A colorful dragon display with its body coiled into five arches lights up the night. [Photo by LIU LANYING for China Daily]

Kick off the Year of the Dragon (龙年, lóng nián) with some useful Chinese "chengyu (成语,chéng yǔ)" about this mythical creature

The Year of the Dragon has always been one of China's favorite years. As one of the country's most beloved zodiac animals (十二生肖,shí èr shēng xiào), loong, or Chinese dragons have been seen as symbols of the nation since ancient times. Chinese people often refer to themselves as "descendants of loongs (龙的传人,lóng de chuán rén)."

In traditional Chinese culture, Chinese dragons are powerful divine beasts (神兽,shén shòu), symbolizing authority, nobility, and good fortune. Many believe being born in the year of the dragon will bring them good luck. The belief is pervasive; China often experiences higher birth rates (出生率,chū shēng lǜ) in dragon years.

Over centuries, Chinese dragon (龙lóng) stories have formed dozens of chengyu, and Chinese idioms normally consist of four characters (四字成语, sì zì chéng yǔ). Most of these idioms including Chinese dragons are positive (正面的,zhèng miàn de), often describing a person's outstanding appearance, status, or abilities.

For example, a talented or powerful individual is often referred to as a "loong among humans (人中之龙,rén zhōng zhī lóng)." The leader of an excellent team may be hailed as the "head of a group of loongs (群龙之首,qún lóng zhī shǒu)," and parents' great ambitions for their children are encapsulated in the term "expect the child to become a loong (望子成龙,wàng zǐ chéng lóng)." Here are a few more dragon idioms and their fascinating stories.

乘龙快婿 The ideal son-in-law can ride a loong

Scholar of the Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) Liu Xiang (刘向,liú xiàng) coined another loong-related chengyu in his

Biographies of Immortals (《列仙传》,liè xiān zhuàn), where he recounts a romantic tale. Liu wrote how Nongyu (弄玉,nòng yù), a daughter of Duke Mu of the State of Qin in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), fell in love with a young man named Xiao Shi (萧史,xiāo shǐ). Nongyu played beautiful music on the sheng (笙,shēng), a reed pipe instrument, while Xiao was skillful with the xiao (箫,xiāo), a traditional Chinese flute.

After their marriage, they spent their days making heavenly music together in the Phoenix Tower (凤凰台,fèng huáng tái), which Duke Mu had built for them. Their tunes were so stunning that they attracted phoenixes to the couple and, one day, in a moment of musical magic, they each mounted magical birds and ascended heaven together, achieving immortality.

Liu's initial text had no mention of loongs, but later retellings of the story said that Nongyu rode a phoenix and Xiao rode a dragon up to heaven. The phrase "the ideal son-in-law rides a loong (chéng lóng kuài xù)" remains widely used today to express admiration for someone else's son-in-law (女婿,nǚ xù).

eg.

This must be your loong-riding son-in-law! What a charming young man!

Zhè jiù shì nín de chéng lóng kuài xù ba! Guǒ rán yī biǎo rén cái!

这就是您的乘龙快婿吧！果然一表人才！