From this divine tortoise which conceived by thought alone,
all other tortoises sprang. In the elaboration of the myths and legends
concerning the tortoise we find many varieties of this scaly
incarnation. It lives a thousand years, hence it is emblem of longevity
in art and literature. It is the attendant of the god of the waters. It
has some of the qualities and energies of the dragon, it has the power
of transformation. In pictures and sculptures we are familiar with its
figure, often of colossal size, as forming the curb of a well, the base
of a monument or tablet. Yet, whatever its form in literature or art, it
is the later elaborated representation of ancient Animism which selected
the tortoise as one of the manifold incarnations or media of the myriad
spirits that populate the air.
Chief and leader of the four divinely constituted beasts is the Lung,
Japanese Ri[=o], or Dragon, which has the power of transformation and of
making itself visible or invisible. At will it reduces itself to the
size of a silk-worm, or is swollen until it fills the space of heaven
and earth. This is the creature especially preeminent in art, literature
and rhetoric. There are nine kinds of dragons, all with various features
and functions, and artists and authors revel in their representation.
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