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Dragon History and Dragon Artwork

Dragons and dragon artwork appear in many different cultures. Its not known where dragons and dragon legends first originated from, but dragons where depicted on bronze and jade as early as 16^th century BC in China. Dragons have been depicted on art all over Asia, Europe, South America and North America by Native Americans. All these cultures depicted dragons in similar manners and they appear on pottery, clothing, carvings, statues and weapons.

Dragons can be divided into two broad categories.

Eastern dragons, like those found in Asia are wise, revered and worshiped. Chinese dragons are shape shifters that can transform to human form. The dragon is considered to be lucky and brings one wealth. There are even stories of Marco Polo encountering dragons on his way to China. Though the dragon is often depicted as strong and fierce it is thought to be more benevolent.

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Western dragons, like those found in medieval times are more of the Celtic dragon variety. These are the typical fire breathing type and in most stories they are used to protect a great treasure upon which they must be slain in order to claim the treasure. This western image of the dragon makes it very difficult for North Americans to understand how the dragon is worshiped in Asian societies.

With the dragon being so colorful and majestic, they could only exist along side of art. One could not imagine a story of a dragon being told unless it was accompanied by some form of dragon artwork.