This Chinese dragon name can be pronounced qiu or jiu and written 虯 or 虬.
Characters
The variant Chinese characters for the qiu or jiu dragon are 虯 and 虬, which combine the "insect radical" 虫 with phonetics of jiu丩 "connect" and yin乚 "hidden". This 虫 radical is typically used in Chinese characters for insects, worms, reptiles, and dragons (e.g., shen蜃, jiao蛟, and hong虹). Compare the word jiu糾 or 糺 "twist; entangle; unite" that is written with the "silk radical" 絲 and the same alternate phonetics as qiu虯 or 虬.
In Japanese, the kanji "Chinese characters" 虬 or 虯 are sometimes used for the mizuchi蛟 "river dragon".
Etymologies
Sinological linguists have proposed several etymologies for the qiu or jiu虯 dragon.
Bernhard Karlgren reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciations of qiu < *g'yŏg or jiu < *kyŏg for 虯 "horned dragon" and 觓 "horn-shaped; long and curved".[1] This latter word combines the "horn radical" 角 and 虯's jiu丩 phonetic.
Carr follows Karlgren's reconstructions and suggests qiu < *g'yŏg or jiu < *kyŏg虯 is "part of a 'twist; coil; wrap' word family"[2] that includes:
This "twisting; coiling" etymology can explain both the meanings "horned dragon; twisted horns" and "curling; wriggling" below.
Schuessler reconstructs Old Chinese qiu < *giu or jiu < *kiu for 觓 or 觩 "horn-shaped; long and curved" and 虯 "horned dragon",[3] and cites Coblin's comparison of "horned dragon" with Written Tibetanklu "Nāga, serpent spirit".[4] Schuessler compares jiu < *kiuʔ糾 "to twist, plait" and concludes the "most likely etymology is 'twisting, wriggling'".
Meanings
Chinese dictionaries give three qiu虯 or 虬 meanings: "dragon without horns", "dragon with horns", and "curling; coiling".
Hornless dragon
Several Chinese classic texts and commentaries from the Han dynasty identified qiu虯 as a "hornless dragon; dragon without horns", which is interpreted as "young dragon; immature dragon".
The 2nd century BCE Chuci uses qiu虬 seven times, which is more frequently than any other classical text. The standard Sibu Beiyao 四部備要 edition gives the character as 虬 instead of 虯. Qiu is a dragon name in four contexts. The first uses yuqiu玉虬 "jade hornless-dragon"; "I yoked a team of jade dragons to a phoenix-figured car, And waited for the wind to come, to soar up on my journey."[5] The second uses qiulong虬龍 "hornless dragon"; "Where are the hornless dragons which carry bears on their backs for sport?"[6] In both contexts, commentary of Wang Yi 王逸 (d. 158 CE) says qiu means "hornless dragon" and long means "horned dragon". The third uses qingqiu青虬 "green dragon" referring to the legendary Shun as Chong Hua 重華; "With a team of azure dragons, white serpents in the traces, I rode with Chong Hua in the Garden of Jasper."[7] Wang notes qiu and chi are types of long "dragons". The fourth uses qiu虬 alone; "With team of dragons I mount the heavens, In ivory chariot borne aloft."[8]
The 121 CE Shuowen Jiezi dictionary gives inconsistent definitions of qiu虯. Some early editions define 龍無角者 "a dragon without horns", while later editions define 龍子有角者 "a young dragon with horns". Carr notes the discrepancy of three Shuowen definitions for "hornless dragon": qiu虯, jiao蛟, and chi螭.[9] The Shuowen Jiezi scholar Zhu Junsheng 朱駿聲 (1788–1834 CE) explains that male long龍 "dragons" have horns and female ones do not, and among young dragons, jiao蛟 has one horn, qiu虯 has two, and chi螭 is hornless.
A few later sources, such as the c. 1011 CE Guangyunrime dictionary, concur with early Shuowen Jiezi editions and define qiu虯 as "hornless dragon", but most dictionaries define a contrast set between qiu虯 "horned dragon" and chi螭 "hornless dragon".
