Longmu.
Longmu, the Mother of Dragons, was a Chinese woman who was deified as a goddess after raising five infant dragons.
Longmu and her dragons developed a strong bond for each other, and have thus become an example of filial devotion and parental love, an important virtue in Chinese culture.
Overview[]
Longmu was born in 290 BC (during the Qin Dynasty) in Guangdong province, near the Xi River. She frequently went to the Xi River to fish and wash clothes for her family. On one such errand, she found a large smooth white stone along the banks of the river. She took the beautiful stone home, but later discovered that the stone was actually an egg, from which hatched five baby snakes.
Longmu's family was poor, but she saved the best food she had for her baby snakes and fed them by hand. As the snakes grew, they helped Longmu catch fish at the Xi River. The snakes were natural swimmers and became very good at catching fish.
The snakes eventually matured into five powerful dragons, with these dragons being among the first Eastern dragons. Dragons are considered spirits of water, and have the power to control the weather; during a drought, therefore, Longmu asked her dragon children to summon the rain for her village. When rain came and ended the drought, the grateful villagers gave Longmu the name "Mother of Dragons" or "Divine Human".