Vietnamese dragon

Lạc Long Quân, king of the dragonkind living near the Đông sea, married a fairy goddess, Âu Cơ who was the daughter of the birdkind emperor Đế Lai, descendant of Thần Nông.

The first-born son became the king of Lạc Việt, the first dynasty of Vietnam, and proclaimed himself Emperor Hùng Vương.

This is the origin of the Vietnamese proverb: "Con Rồng, cháu Tiên" (Descendants of Dragon and Immortal, lit.

The cat-dragon excavated on a glazed terracotta piece in Bắc Ninh has some features of Đại Việt period dragon: it does not have a crocodile head, its head is shorter and it has a long neck, its wing and backfin are long lines, and its whiskers and fur are found in the Đại Việt dragon image.

On the brick from this period found in Cổ Loa, the dragon is short, with a cat-like body and a fish's backfin.

These dragons rounded bodies curve lithely, in a long sinuous shape, tapering gradually to the tail.

The head, held high, is in proportion with the body, and has a long mane, beard, prominent eyes, crest on nose (pointing forwards), but no horns.

The jaw is opened wide, with a long, thin tongue; the dragons always keep a châu (gem/jewel) in their mouths (a symbol of humanity, nobility and knowledge).

It has stag horns, a lion's nose, exposed canine teeth, regular flash scale, curved whiskers.

"Đầu rồng, đuôi tôm": "A dragon's head but a shrimp's tail" – something which starts well but ends badly.

Hanoi (Vietnamese: Hà Nội), the capital of Vietnam, was known in ancient times as Thăng Long (Chữ Hán: 昇龍 (from Thăng 昇, meaning "to grow, to develop, to rise, to fly, or to ascend" and Long 龍, meaning "dragon")); the capital is still referred to by this name in literature.

In 1010, Emperor Lý Thái Tổ moved the capital from Hoa Lư to Đại La, which decision was explained in his Chiếu dời đô (Royal proclamation of moving capital): he saw a Rồng vàng (golden dragon) fly around on the clear blue sky, so he changed the name of Đại La to Thăng Long, meaning "Vietnam's bright and developed future".