin: Jinpiluo wang) who is one of the Twenty-eight Guardians [zh].[6]
^Shuyi Ji , quoted in the Bencao Gangmu. The passage is quoted below.
^The same is stated in the aforementioned Piya, but translated differently as eyebrows that are "united" (交jiao) in Visser [de]'s excerpt.[15][2]
^The dragon supposedly witness by the father Taigong (T'ai-kung.)
^Birrell 2000, pp. 93, 97 also renders as "alligator"; but her endnote (p. 198) indicates "alligator" was meant to be reserved for a different creature, the t'o (tuo鼉), which conforms with Read tr. 1934, p. 300 and Fauvel 1879, p. 8.
^Compare the explanation that "smaller ones are called jiao and larger ones are called long (dragon)" by Wang Yi (d. 158 CE) in his commentary to the poem Li Sao in the Chu Ci.[22]
^Visser renders as "tiger kiao".[43] Birrell renders as "tiger-crocodiles".[30]
^As to habitat, these tiger jiao were said to inhabit the Yin River [zh-yue] (泿水, "River Bank") which flows southward from Mt. Daoguo 禱過山.[30][43] Birrel renders Yin River as "River Bank" and the mountain as "Mount Prayerpass". Visser mis-transcribes as "浪水" and renders as "water come forth in waves" "out of the Tao Kuo mountains".
^Birrell renders jiao here as "alligators" which is misleading since in the endnotes she glosses alligator as t'o (i.e. tuo鼉).[47] Cf. Read tr. 1934, p. 300, table. "Chiao Lung 蛟龍 Crocodiles" and "T'o Lung 鼍龍 Alligators"
^Although it is being translated as a measure of width, wei圍 is actually a measure of perimeter.[49]
^A white "goiter" (癭; ying) in the Classic of Mountains and Seas; a white "necklace" or "tassels" (嬰; ying) in Piya and the Bencao Gangmu.
^The quote here is slightly modified, as per capitalization, etc., from Luo's rendition.
^The thrust of the original passage in the philosophical work[55] is that circumstances dictate,[25] or more specifically, a dragon (or tiger, etc.) can manifest its full power when it is in its elements.[27]
^The Yangyu-jing is also quoted in the Qing period encyclopedia Yuanjian Leihan淵鑑類函 according to Minakata.
^"Henceforth the water-serpents must be my companions, And dragon-spirits lie with me when I would rest".[citation needed]
^An example occurs in Ge Hong's Baopuzi (10, tr. Ware 1966:170) "the horned dragon can no longer find a place to swim". The Jiaolong角龍 "horned dragon" is also the modern Chinese name for the Ceratops dinosaur.
^Carr gives 7 definitions as follows: "Jiao < *kǒg蛟 is defined with more meanings than any other Chinese draconym", writes Carr (1990:126), "(1) 'aquatic dragon', (2) 'crocodile; alligator', (3) 'hornless dragon', (4) 'dragoness', (5) 'scaled dragon', ( 6 ) 'shark' [= 鮫], and (7) 'mermaid'".
^25 volumes were compiled by Xuanying 玄応. Later, an expanded 100 volume edition Yiqiejing Yinyi (Huilin) was compiled by Huilin 慧琳 (c. 807).
^The source of this is the 6th-century work by Wu Jun [zh] (Chinese: 呉均; Wade–Giles: Wu chün) entitled Xu Qixieji (Chinese: 『續齊諧記』; Wade–Giles: Hsü-ch'ih-hsieh-chih).[66][67] In several redactions such as found in the Taiping Yulan the man's name appears as Ou Hui (歐回);[67] in other redactions, the man is called Ou Qu (歐曲).[67][68]
^ "After Shao Kang, king of Xia made his son prince of Kuaiji, the people there adopted the custom of cutting their hair and tattooing their bodies to avert harm from the jialong夏後少康之子封於會稽，斷髮文身以避蛟龍之害". Gulik renders as "evil dragons"; Teng as "sea monsters".
^More specifically, the portion in Book of Wei describing the Wa (the Japanese). It follows by commenting on a similar tattooing custom among the Wa.
