俗話常說龍生九子，九子各有不同，關(guān)于這句話有一個很長的故事，就是龍生了9個兒子，每個兒子的習(xí)性卻完全不同，下面是關(guān)于龍生九子的故事。

2024 is the year of Dragon. Some people say 2024 is a Black Dragon or Water Dragon year. This is because the Stem-Branch Calendar is connected to the Five Element theory. Chinese calendars used the Stem-Branch system to count the days, months and years. There are 10 Stems and 12 Branches in this system. Stems are named by the Yin-Yang and Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth). The Stem sequence order is Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Metal, Yin Metal, Yang Water and Yin Water. Branches use animal names.

The Branch sequence order is Rat, Cow, Tiger, Dragon, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog and Pig. Stem and Branch are used together to form a cycle of 60 counting systems which begin with Wooden Rat and end with Water Pig. You can see the entire sequence from the Chinese New Years page. From 1924 to 1983 is a complete cycle. Year 2024 is Male Water Dragon the 29th of the Stem-Branch in the system. Because Water is connected to Black in the Five-Element system, Year 2024 is also called the Black Dragon year.

Dragon has Nine Sons

A dragon is a legendary creature. All legendary stories about Chinese dragons are from the sky, which means heaven in China. The image of dragon is blurred, misty, mystic, occulted, noble and untouchable. For China, it is the symbol of power from heaven. The Chinese emperor was considered the son of heaven. An emperor has the authority to send command to Dragons. One Chinese story mentioned an emperor killed a dragon in his dream. After 581 AD, Chinese emperors began to wear imperial robes with dragon symbols. During the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), the dragon can be seen everywhere on the roofs, doors, pillars, bridges, utensils in the forbidden city. The most powerful dragon is the five-clawed dragon. It appears only on the yellow imperial robe. Because of this, Dragon is one of most auspicious animals in China.

They say that Dragon has nine sons. People didnt know too much about the Nine Dragons until Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). However, there is more than one version of the Nine Dragons story. One story is the following.

The Dragon sent its nine sons to help the first emperor of Ming Dynasty to conquer China. After completing the mission, nine dragons were preparing their journey to return to heaven. But the emperor wanted them to continue to help the Ming Dynasty. The nine dragons wouldnt stay and the emperor couldnt stop them. However, the emperor decided to play a trick on the most powerful dragon, the 6th son. He tricked the sixth dragon son to carry a magic stele with a carved inscription, which could suppress any ghost, spirit or evil creature. The 6th dragon couldnt move under the magic stele, and all of his other brothers wouldnt leave without him. However, they wouldnt work for the emperor anymore. They decided to no longer show their dragon identities and turned themselves into evil creatures. Since then, the nine dragons have stayed in China.

The nine dragon have different themes, and they all have different versions too. We skip their names because all of their names are hard to remember. One version is:

龍生九子，九子各有不同：

《中國吉祥圖說》中描述為：九子之老大叫囚牛，喜音樂，蹲立于琴頭；老二叫睚眥(ya zi)，嗜殺喜斗，刻鏤于刀環(huán)、劍柄吞口；老三叫嘲風(fēng)，平生好險，今殿角走獸是其遺像；四子蒲牢，受擊就大聲吼叫，充作洪鐘提梁的獸鈕，助其鳴聲遠揚；五子狻猊(suan ni)，形如獅，喜煙好坐，倚立于香爐足上，隨之吞煙吐霧；六子霸下，又名XX(bi xi)，似龜有齒，喜歡負(fù)重，碑下龜是也；七子狴犴(bi gan)，形似虎好訟，獄門或官衙正堂兩側(cè)有其像；八子負(fù)質(zhì)，身似龍，雅好斯文，盤繞在石碑頭頂；老九螭(chi)吻，又名鴟尾或鴟(chi)吻，口潤嗓粗而好吞，遂成殿脊兩端的吞脊獸，取其滅火消災(zāi)。

在《大千傳統(tǒng)圖案網(wǎng)》中解釋比較詳盡：

The 1st son loves music. The head of Number 1 son becomes a decoration for music instrument, such as two-stringed bowed violin (huqin).

龍生九子之一囚牛

囚牛,是龍生九子中的老大，平生愛好音樂，它常常蹲在琴頭上欣賞彈撥弦拉的音樂，因此琴頭上便刻上它的遺像。這個裝飾現(xiàn)在一直沿用下來，一些貴重的胡琴頭部至今仍刻有龍頭的形象，稱其為龍頭胡琴。

The 2nd son loves fighting. Many different handles of weapons have the symbol of Number 2 son.

