Explore intriguing stories of unexpected dragon encounters in Chinese folklore, from dragons falling from the sky to mysterious appearances in everyday life.
In a place near the border of Shandong and Hebei, a dragon fell into a village. It moved clumsily and heavily, and entered the house of a local gentry. The entrance of this house could barely accommodate the dragon’s body, but the dragon forced its way in. The people in the house were all frightened. Some climbed to the roof and made loud noises, while others fired guns and cannons. Only then did the dragon leave. There was a shallow pool of water outside the door, less than a foot deep. The dragon entered the water, rolling its body, covering itself in mud. It struggled to leap into the air but could only rise about a foot above the ground before falling back down. It writhed in the mud and water for three days, with flies gathering on its scales. Then one day, suddenly, a heavy rain began, and the dragon soared into the sky amidst the thunderous sound.
A scholar surnamed Fang and his friend were climbing Niushan Mountain to visit a temple. Suddenly, a yellow brick fell from the rafters, and on the brick, there was a tiny snake, as thin as an earthworm. Suddenly, it turned around once and became as thick as a finger; then it turned around again, and it had already widened like a belt. Everyone was astonished, realizing it was a dragon, and they all ran down the mountain together. Just as they reached the mountainside, they heard a thunderous sound coming from the temple. The sky was covered in dark clouds like a pot lid, and a gigantic dragon was rolling and tumbling freely in the clouds. After a while, it disappeared.
In the village of Xiaoxianggongzhuang in Zhangqiu, a peasant woman was walking in the wilderness when she encountered a strong wind blowing dust and sand into her face. She felt as if one of her eyes had been squinted, causing discomfort similar to having a grain of wheat husk stuck in her eye. She rubbed and blinked, but it didn’t get any better. Upon carefully examining her eyelid, there seemed to be nothing wrong with her eye, except for a red line winding along the boundary between her eyeball and eyelid. Some people said, “This is a dormant dragon.” The peasant woman, filled with both worry and fear, could only wait in despair.
After more than three months had passed, the sky suddenly poured down heavy rain, and with a thunderous clap of lightning, the dragon burst out from her eye socket and flew away. The peasant woman suffered no harm whatsoever.
Yuan Xuan’s account: In Suzhou, on a cloudy day, there was suddenly a loud thunderclap. The onlookers saw a dragon hanging on the edge of the clouds, its scales moving, and it was holding a human head in its claws. Even the person’s facial hair and eyebrows were clearly visible. After a while, the dragon entered the clouds and disappeared. At that time, there were no reports of anyone losing their head.
《龙》
北直界有堕龙入村，其行重拙，入某绅家。其户仅可容躯，塞而入。家人尽奔，登楼哗噪，铳砲轰然，龙乃出。门外停贮潦水，浅不盈尺。龙入，转侧其中，身尽泥涂，极力腾跃，尺馀辄堕。泥蟠三日，蝇集鳞甲。忽大雨，乃霹雳拏空而去。
房生与友人登牛山，入寺游瞩。忽椽间一黄砖堕，上盘一小蛇，细裁如蚓。忽旋一周，如指；又一周，已如带。共惊，知为龙，群趋而下。方至山半，闻寺中霹雳一声，天上黑云如盖，一巨龙夭矫其中，移时而没。
章丘小相公庄，有民妇适野，值大风，尘沙扑面。觉一目眯，如含麦芒，揉之吹之，迄不愈。启睑而审视之，睛固无恙，但有赤线蜿蜒于肉分。或曰：“此蛰龙也。”妇忧惧待死。积三月馀，天暴雨，忽巨霆一声，裂眦而去。妇无少损。
袁宣四言：在苏州值阴晦，霹雳大作。众见龙垂云际，鳞甲张动，爪中抟一人头，须眉毕见，移时，入云而没。亦未闻有失其头者。