The Four Dragons

An introduction to the music of China

SLIDE 1 Tree roots

MUSIC 1 Hulusi: Descendants of the Dragon

[Narrator enters and sits down]

NARRATOR: Good afternoon…This is a story about dragons.

MUSIC 2 Pipa: Prelude

NARRATOR: Have you ever seen a dragon before? I have…in my dreams! But once, there were
many, many dragons flying in the sky, playing in the clouds, sleeping in caves, and swimming in the
ocean. And people saw them. A long, long, long time ago…when the world was without rivers and
lakes.

Can you imagine that? No rivers, no lakes, no creeks, not even billabongs! The land was completely
dry from north to south, and east to west. And so those who lived on the land had to rely on the rain
for drinking water.

SLIDE 2 Water video

Oh, but there was water. There was water alright.

It was all in the Eastern Ocean.

The Eastern Ocean was a mysterious place full of magical creatures. The King of the Ocean lived
there with a talking tortoise, and they were protected by an army of ferocious prawn soldiers. In this
ocean lived four dragons.

Four magnificent dragons. Not one, not two, not three, but four.

SLIDE 3 Dragon tapestry

MUSIC 3 Embedded Playback: Jing Diao

Yellow Dragon (Huang long) ⿈⿓, the fastest and bravest of all the dragons

Long Dragon (Chang long) ⾧⿓, the longest dragon in the world and Yellow’s best friend

Black Dragon (Hei long) ⿊⿓, slightly eccentric, but with a heart of gold

Pearl Dragon (Zhu long) 珠⿓, white as snow. Do you know if this is a girl or boy dragon? Yes, it’s a
girl! She has been going out with Yellow Dragon for 6 months and they’re going steady!

SLIDE 4 ‘Dragon’ Chinese character

In Mandarin, the word for ‘dragon’ is ⿓ long. It is said that the Chinese writing system developed
from a series fo ancient pictograms. You can almost see the shape of a dragon in this character.

Ahhhh…These dragons were the best friends, they spent their days swimming in the Eastern Ocean
and playing in the clouds.

SLIDE 5 Dragon tapestry

Pearl Dragon, the only girl in the group, often went out flying on her own (to get away from the
other boys).

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 The Four Dragons
An introduction to the music of China

She loved the feeling of the sun’s warmth on her back as she flew high up into the sky, as high as
she could go, before diving back down again to glide against the glassy surface of the Eastern
Ocean. And then she would rest high up on a mountain top to watch the world go by.

MUSIC 4 Hulusi: Flight of the Dragon | Nick

One day, as Pearl Dragon was resting on her favourite mountain top, she saw something unusual
happening and called out to her dragon friends, ‘Kan!’

SLIDE 6 ‘Look’ Chinese character

The Mandarin word for ‘look’ is: kan 看.

SLIDE 7 Drought video

MUSIC 5 Embedded Playback: Wulong Yin | Milan

The other dragons rushed over and together, they looked down on earth. Below them, a group of
people had gathered, but instead of laughing and dancing, and eating festive foods, and drinking
mulled wine, they were moaning and groaning and pulling on their clothes and hair. From amongst
them a very, very old man appeared and walked up to an altar.

(Old Man voice)” O Heavenly Emperor Ruler of all Heavens, Earth and the Underworld,
Creator of the Universe, Emperor of the Universe, and Lord of the Imperial Court.

Today is the ninth day of the New Year, the day of your divine birth. Please accept our
humble offering of dried fruit and incense.

O Mighty One of the Skies, this is all we can offer, for there has not been rain for a very, very,
very, very, very, long time. Our crops have withered, the grass has turned yellow, and the
earth is scorched and cracked. We have no rice for our children.

O Heavenly Emperor, please send us rain. Please, send us rain.”

SLIDE 7 Drought video

MUSIC 6 Erhu: Sad Song | Nick

The dragons turned to each other and discussed what they had seen. After 108 minutes of deep
meditation, they decided that they should help the people by asking the Heavenly Emperor to
send rain. After all, he sent the sun by day, and the moon by night. Surely, he had just forgotten to
send rain.

With a giant leap, the dragons ascended into the clouds towards the Heavenly Palace.

SLIDE 8 Clouds video

MUSIC 7 Percussion: gong and cymbal improv

The Heavenly Emperor, ruler of heaven and earth was a very busy man and he was not at all
pleased to see the dragons.

“What are you doing here at the Palace Gate instead of playing in the clouds?” he asked.

“Your Majesty, there is no rain on earth,” said Yellow Dragon in a brave voice. “The crops have
withered, the grass has turned yellow, and the earth is scorched and cracked. The people have no
rice for their children.”

The Heavenly Emperor replied that he knew about the drought, and that he would send rain when
the time was right because he was very, very busy.

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 The Four Dragons
An introduction to the music of China

“Now, go home, dragons, and don’t bother me again!” And with that, he stormed off in a huff.

