Yong- Korean DragonDragon

From Serpent to Sky

Before a yong existed, there was an imugi: a great serpent coiled in the deep places of rivers and lakes, waiting. According to Korean folk tradition, an imugi must endure a thousand years of cultivation before it earns the chance to ascend. That chance comes in the form of the yeouiju, a luminous pearl that falls from heaven. The imugi who catches it transforms, rising from the water into the clouds as a true dragon.

The yong that emerges is a serpentine creature with branching antlers, four clawed feet, and flowing whiskers. It commands water rather than fire. Where it flies, clouds gather and rain falls. Korean royal dragons bore four claws, one fewer than the five reserved for the Chinese emperor's dragon, a distinction maintained throughout the dynastic period.

The Palace Beneath the Sea

The Dragon Kings, the Yongwang, rule the seas from underwater palaces built of coral and pearl. Four kings govern the four seas, but the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea is the figure Korean tales return to.

In the pansori Sugungga, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea falls gravely ill. His physicians declare that only a rabbit's liver can cure him. The turtle Byeoljubu volunteers to journey ashore and lure a rabbit back to the palace. He finds one and convinces it to visit the wonders of the undersea kingdom. But when the rabbit arrives and learns it is to be gutted, it claims to have left its liver hanging on a tree back on land. It must return to fetch it. The Dragon King, desperate, lets the rabbit go. The rabbit reaches shore and runs.

Dragon Blood in Royal Lines

Dragons drew Haemosu's chariot when the sun god descended from heaven to found the Goguryeo line, five of them pulling him through colored clouds to earth. His son Jumong, fleeing the jealous sons of King Geumwa, reached the Eomho River with no way across. Fish and turtles rose from the water to form a bridge, and Jumong crossed to found his kingdom. The Samguk Sagi records both episodes.

In Silla, the queen Alyeong emerged from the ribs of a dragon at a well called Alyeong-jeong, tying the Silla royal house to dragon ancestry from its first generation. Dragon faces, dragon thrones: the language of Korean kingship never left the creature behind.

Guardians of the Dharma

When Buddhism arrived during the Three Kingdoms period, Dragon Kings became protectors of the faith. The Haeinsa temple on Mount Gaya holds the Tripitaka Koreana, over eighty thousand woodblocks carved with the complete Buddhist canon. According to temple legend, dragons guard the site. The woodblocks have survived centuries of war, fire, and invasion.

The Blue Dragon, Cheongnyong, guards the East as one of the Four Directional Spirits. Sixth-century tomb murals from the Gangseo Great Tomb preserve the creature in full flight, claws extended, body coiling through clouds. The murals are now Korean national treasures.

The Sea's Masters

Fishermen and sailors prayed to the Dragon Kings before every departure. Coastal villages maintained shrines to their local Yongwang, and offerings preceded the launching of new boats, the start of fishing seasons, and long voyages.

The Yongwang-je, the Dragon King ritual, is still performed in coastal communities across South Korea. Worshippers lay out rice cakes and rice wine at the water's edge and cast paper money and food into the sea, offerings sent to the Dragon Palace. On Jeju Island, the haenyeo, women divers who harvest abalone and sea urchins from the ocean floor, pray to the Dragon King before entering the water. They have done so for generations.