^Chinese letter for sand is sha沙; 砂.[95][96] A description that is often repeated about the shark is that its skin has a pearl-like texture or pattern, and that the skin (shagreen) is used to decorate swords.[92][96]
^Thus Joseph Needham construes as "patterned with pearls" regarding shark skin for a similar example in the Jiaozhou ji (Chinese: 交州記; Wade–Giles: Chia-chou Chi).[97] However the presence of "pearls in the skin", literally, might have been actually meant since there was a belief since the Song Period that pearls were produced from shark skin.[98]
References
Citations
^Minakata 1917 "Year of the Snake"; Minakata 1973, p. 286 "When Piya states its poplular name is maban, it probably means a horse (ma) cannot be left tethered (ban) 『埤雅』にその俗称馬絆とあるは、馬を絆つなぎ留めて行かしめぬてふ義であろう。"
^ abcXuanying (c. 649). "Ch. 9. Banzhou sanmei jing" 般舟三昧經. Yiqiejing yinyi Book 5 一切經音義卷第五. Jialong: in Sanskrit guanpiluo, pronounced jiao. Scaled ones are called jiao dragon. Baopuzi: mother dragons are called jiao, dragon offspring [or dragonets] are called qiu. Its form is like unto a fish's body with a snake's tail; its skin is [studded] with pearl[y beads] 蛟龍: 梵言宮毗羅，音交。有鱗曰蛟龍。《抱朴子》曰：母龍曰蛟，龍子曰虯。其狀魚身如蛇尾，皮有珠。
^Cf. Hawkes 1985, p. 78: "Then, beckoning the water-dragons to make a bridge for me".
^Schafer 1967, pp. 217–218: "Spiritually akin to the crocodile, and perhaps originally the same reptile, was a mysterious creature capable of many forms called the chiao (kău). Most often it was regarded as a kind of lung – a "dragon" as we say. But sometimes it was manlike, and sometimes it was merely a fish. All of its realizations were interchangeable".
^"Keisei-kai (Xingshijie; commentary to Conditions and Circumstances)" 形勢解 64. Kanshi kokujikai ge-kan 管子国字解 下巻 [Guangzi commentaries in Japanese Vol. 2]. 漢籍国字解全書 : 先哲遺著 Kanseki kokuji-kai zensho: Sentetsu icho tsuiho [Supplement to the complete commentaries in Japanese of Chinese classical literature] 19. Waseda University. 1911. p. 110.
^"Keisei (Xingshi; Conditions and Circumstances)" 形勢 2. Kanshi kokujikai jō-kan 管子国字解 上巻 [Guangzi commentaries in Japanese Vol. 1]. 漢籍国字解全書 : 先哲遺著 Kanseki kokuji-kai zensho: Sentetsu icho tsuiho [Supplement to the complete commentaries in Japanese of Chinese classical literature] 18. Waseda University. 1911. p. 43.
^Kong Yingda. "Book 12" . Liji zhengyi 禮記正義. Zheng Xuan 鄭玄, annot. – via Wikisource. Zhengyi says, considering the Han shuDili zhi (Geography treatise)'s text that the Yue people crop their hair and tattoo their bodies, thus averting harm from jiaolong, etc. 正義曰：按《漢書•地理志》文，越俗斷髮文身，以辟蛟龍之害，故刻其肌，以丹青涅之
^Hao Yixing; Guo Pu, eds. (1809). "Shanhaijing Book 1". Shanhaijin jianshu 山海經箋疏 [Guideways through the Mountains and Seas with supplementary commentary] (in Chinese). Yangzhou: Langhuan xianguan 琅嬛僊館. p. 10.
The Huainanzi. Vol. 2. Translated by John S. Major; Sarah A. Queen; Andrew Seth Meyer; Harold D. Roth. Columbia University Press. 2010. ISBN978-0-231-52085-0.
Ban Gu; Ban Zhao (1954). The History of the Former Han Dynasty, Part II. Vol. 2. Translated by Homer Hasenpflug Dubs. Waverly Press. p. 94. From Hsün-yang he [Emperor Wu] traveled on the [Yang-tze] River in person and shot an alligator in the river
Minakata, Kumagusu 南方熊楠 (1917), "Jūnishikō (4): hebi ni kansuru minzoku to densetsu" 十二支考(4):蛇に関する民俗と伝説 [On the Zodiac (4): folklore and legends of the serpent], Taiyō. Aozora Bunko No.2536
Visser, Marinus Willem de (1913), "§7 Kiao Lung (蛟龍)"(PDF), The Dragon in China and Japan, Amsterdam: J. Müller, pp. 76–81, archived from the original on 19 January 2010, retrieved 25 July 2019,