龍生九子之二睚眥

睚眥，是老二，平生好斗喜殺，刀環(huán)、刀柄、龍吞口便是它的遺像。這些武器裝飾了龍的形象后，更增添了懾人的力量。它不僅裝飾在沙場名將的兵器上，更大量地用在儀仗和宮殿守衛(wèi)者武器上，從而更顯得威嚴(yán)莊重。

The 3rd son loves adventure and keeping guard. He has prestige and is the symbol of safety, harmony and peace.

龍生九子之三嘲風(fēng)

嘲風(fēng)，形似獸，是老三，平生好險又好望，殿臺角上的走獸是它的遺像。這些走獸排列著單行隊，挺立在垂脊的前端，走獸的領(lǐng)頭是一位騎禽的仙人，后面依次為：龍、鳳、獅子、天馬、海馬、狻猊、押魚、獬豸、斗牛、和行什。它們的安放有嚴(yán)格的等級制度，只有北京故宮的太和殿才能十樣俱全，次要的殿堂則要相應(yīng)減少。嘲風(fēng)，不僅象征著吉祥、美觀和威嚴(yán)，而且還具有威懾妖魔、清除災(zāi)禍的含義。嘲風(fēng)的安置，使整個宮殿的造型既規(guī)格嚴(yán)整又富于變化，達到莊重與生動的和諧，宏偉與精巧的統(tǒng)一，它使高聳的殿堂平添一層神秘氣氛。

The 4th son loves howling. The image of Number 4 son can be found on the big bells. It is a symbol of protection and alertness.

龍生九子之四蒲牢

蒲牢，形似盤曲的龍，排行第四，平生好鳴好吼，洪鐘上的龍形獸鈕是它的遺像。原來蒲牢居住在海邊，雖為龍子，卻一向害怕龐然大物的鯨魚。當(dāng)鯨魚一發(fā)起攻擊，它就嚇得大聲吼叫。人們報據(jù)其性好鳴的特點，凡鐘欲令聲大音，即把蒲牢鑄為鐘紐，而把敲鐘的木杵作成鯨魚形狀。敲鐘時，讓鯨魚一下又一下撞擊蒲牢，使之響入云霄且專聲獨遠。

The 5th son loves quietness, sitting, fire and smoke. His image is often found in temples, such as on incense burners.

龍生九子之五狻猊

狻猊，形似獅子，排行第五，平生喜靜不喜動，好坐，又喜歡煙火，囚此佛座上和香爐上的腳部裝飾就是它的遺像。相傳這種佛座上裝飾的狻猊是隨著佛教在漢代由印度人傳入中國的，至南北朝時期，我國的佛教藝術(shù)上已普遍使用，這種造型經(jīng)過我國民間藝人的創(chuàng)造，使其具有中國的傳統(tǒng)氣派，后來成了龍子的老五，它布置的地方多是在結(jié)跏趺坐或交腳而坐的佛菩薩像前。明清之際的石獅或銅獅頸下項圈中間的龍形裝飾物也是狻猊的形象，它使守衛(wèi)大門的中國傳統(tǒng)門獅更為睜崍威武。

The 6th son has the power of strength. He loves to carry heavy stuff to show off his magic energy. He is a symbol of longevity and good luck.

龍生九子之六霸下

霸下，又名赑屃，形似龜，是老六，平生好負(fù)重，力大無窮，碑座下的龜趺是其遺像。傳說霸下上古時代常馱著三山五岳，在江河湖海里興風(fēng)作浪。后來大禹治水時收服了它，它服從大禹的指揮，推山挖溝，疏遍河道，為治水作出了貢獻。洪水治服了，大禹擔(dān)心霸下又到處撒野，便搬來頂天立地的特大石碑，上面刻上霸下治水的功跡，叫霸下馱著，沉重的石碑壓得它不能隨便行走。霸下和龜十分相似，但細(xì)看卻有差異，霸下有一排牙齒，而龜類卻沒有，霸下和龜類在背甲上甲片的數(shù)目和形狀也有差異。霸下又稱石龜，是長壽和吉祥的象征。它總是吃力地向前昂著頭，四只腳拼命地?fù)沃瑨暝蚯白撸偸且撇婚_步。我國一些顯赫石碑的基座都由霸下馱著，在碑林和一些古跡勝地中都可以看到。

The 7th son loves to seek justice. Chinese like to apply his symbol around law, court, or jail.

