Feilong (mythology)

Feilong (simplified Chinese: 飞龙; traditional Chinese: 飛龍; pinyin: fēilóng; Wade–Giles: fei lung; lit. "flying dragon") is a winged legendary creature that flies among clouds in Chinese mythology. The proper name Feilong applies to people, fictional characters, places, martial art techniques, military weapons, and a pterosaur.

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, Korean piyong 비용, and Vietnamese philong. The inverted Longfei 龍飛 was an era name (396-399 CE) during the Later Liang Dynasty.

The (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi, the first Chinese character dictionary, uses feilong to define da (written with 2 龍 dragons) "flying dragon; appearance of a dragon in flight".

Chinese classic texts frequently mention feilong 飛龍 "flying dragons". The examples below are roughly arranged in chronological order, although some heterogeneous texts are of uncertain dates.

The (5th-3rd centuries BCE) Yijing "Book of Changes" first uses feilong to symbolize a daren 大人 "great person; accomplished person". Qian 乾 "The Creative", the first hexagram, says (tr. Wilhelm 1967:9), "Nine in the fifth place means: Flying dragons in the heavens. It furthers one to see the great man." The "Commentary on the Decision" (彖傳, tr. Wilhelm 1967:371) explains, "Because the holy man is clear as to the end and the beginning, as to the way in which each of the six stages completes itself in its own time, he mounts on them toward heaven as though on six dragons." And the "Commentary on the Images" (象傳, tr. Wilhelm 1967:371) says, "'Flying dragon in the heavens.' This shows the great man at work."

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