bears a long neck, winged shoulders, and a flowing tail, moving with the dignity of both dragon and steed.
Most wondrous of all, it walks upon water without sinking. 2/2
In the Shanhaijing, the land of Jiaopu, 繳濮國, is inhabited by people with long, graceful tails, a mark of beauty, but also a fatal vulnerability.
Their tails are so essential that before sitting, they must first dig a small hollow in the ground to protect them.
#mythology
the force of something vast and hungry. 3/3
🎨 The Book of Insects of Utamaro, Kitagawa Utamaro
In Chinese #mythology, the Dragon Horse 龍馬 rises from rivers only when the world is in harmony.
It appears in ages of sage kings, when Heaven approves, the Dao opens, and hidden patterns of cosmic order are ready to be revealed. Towering eight feet five inches high, it 1/2
In Chinese folklore, Wang Yuzhen 王玉真 is no ordinary beauty, but a yaoguai born from a white snake that cultivated for three thousand years. Clad in green robes & red shoes, adorned like nobility, she moves through lonely places with ghostly elegance, followed by 1/2
#folklore
One careless movement, one broken tail, and death comes at once.
In Jiaopu, elegance is not vanity. It is survival. Beauty must be guarded with ritual, caution, and constant awareness, because what makes these people wondrous is also what makes them fragile.
🎨《畫中仙》，梧桐子