The legend of the grandson of Shennong, the sea dragon king, affirms that he was married with a fairy and had one hundred children.

The first-born of this marriage became the king of the First Dynasty of Vietnam; he later proclaimed himself emperor. This story is the origin of the old Vietnamese proverb “dragon children, fairy progeny”.

Vietnamese people consider themselves to be descendants of valiant dragons.

Emperor Hùng was the one who taught citizens to tattoo themselves with dragon images in their chests, abdomens and thighs. It was an amulet of protection and seasoned spiritual strength.

ITS OUTER ASPECT

The physical appearance of a Vietnamese dragon was an image combination of a crocodile, a serpent, a lizard and a bird.

The adoration of the crocodile is explained because, historically, the Vietnamese inhabitants always lived near rivers. So, they learned to venerate this sacred animal.

At archaeological excavations, experts found objects that combined images of dragons with real animals: crocodile-dragon, crocodile-serpent and dragon-cat statues and pottery.

The thin dragons represented the king and became part of the Vietnamese Literature quickly. They had slightly winding bodies which ended sharply in a small tail.

The body of the Vietnamese dragon was segmented in twelve sections that represented the twelve months of the year.

In addition, the Vietnamese dragons have fins, beard, prominent eyes and some of them had large horns. The legs are small and thin.

Finally, these fabulous animals have the capacity to change the weather and are responsible of the harvests' quality.