A Legend of the Dragon Kings
Long ago, there were no rivers or lakes in China. Rain fell from time to time to the peoples
crops, but the only large body of water in the world was the Eastern Sea.
At the time this body of water was home to the four Chinese Dragons Kings-
The Black Dragon, The long Dragon, The Pearl Dragon & the Yellow Dragon. Who later
gifted the Emperor Fu Hsi with the vital secret of writing!
All of these dragons, like everything else on earth, were under the rule of the
Jade Emperor, who is also known as Father Heaven, or the August Personage of Jade
He lived with his court in his heavenly palace that lies far above the clouds and from there,
he over saw the affairs of the world-.
Now one day, the four dragon kings had risen out of the sea to fly around in the sky,
when the Pearl Dragon suddenly noticed that everything was not as it should be on earth.
All the people had grown very thin, for there had been no rain
for a long time, and their crops were withering
and turning yellow in the fields.
The Pearl Dragon saw them putting out fruit, cakes and other offerings
as they prayed to the Jade Emperor.
"O, Great Jade Emperor, " called out one particularly thin woman
who was carrying a little boy on herback," Please send us some rain so that we may grow rice for
our children to eat!"
When the Pearl Dragon pointed this out to the other Dragon Kings.
They all became greatly concerned.
The Yellow Dragon exclaimed, "these poor people are sure to die if there is no rain soon!
"We must as the Jade Emperor for help at Once! suggested the Long Dragon. And
so all the four dragon kings sped away up into the clouds to visit the
Jade Emperor in his heavenly palace,
but the Jade Emperor was not pleased to see the
four dragon kings- he was enjoying listening to some especially
delightful fairy music.
The Long Dragon King stepped forward and said," Your Majesty, I beg
you to send some rain to the people quickly, for their crops are withering
and dying in the fields."
But the Jade Emperor wanted to continue to listen to the lovey music, and so he
pretended to agree to the Long Dragon King's request.
"Yes, all right," he said. "You four go back down to earth and I will send some rain tomorrow."
The Four Dragon Kings were happy with this answer, so they returned to earth.
But nearly two weeks passed by,
and not a single drop of rain had fallen,
by now the people were getting so hungry that they were trying to
eat the grass and roots in order to feed themselves.
The Four Dragon Kings felt very sorry because they realized that
this time the Jade Emperor had not pain any attention to the
problems in China.
It was up to them to help solve the problems of China.
So they all wondered what to do, and eventually the
Long Dragon King
had an idea as he gazed at the Eastern Sea.
"There is so much water in this sea where we live," he said. Why don't we
use that to help the people? We can scoop it up and spray it toward the sky.
Then it will be just like raindrops!"
The Three other Dragon Kings agreed that this seemed
like a good plan, but they were all worried because they knew that
the Jade Emperor would be angry if he discovered that
they had helped the people without asking his permission.
"Well, I am happy to risk the anger of the Jade Emperor," exclaimed the
Yellow Dragon King.
"Indeed," Agreed the Black & Pearl Dragon Kings too.
"We must do anything necessary in order to help the people."
So the Four Dragon Kings flew back and forth, scooping up the water from the sea
in their mouths and with a noise like thunder, carrying it far over the land,
where they sprayed it all over the earth.
The people below were very happy
that it was raining at last, and they came out and danced for joy!
Soon the rice and wheat and sorghum in the fields started to look a lot healthier.
But the God of the SEA had been watching what the Four Dragon Kings had been doing
and he reported what he had seen to the
Jade Emperor.
The Jade Emperor was outraged that the Four Dragon Kings had acted
without his permission and he soon called out his heavenly generals and troops to
arrest the Dragon Kings. Soon the Four Dragon Kings were brought back to the
Jade Emperor' heavenly palace.
"Fetch me Four Mountains", the Jade Emperor told the Mountain God.
"These Four Dragons must never escape to disobey me again!"
And so it was that the Mountain God summoned up four great mountains, and
pressed them down on the Four Great Dragon Kings, one in each part of
China.
But the story doesn't end there-
The Four Dragon Kings, weren't about to let the people of China
go without water ever again. They were determined that even with the
Jade Emperor's summons on them, they would transform themselves into-
First rivers in China
Flowing out the four mountains - The Black Dragon became the - Heiloug Jian -
in the far north; The Yellow Dragon became the - Huang he or the Yellow River-
in the North: The Long Dragon becomes the - Chang Jiang or Yangtze River in the centre part of
China- While the Pearl Dragon became the Ahu Jiang or Pearl River in the South.
Those four rivers are still flowing to this day ind
CHINA
by Ernest Drake
The Solstice is also sometimes called midnight summer Solstice too, because by now all farmers have long done their planting which is technically the first day of summer.
our Summer Solstice ] it can remind us all, just how precious each day is and the seasons are to all! Because the truth of its passing always is acknowledged every year! Gifts need to be appreciated, not taken for granted. A Gift can be many things, it doesn't necessarily have to be a object. A Gift could be life on our planet. Another gift could be, a happy full harvest of the turning of the wheel of the full year. There is the gift of plenty world wide for the season of the Summer Solstice too.