The dragons, content that they had spoken to the Heavenly Emperor, flew back to the Eastern
Ocean, and there they waited.

MUSIC 8 Percussion: Woodblock quaver beats

SLIDE 9
1 day passed ⼀ yi. Can you repeat after me?
SLIDE 10
2 days passed ⼆ er
SLIDE 11
3 三 san and 4 四 si days passed
SLIDES 12
5, 6, 7 days passed 五 wu, 六 liu, 七 qi
SLIDES 13
8, 9 days passed ⼋ ba, 九 jiu
SLIDE 14
After 10 days ⼗ shi…[MUSIC 8 stop]…there was still no rain.

SLIDE 15 Drought

The people suffered more and more and started to eat bark, roots, and finally white clay from the
ground.

The four dragons, seeing this, realised that something needed to be done and held another
meeting.

After 108 minutes of deep meditation, Long Dragon had an idea:

“there’s plenty of water in the Eastern ocean where we live. Why don’t we...scoop it up? And then
we can spray it into the sky so that the water will fall onto the ground like raindrops.”

Yellow and Pearl dragon thought this was a great idea. But not Black Dragon. He was worried that
they might get in trouble for interfering. But their love of the people was too strong. And so with a
giant leap, the dragons dived deep down into the ocean, and scooped water up in their mouths
and bellies.

They flew up, up, up, as high as they could into the sky and released the water…

SLIDE 16 Rain

…the sky became dark, and little by little, big fat drops of rain began to fall. Slowly at first, and then
increasing in speed until it turned into a giant storm!

‘It’s raining! It’s raining!’ The people cried. ‘Our crops will be saved’. We will have rice for our
children again.

SLIDE 17 Rain character

MUSIC 9 Erhu: Hantian Lei

So the people were happy, the Old Man was happy, the Dragons were happy. The only person
who wasn’t happy was the Heavenly Emperor, who heard about the rain from the King of the
Ocean.

SLIDE 18 Guards

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An introduction to the music of China

In fact, the Emperor was furious and ordered the immediate arrest of the dragons by the imperial
guards.

Outnumbered, the dragons could not defend themselves, and were captured.

Because they had disobeyed him, the Heavenly Emperor had the dragons separated. Yellow
Dragon was sent to the centre of China. Long Dragon was stretched out from east to west, slightly
north of Yellow Dragon. Black Dragon was sent to the far northeast, where it is cold. And Pearl was
sent as far south as possible.

SLIDE 19 Mountains video

To make sure they stayed where they were, the Emperor ordered the Mountain God to drop four
magical mountains onto each of the dragons, imprisoning them forever.

MUSIC 10 Percussion: Bells

The dragons did not regret helping the people and decided to continue helping them. But how?
After 108 minutes of deep meditation, they decided to turn themselves into water, so that if the
Heavenly Emperor ever forgot to send rain again, those who lived on the land could always help
themselves to a drink.

SLIDE 20 Map of China

So the dragons became the four rivers of China that we know today. They flow past the high
mountains and deep valleys, crossing the land from west to east, and finally emptying into the seas:
the Heilongjian (what used to be Black Dragon), the Huanghe (originally Yellow Dragon), the
Changjiang/Yangtze (Long Dragon), and the Zhujiang (Pearl Dragon).

Although the dragons no longer exist, we remember them today by telling this story: brave and
magnificent, swimming in the ocean and flying through the clouds.

MUSIC 11 Hulusi: Descendants of the Dragon

SLIDE 21 Pipa
Four-stringed lute from ancient Persia blah blah
SLIDE 22 Erhu
Two-stringed lute, also possibly from Persia blah blah
SLIDE 23 Hulusi
An instrument made from a vegetable! blah blah. Dragons often come out at festival time.
SLIDE 24 Dragon history in Australia
In 1867, the Chinese were involved in processions in Castlemaine and Ballarat to celebrate the
British Royal Tour of the Duke of Edinburgh. In Bendigo and Ballarat, Chinese processions became
popular annual events.
1939 Bendigo Dragon. Now retired but at the time he was the longest dragon in the world.
1901 (7 May) Federation procession attended by the Duke and Duchess of York. Held in Melbourne
for the opening of the first Federal Parliament. This included two Chinese Dragons (one from
Bendigo and one from the See Yup Society in Melbourne), a Chinese Lion, orchestra and figures on
white horses, accompanied by 300 participants. Because of the royal visit, the streets of the city
were decorated, eight arches were constructed and a procession organised.
The Chinese community raised £800 for the construction of a 'Chinese Citizen's Arch' on Swanston
Street, south of Little Bourke Street and £200 necessary to participate in the parade. The Duke and
Duchess did not view the arch.
SLIDE 25 Sun Loong
Now Sun Loong is the longest dragon. Do you know where he lives? blah blah. He still appears in
festivals.

Last updated 10 June 2018 by NN

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