The c. 139 BCE Huainanzi "Peering into the Obscure" chapter (6) mentions qingqiu青虯 "green horned-dragon" twice. First, "The Fable of the Dragons and the Mud-Eels" uses it with chichi赤螭 "red hornless-dragon"; "When the red hornless dragon and the green horned dragon roamed the land of Chi 冀, the sky was limpid and the earth undisturbed."[11] The commentary of Gao Yu 高淯 (fl. 205 CE) notes qingqiu and chichi are types of long龍 "dragons", but without mentioning horns. Second, a description of Fu Xi and Nüwa, who are represented as having dragon tails, uses qingqiu with yinglong應龍 "winged dragon"; "They rode the thunder chariot, using winged dragons as the inner pair and green dragons as the outer pair."[12]
The c. 100 BCE Shiji "Records of the Grand Historian" biography of Sima Xiangru quotes his fu賦 poem entitled Zixu子虛 "Sir Fantasy". Like the Huaiananzi, it contrasts qingqiu青虯 "green horned-dragon" with chichi赤螭 "red hornless-dragon", which Watson translates "horned dragon" and "hornless dragon".[13]
Ge Hong's 4th century CE Baopuzi抱朴子 has four references. It mentions: jiu虬 "As to the flying to the sky of the k'iu of the pools, this is his union with the clouds", shenjiu神虬 "divine horned-dragon" "If a pond inhabited by fishes and gavials is drained off, the divine k'iu go away", and qingjiu青虬 "green horned-dragon" "The ts'ui k'iu (kingfisher-k'iu) has no wings and yet flies upwards to the sky", "Place the shape (i.e. an image of this dragon) in a tray, and the kingfisher-k'iu (shall) descend in a dark vapoury haze".[14]
The c. 230 CE Guangya dictionary defines qiu虯 (written with a rare 黽 "frog"-radical graphic variant) as "horned dragon" and chi螭 as "hornless dragon". This semantic contrast is repeated in later dictionaries such as the 997 CE Longkan Shoujian and the c. 1080 CE Piya, which says: "If a dragon has scales, he is called kiao-lung (蛟龍); if wings, ying-lung (應龍); if a horn, k'iu-lung (虬龍); and if he has no horn, he is called ch'i-lung (螭龍)."[15]
In traditional Chinese art, dragons are commonly represented with two horns. According to the 2nd century CE Qian fu lun, the dragon's "horns resemble those of a stag".[16] The 1578 CE Bencao Gangmumateria medica prescribes longjue龍角 "dragon horn", "For convulsions, fevers, diarrhea with fever and hardened belly. Taken continuously it lightens the body, enlightens the soul and prolongs life."[17]
Curling
Qiu can mean "curling; twisting; coiling; wriggling; writhing" in Chinese compounds. For instance:
qiupan虬蟠 "curled up like a dragon; curling and twisting (esp. tree roots)"
jiaoqiu蛟虬 "coil like a dragon"
qiuxu虬鬚 "curly beard; curly mustache"
qiuran虯髯 "curly whiskers"
Besides the four "hornless dragon" examples above, three Chuci contexts use qiu in words describing dragons "coiling; wriggling; writhing". Two use youqiu蚴虬 to describe the canglong蒼龍Azure Dragon constellation: "I rode in the ivory chariot of the Great Unity: The coiling Green Dragon ran in the left-hand traces; The White Tiger made the right hand of my team";[18] "To hang at my girdle the coiling Green Dragon, To wear at my belt the sinuous rainbow serpent."[19] One uses liuqiu蟉虬 with chi螭 "hornless dragon": "They lined water monsters up to join them in the dance: How their bodies coiled and writhed in undulating motion!"[20]
Assuming trans-cultural diffusion, MacKenzie suggests that the Chinese "horned-dragon, or horned-serpent" derives from the Egyptian Osiris "water-serpent".[21] The Chinese Hui people have a myth about a silver-horned dragon that controls rainfall.[22]
Carr, Michael (1990). "Chinese Dragon Names"(PDF). Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area. 13 (2): 87–189.
Coblin, W. South (1986). A Sinologist's Handlist of Sino-Tibetan Lexical Comparisons. Nettetal.
The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets. Translated by Hawkes, David. Penguin. 1985.
Karlgren, Bernhard (1957). Grammata Serica Recensa. Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities.
Le Blanc, Charles (1985). Huai-nan Tzu: Philosophical Synthesis in Early Han Thought: The Idea of Resonance (Kan-Ying) With a Translation and Analysis of Chapter Six. Hong Kong University Press.
