FOR the next year of the Chinese lunar calendar, we will be seeing a lot more of this maligned and mysterious reptile. We might even have more sightings from Loch Ness, whose most famous resident seems closer to a Chinese dragon than a Scottish monster, judging by its sinuous shape and love of water.
There are many differences between China's dragons and their British cousins. One is a wingless flying creature associated with power, wisdom and water; the other is a winged mountain dweller with an affinity for fire.
Personality-wise, one is a benign bringer of sustenance, whereas the other is a ravager of land and young women. Chinese dragons can also be vengeful, however. Rather than incinerating all in their path, they prefer to drown the disrespectful with floods. The association with fire may have come about as Chinese dragons are often depicted in pursuit of a flaming pearl, symbolising everything from prosperity to immortality.
Confusion between Eastern and Western dragons is common. Even J. K. Rowling, who knew her cryptozoology well, created an improbable Chinese Fireball-with wings and fiery breath. Middle Kingdom tradition allows for some leeway, but, 2,000 years ago, the following was written down as a standard model: 'His antlers are like those of a stag, head of a camel, eyes of a demon, neck of a snake, belly of a clam, scales of a carp, claws of an eagle, soles of a tiger, ears of a cow.' The finishing touch was a lump on his head that allowed him to fly without wings (Arts & antiques, February 7).
Of the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac, the dragon is the only one that is generally invisible.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
