TheChinesedragonorOrientaldragonisamythicalcreatureinEastAsianculturewithaChineseorigin.Itisvisualizedthesedaysasalong,scaled,snake-likecreaturewithfourlegsandfiveclawsoneach(thoughitdidnotalwayshavefiveclaws).IncontrasttotheEuropeandragonwhichstandsonfourlegsandwhichisusuallyportrayedasevil,theChinesedragonhaslongbeenapotentsymbolofauspiciouspowerinChinesefolkloreandart.TheChinesedragonistraditionallyalsotheembodimentoftheconceptofyang(male)andassociatedwiththeweatherasthebringerofrainandwaterinanagriculturallywater-drivennation.ItsfemalecounterpartistheFenghuang(usuallytranslatedasaphoenix). 　　ThedragonissometimesusedintheWestasanationalemblemofChina.However,thisusagewithinboththePeople'sRepublicofChinaandtheRepublicofChinaonTaiwanisrare.Firstly,thedragonwashistoricallythesymboloftheEmperorofChina.StartingwiththeYuanDynasty,regularcitizenswereforbiddentoassociatethemselveswiththesymbol.Thedragonre-emergedduringtheQingDynastyandappearedonnationalflags 　　Secondly,inEuropean-influencedcultures,thedragonhasaggressive,warlikeconnotationsthattheChinesegovernmentwishestoavoid.ItisforthesereasonsthatthegiantpandaisfarmoreoftenusedwithinChinaasanationalemblemthanthedragon. 　　ManyChinesepeopleoftenusetheterm"DescendantsoftheDragon"(龙的传人)asasignofethnicidentity,aspartofatrendstartedinthe1970swhendifferentAsiannationalitieswerelookingforanimalsymbolsforrepresentations.ThewolfwasusedamongtheMongols,themonkeyamongTibetans. 　　AnumberofChineseproverbsandidiomsalsofeaturereferencestothedragon,forexample:"Hopingone'ssonwillbecomeadragon"(望子成龙,i.e.beassuccessfulandpowerfulasadragon). 　　中国龙或者东方龙是在东亚文化中神秘的生物他们的外貌被描述成像蛇一样的身体有四肢和爪子他们不同于西方那些同样四只脚站在地上的邪恶的龙中国龙一直以来在民间传说合一书中象征着权利中国龙在传统意义上也是男性的象征并且会为人间带来雨水与其相对的象征女性的是凤凰phoenix 　　龙通常被欧洲人们认为是中国的象征然而这种用法在现代中国很少见首先龙是中国历史上皇帝的象征从元代开始普通民众是不允许跟龙的标志有任何联系的龙又重新在清朝被使用并且出现在国旗上 　　其次在欧洲文化中龙是具有侵略性好战的这些都是中国想要回避的所以大熊猫通常用作中国的象征 　　自从1970年开始不同的亚洲人都开始用动物来比喻自己的民族很多中国人都会用龙的传人来形容自己的民族蒙古人把自己比作狼西藏人把自己比做猴 　　很多中国谚语和俗语都于龙有关比如望子成龙