The Dragon King has been regarded as holding dominion over all bodies of water,[a] and the dispenser of rain,[3] in rituals practiced into the modern era in China.

[6] Within the Daoist pantheon, the Dragon King is regarded the zoomorphic representation of the yang masculine power of generation.

The name Wufang longwang (五方龍王, "Dragon Kings of the Five Regions/Directions") is registered in Daoist scripture from the Tang dynasty, found in the Dunhuang caves.

[8] It has also been conflated with the cult of Lord Earth, Tugong (Tudigong), and inscriptions on tablets invoke the Wufang wutu longshen (五方五土龍神, "Dragon Spirits of the Five Directions and Five Soils") in rituals current in Southeast Asia (Vietnam).

[d][18] Attributed to Po-Srimitra, it is a pretended translation, or "apocryphal sutra" (post-canonical text),[16][19] but its influence on later rituals (relating to entombment) is not dismissable.

[23] During the Tang period, the dragon kings were also regarded as guardians that safeguard homes and pacify tombs, in conjunction with the worship of Lord Earth.

[24] Buddhist rainmaking ritual learned Tang dynasty China by The concept was transmitted to Japan alongside esoteric Buddhism,[e] and also practiced as rites in Onmyōdō during the Heian Period.

[25][26] The idea of associating the five directions/regions (wufang; 五方) with the five colors is found in Confucian classic text,[28] The Huainanzi (2nd cent.

[34] The apocryphal[19] Foshuo guanding jing (佛說灌頂經; "Consecration Sūtra Expounded by the Buddha" early 4th century, attributed to Po-Srimitra 帛尸梨蜜多羅), which purports to be Buddhist teachings but in fact incorporates elements of Chinese traditional belief,[35] associates five dragon kings with five colored dragons with five directions, as aforementioned.

The thrust of this scripture is that in everywhere in every direction, there are the minions causing poisonings and ailments, and their lord the dragon kings must be beseeched in prayer to bring relief.

[17][36] Though connection of poison to rainmaking may not be obvious, it has been suggested that this poison-banishing sutra could have viably been read as a replacement in the execution of the ritual to pray for rain (shōugyōhō, 請雨経法), in Japan.

[40] An ancient procedural instruction for invoking five-colored dragons to conduct rainmaking rites occurs in the Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, under its "Seeking Rain" chapter (originally 2nd century B.C.).

They appear in the classical novels like The Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West, where each of them has a proper name, and they share the surname Ao (敖, meaning "playing" or "proud").

As already mentioned, Esoteric Buddhists in Japan who initially learned their trade from Tang dynasty China engaged in rainmaking ritual prayers invoking dragon kings under a system known as shōugyōhō [ja] or shōugyō [no] hō, established in the Shingon sect founded by the priest Kūkai, who learned Buddhism in Tang China.

[46][47][48] The other one was a "spread-out mandala”(shiki mandara 敷曼荼羅) laid flat out on its back, and depicted five dragon kings, which were one-, three-, five-, seven-, and nine-headed (based on the Collected Dhāraṇī Sūtras).

[54] Some Buddhist traditions describe a figure named Duo-luo-shi-qi or Talasikhin as a Dragon King who lives in a palace located in a pond near the legendary kingdom of Ketumati.