Shen (clam-monster)In Chinese mythology, the shen or chen () is a shapeshifting dragon or shellfish-type sea monster believed to create mirages. The Chinese classics use the word shèn to mean "a large shellfish" that was associated with funerals and "an aquatic monster" that could change its shape, which was later associated with "mirages". The word used to mean a shellfish, or mollusk, identified as an oyster, mussel, or giant clam such as the Pearl of Lao Tzu.
Zhulong (mythology)Zhulong 'dʒuːlɒŋ or Zhuyin 'dʒuːjɪn, also known in English as the Torch Dragon, was a giant red solar dragon and god in Chinese mythology. It supposedly had a human's face and snake's body, created day and night by opening and closing its eyes, and created seasonal winds by breathing. The key word in the names "Zhuyin" and "Zhulong" is , pronounced zhú in present-day Mandarin.
HoutuHòutǔ () or Hòutǔshén (), also Hòutǔ Niángniáng (in Chinese either or ), otherwise called Dimǔ () or Dimǔ Niángniáng (), is the deity of all land and earth in Chinese religion and mythology. Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs ("Lord of Local Land"), Sheji ("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods world wide. In Taoism, Houtu is one the four Four heavenly ministers, which are four of the highest ranking gods in Taoism.
FeilongFeilong (; lit. "flying dragon") is a legendary creature that flies among clouds in Chinese mythology. Feilong is a proper name, and is often used as a title for other ideas and objects. The Chinese dragon name feilong combines fei or "fly; flying; hover; flutter" and long or "dragon". This loanword 飛龍 is pronounced as Japanese hiryū (飛竜), Korean biryong (비룡), and Vietnamese philong. The inverted Longfei 龍飛 was an era name (396–399 CE) during the Later Liang Dynasty.
Teng (mythology)Teng () or Tengshe (; lit. "soaring snake") is a flying dragon in Chinese mythology. This legendary creature's names include teng 螣 "a flying dragon" (or te 螣 "a plant pest") and tengshe 螣蛇 "flying-dragon snake" or 騰蛇 "soaring snake". The Chinese character for teng or te graphically combines a phonetic element of zhen "I, we (only used by emperors)" with the "insect radical" . This radical is typically used in characters for insects, worms, reptiles, and dragons (e.g., shen "a sea-monster dragon" or jiao "an aquatic dragon").
Tortue noirethumb|Wadang-xuanwu. La tortue noire du Nord ou guerrier noir (chinois : Xuanwu 玄武, pinyin : Xuán wǔ, japonais : Genbu) est l'un des quatre animaux totems des orients et du zodiaque chinois. C'est aussi l'un des cinq animaux fantastiques de la théorie des cinq éléments. Associée au Nord, à l'hiver et à l'eau, sa forme daterait de la dynastie Zhou. Son nom chinois est composé de xuán, « obscur », et de wǔ, « guerrier », sa carapace évoquant une armure.
Hell moneyHell money () is a modernized form of joss paper printed to resemble legal tender bank notes. The notes are not an official form of recognized currency or legal tender as their sole intended purpose is to be offered as burnt offerings to the deceased as a solution to resolve their assumed monetary problems in the afterlife. This ritual has been practiced by modern Chinese and across East Asia since the late 19th century, and some Wicca-based faiths in recent years have adopted this practice.
Fenghuangvignette|Sculpture d'un fenghuang au Palais d'Été de Pékin. vignette|Représentation européenne de 1656 Le fenghuang () ou phénix chinois est un oiseau mythique qui règne sur tous les autres oiseaux. On dit qu'il est le plus doux et le plus sage des oiseaux. Les mâles sont appelés feng (鳳) et les femelles huang (凰). Cette distinction des sexes est parfois éclipsée pour ne former qu'une seule entité féminine. En effet cet oiseau est souvent associé au dragon (dont il est parfois considéré comme le parent) qui est son pendant masculin.
Ding (chaudron)Un ding () désigne un ancien chaudron chinois sur pieds doté d’un couvercle et de deux anses de part et d’autre. Éléments habituels de la vaisselle rituelle de bronze en Chine, ils sont apparus à l'époque néolithique sous une forme voisine en terre cuite. De ces prototypes les artisans de l'Âge du bronze en ont fait dériver les chaudrons, fondus dans des moules en plusieurs parties par une ou plusieurs coulées de bronze.
Yellow DragonThe Yellow Dragon ( is the zoomorphic incarnation of the Yellow Emperor of the center of the universe in Chinese religion and mythology. The Yellow Emperor or Yellow Deity was conceived by Fubao, who became pregnant after seeing a yellow ray of light turning around the Northern Dipper (in Chinese theology the principal symbol of God). Twenty-four months later, the Yellow Emperor was born and was associated with the color yellow because it is the color of the earth (Dì 地), the material substance in which he incarnated.