龍生九子之七狴犴

狴犴，又名憲章，形似虎，是老七。它平生好訟，卻又有威力，獄門上部那虎頭形的裝飾便是其遺像。傳說狴犴不僅急公好義,仗義執(zhí)言，而且能明辨是非，秉公而斷，再加上它的形象威風(fēng)凜凜,囚此除裝飾在獄門上外，還匐伏在官衙的大堂兩側(cè)。每當(dāng)衙門長官坐堂，行政長官銜牌和肅靜回避牌的上端，便有它的形象，它虎視眈眈，環(huán)視察看，維護公堂的肅穆正氣。

The 8th son loves literature. Chinese like to put the 8th son as a symbol around steles. When used in this way, it is a symbol of knowledge or education.

龍生九子之八負(fù)屃

負(fù)屃，似龍形，排行老八，平生好文，石碑兩旁的文龍是其遺像。我國碑碣的歷史久遠，內(nèi)容豐富，它們有的造型古樸，碑體細(xì)滑、明亮，光可鑒人；有的刻制精致，字字有姿，筆筆生動；也有的是名家詩文石刻，膾灸人口，千古稱絕。而負(fù)屃十分愛好這種閃耀著藝術(shù)光彩的碑文，它甘愿化做圖案文龍去襯托這些傳世的文學(xué)珍品，把碑座裝飾得更為典雅秀美。它們互相盤繞著，看去似在慢慢蠕動，和底座的霸下相配在一起，更覺壯觀。

The 9th son loves water. He is a symbol to prevent fire disasters

龍生九子之九螭吻

螭吻，又名鴟尾、鴟吻，龍形的吞脊獸，是老九，口闊噪粗，平生好吞，殿脊兩端的卷尾龍頭是其遺像。《太平御覽》有如下記述：唐會要目，漢相梁殿災(zāi)后，越巫言，海中有魚虬，尾似鴟，激浪即降雨遂作其像于尾，以厭火祥。文中所說的巫是方士之流，魚虬則是螭吻的前身。螭吻屬水性，用它作鎮(zhèn)邪之物以避火。

俗話常說龍生九子，九子各有不同，關(guān)于這句話有一個很長的故事，就是龍生了9個兒子，每個兒子的習(xí)性卻完全不同，下面是關(guān)于龍生九子的故事。

2024 is the year of Dragon. Some people say 2024 is a Black Dragon or Water Dragon year. This is because the Stem-Branch Calendar is connected to the Five Element theory. Chinese calendars used the Stem-Branch system to count the days, months and years. There are 10 Stems and 12 Branches in this system. Stems are named by the Yin-Yang and Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth). The Stem sequence order is Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Metal, Yin Metal, Yang Water and Yin Water. Branches use animal names.

The Branch sequence order is Rat, Cow, Tiger, Dragon, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog and Pig. Stem and Branch are used together to form a cycle of 60 counting systems which begin with Wooden Rat and end with Water Pig. You can see the entire sequence from the Chinese New Years page. From 1924 to 1983 is a complete cycle. Year 2024 is Male Water Dragon the 29th of the Stem-Branch in the system. Because Water is connected to Black in the Five-Element system, Year 2024 is also called the Black Dragon year.

Dragon has Nine Sons

A dragon is a legendary creature. All legendary stories about Chinese dragons are from the sky, which means heaven in China. The image of dragon is blurred, misty, mystic, occulted, noble and untouchable. For China, it is the symbol of power from heaven. The Chinese emperor was considered the son of heaven. An emperor has the authority to send command to Dragons. One Chinese story mentioned an emperor killed a dragon in his dream. After 581 AD, Chinese emperors began to wear imperial robes with dragon symbols. During the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), the dragon can be seen everywhere on the roofs, doors, pillars, bridges, utensils in the forbidden city. The most powerful dragon is the five-clawed dragon. It appears only on the yellow imperial robe. Because of this, Dragon is one of most auspicious animals in China.

They say that Dragon has nine sons. People didnt know too much about the Nine Dragons until Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). However, there is more than one version of the Nine Dragons story. One story is the following.

