form of representation of the American elephant-headed
god was derived from Indonesian pictures of the _makara_. In India
itself the _makara_ (see Fig. 14) is represented in a great variety of
forms, most of which are prototypes of different kinds of dragons. Hence
the homology of the elephant-headed god with the other dragons is
further established and shown to be genetically related to the evolution
of the protean manifestations of the dragon's form.

The dragon in China is "the heavenly giver of fertilizing rain" (_op.
cit._, p. 36). In the _Shu King_ "the emblematic figures of the ancients
are given as the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountain, the _dragon_,
and the variegated animals (pheasants) which are depicted on the upper
sacrificial garment of the Emperor" (p. 39). In the _Li Ki_ the unicorn,
the phoenix, the tortoise, and the dragon are called the four _ling_
(p. 39), which de Visser translates "spiritual beings," creatures with
enormously strong vital spirit. The dragon possesses the most _ling_ of
all creatures (p. 64). The tiger is the deadly enemy of the dragon
(p. 42).

The dragon sheds a brilliant light at night (p. 44), usually from his
glittering eyes. He is the giver of omens (p. 45), good and bad, rains
and floods. The dragon-horse is a vital spirit of Heaven and Earth (p.
58) and also of river water: it has the tail of a huge serpent.

The ecclesiastical vestments of the Wu-ist priests are endowed with
magical properties which are considered to enable the wearer to control
the order of the world, to avert unseasonable and calamitous events,
such as drought, untimely and superabundant rainfall, and eclipses.
These powers are conferred by the decoration upon the dress. Upon the
back of the chief vestment the representation of a range of mountains is
embroidered as a symbol of the world: on each side (the right and left)
of it a large dragon arises above the billows to represent the
fertilizing rain. They are surrounded by gold-thread figures
representing clouds and spirals typifying rolling thunder.[166]

A ball, sometimes with a spiral decoration, is commonly represented in
front of the Chinese dragon. The Chinese writer Koh Hung tells us that
"a spiral denotes the rolling of thunder from which issues a flash of
lightning".[167] De Visser discusses this question at some length and
refers to Hirth's claim that the Chinese triquetrum, i.e., the
well-known three-comma shaped figure, the Japanese _