Chinese Wyrms vs. Western Wyverns
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[First posted March 20, 2004. Last updated 10/23/2023] Last night while chatting with my wife, I realized that there isn't a Chinese character for the Western version of the dragon (a.k.a. 2-legged wyvern or 4-legged dragon). So I decided to invent a Chinese character for wyvern. Here it is:
Unlike Western wyvern, traditional Chinese dragons do not sport wings - they are more like giant serpents (aka Western wyrms). They are described by this character:
I took the right-hand-side radical, and combined it with the Chinese character for flying:
The result is a Western wyvern with wings. This character is tentatively assigned the pronunciation "Leong" by my wife. It is the Taiwanese pronunciation of the traditional dragon character. You are explicitly given permission to use pictures from this page on your website, provided that you link back to this page. There is no need to ask me for permission, as long as you abide by the above condition. I have provided several calligraphy paintings of this newly invented character for your use. Following are calligraphy my father-in-law sent me from Taiwan, after I begged him to write them for me. These are written in so-called running script. Click on a thumbnail to see it in its original resolution.
Following are my poor drawings of this new character. I am ashamed to call them calligraphy. Click on a thumbnail to see it in its original resolution.
Following are some web references for both Chinese and Western dragons:
This new character is first used in this Drum Set Now available at imgur |
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