The Dragon sent its nine sons to help the first emperor of Ming Dynasty to conquer China. After completing the mission, nine dragons were preparing their journey to return to heaven. But the emperor wanted them to continue to help the Ming Dynasty. The nine dragons wouldnt stay and the emperor couldnt stop them. However, the emperor decided to play a trick on the most powerful dragon, the 6th son. He tricked the sixth dragon son to carry a magic stele with a carved inscription, which could suppress any ghost, spirit or evil creature. The 6th dragon couldnt move under the magic stele, and all of his other brothers wouldnt leave without him. However, they wouldnt work for the emperor anymore. They decided to no longer show their dragon identities and turned themselves into evil creatures. Since then, the nine dragons have stayed in China.

The nine dragon have different themes, and they all have different versions too. We skip their names because all of their names are hard to remember. One version is:

龍生九子，九子各有不同：

《中國吉祥圖說》中描述為：九子之老大叫囚牛，喜音樂，蹲立于琴頭；老二叫睚眥(ya zi)，嗜殺喜斗，刻鏤于刀環(huán)、劍柄吞口；老三叫嘲風(fēng)，平生好險，今殿角走獸是其遺像；四子蒲牢，受擊就大聲吼叫，充作洪鐘提梁的獸鈕，助其鳴聲遠揚；五子狻猊(suan ni)，形如獅，喜煙好坐，倚立于香爐足上，隨之吞煙吐霧；六子霸下，又名XX(bi xi)，似龜有齒，喜歡負(fù)重，碑下龜是也；七子狴犴(bi gan)，形似虎好訟，獄門或官衙正堂兩側(cè)有其像；八子負(fù)質(zhì)，身似龍，雅好斯文，盤繞在石碑頭頂；老九螭(chi)吻，又名鴟尾或鴟(chi)吻，口潤嗓粗而好吞，遂成殿脊兩端的吞脊獸，取其滅火消災(zāi)。

在《大千傳統(tǒng)圖案網(wǎng)》中解釋比較詳盡：

The 1st son loves music. The head of Number 1 son becomes a decoration for music instrument, such as two-stringed bowed violin (huqin).

龍生九子之一囚牛

囚牛,是龍生九子中的老大，平生愛好音樂，它常常蹲在琴頭上欣賞彈撥弦拉的音樂，因此琴頭上便刻上它的遺像。這個裝飾現(xiàn)在一直沿用下來，一些貴重的胡琴頭部至今仍刻有龍頭的形象，稱其為龍頭胡琴。

The 2nd son loves fighting. Many different handles of weapons have the symbol of Number 2 son.

龍生九子之二睚眥

睚眥，是老二，平生好斗喜殺，刀環(huán)、刀柄、龍吞口便是它的遺像。這些武器裝飾了龍的形象后，更增添了懾人的力量。它不僅裝飾在沙場名將的兵器上，更大量地用在儀仗和宮殿守衛(wèi)者武器上，從而更顯得威嚴(yán)莊重。

The 3rd son loves adventure and keeping guard. He has prestige and is the symbol of safety, harmony and peace.

龍生九子之三嘲風(fēng)

嘲風(fēng)，形似獸，是老三，平生好險又好望，殿臺角上的走獸是它的遺像。這些走獸排列著單行隊，挺立在垂脊的前端，走獸的領(lǐng)頭是一位騎禽的仙人，后面依次為：龍、鳳、獅子、天馬、海馬、狻猊、押魚、獬豸、斗牛、和行什。它們的安放有嚴(yán)格的等級制度，只有北京故宮的太和殿才能十樣俱全，次要的殿堂則要相應(yīng)減少。嘲風(fēng)，不僅象征著吉祥、美觀和威嚴(yán)，而且還具有威懾妖魔、清除災(zāi)禍的含義。嘲風(fēng)的安置，使整個宮殿的造型既規(guī)格嚴(yán)整又富于變化，達到莊重與生動的和諧，宏偉與精巧的統(tǒng)一，它使高聳的殿堂平添一層神秘氣氛。

The 4th son loves howling. The image of Number 4 son can be found on the big bells. It is a symbol of protection and alertness.

龍生九子之四蒲牢

蒲牢，形似盤曲的龍，排行第四，平生好鳴好吼，洪鐘上的龍形獸鈕是它的遺像。原來蒲牢居住在海邊，雖為龍子，卻一向害怕龐然大物的鯨魚。當(dāng)鯨魚一發(fā)起攻擊，它就嚇得大聲吼叫。人們報據(jù)其性好鳴的特點，凡鐘欲令聲大音，即把蒲牢鑄為鐘紐，而把敲鐘的木杵作成鯨魚形狀。敲鐘時，讓鯨魚一下又一下撞擊蒲牢，使之響入云霄且專聲獨遠。

The 5th son loves quietness, sitting, fire and smoke. His image is often found in temples, such as on incense burners.

龍生九子之五狻猊

狻猊，形似獅子，排行第五，平生喜靜不喜動，好坐，又喜歡煙火，囚此佛座上和香爐上的腳部裝飾就是它的遺像。相傳這種佛座上裝飾的狻猊是隨著佛教在漢代由印度人傳入中國的，至南北朝時期，我國的佛教藝術(shù)上已普遍使用，這種造型經(jīng)過我國民間藝人的創(chuàng)造，使其具有中國的傳統(tǒng)氣派，后來成了龍子的老五，它布置的地方多是在結(jié)跏趺坐或交腳而坐的佛菩薩像前。明清之際的石獅或銅獅頸下項圈中間的龍形裝飾物也是狻猊的形象，它使守衛(wèi)大門的中國傳統(tǒng)門獅更為睜崍威武。

The 6th son has the power of strength. He loves to carry heavy stuff to show off his magic energy. He is a symbol of longevity and good luck.

龍生九子之六霸下

霸下，又名赑屃，形似龜，是老六，平生好負(fù)重，力大無窮，碑座下的龜趺是其遺像。傳說霸下上古時代常馱著三山五岳，在江河湖海里興風(fēng)作浪。后來大禹治水時收服了它，它服從大禹的指揮，推山挖溝，疏遍河道，為治水作出了貢獻。洪水治服了，大禹擔(dān)心霸下又到處撒野，便搬來頂天立地的特大石碑，上面刻上霸下治水的功跡，叫霸下馱著，沉重的石碑壓得它不能隨便行走。霸下和龜十分相似，但細(xì)看卻有差異，霸下有一排牙齒，而龜類卻沒有，霸下和龜類在背甲上甲片的數(shù)目和形狀也有差異。霸下又稱石龜，是長壽和吉祥的象征。它總是吃力地向前昂著頭，四只腳拼命地?fù)沃瑨暝蚯白撸偸且撇婚_步。我國一些顯赫石碑的基座都由霸下馱著，在碑林和一些古跡勝地中都可以看到。

The 7th son loves to seek justice. Chinese like to apply his symbol around law, court, or jail.

龍生九子之七狴犴

狴犴，又名憲章，形似虎，是老七。它平生好訟，卻又有威力，獄門上部那虎頭形的裝飾便是其遺像。傳說狴犴不僅急公好義,仗義執(zhí)言，而且能明辨是非，秉公而斷，再加上它的形象威風(fēng)凜凜,囚此除裝飾在獄門上外，還匐伏在官衙的大堂兩側(cè)。每當(dāng)衙門長官坐堂，行政長官銜牌和肅靜回避牌的上端，便有它的形象，它虎視眈眈，環(huán)視察看，維護公堂的肅穆正氣。

The 8th son loves literature. Chinese like to put the 8th son as a symbol around steles. When used in this way, it is a symbol of knowledge or education.

龍生九子之八負(fù)屃

負(fù)屃，似龍形，排行老八，平生好文，石碑兩旁的文龍是其遺像。我國碑碣的歷史久遠，內(nèi)容豐富，它們有的造型古樸，碑體細(xì)滑、明亮，光可鑒人；有的刻制精致，字字有姿，筆筆生動；也有的是名家詩文石刻，膾灸人口，千古稱絕。而負(fù)屃十分愛好這種閃耀著藝術(shù)光彩的碑文，它甘愿化做圖案文龍去襯托這些傳世的文學(xué)珍品，把碑座裝飾得更為典雅秀美。它們互相盤繞著，看去似在慢慢蠕動，和底座的霸下相配在一起，更覺壯觀。

The 9th son loves water. He is a symbol to prevent fire disasters

龍生九子之九螭吻

螭吻，又名鴟尾、鴟吻，龍形的吞脊獸，是老九，口闊噪粗，平生好吞，殿脊兩端的卷尾龍頭是其遺像。《太平御覽》有如下記述：唐會要目，漢相梁殿災(zāi)后，越巫言，海中有魚虬，尾似鴟，激浪即降雨遂作其像于尾，以厭火祥。文中所說的巫是方士之流，魚虬則是螭吻的前身。螭吻屬水性，用它作鎮(zhèn)邪之物以避火。