Dragon, the Phoenix, & the Beautiful Pearl: A Chinese Dragon Spirit Myth
visit us at www abdopublishing com Published by Magic Wagon a division of the ABDO Group PO Box 398166 Edina MN 55439 Copyright 2014 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher Short Tales is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 102013 012014 This book contains at least 10 recycled materials Adapted Text by Anita Yasuda Illustrations by Jok Edited by Stephanie Hedlund and Rochelle Baltzer Interior Layout by Renée LaViolette Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Yasuda Anita The dragon the phoenix and the beautiful pearl a Chinese dragon spirit myth adapted by Anita Yasuda illustrated by Jok pages cm Short tales Chinese myths ISBN 978 1 62402 030 8 1 Tales China Juvenile literature 2 Mythology Chinese Juvenile literature 3 Dragons China Folklore Juvenile literature 4 Phoenix Mythical bird Folk lore Juvenile literature 5 Xi Wang Mu Taoist deity Juvenile literature I Jok Artist illustrator II Title GR335 Y375 2014 398 20951 0454 dc23 2013025309
MYTHICAL CREATURES 5 DRAGON Best friend to the phoenix PHOENIX Best friend to the dragon CELESTIAL RIVER The Milky Way XI WANG MU QUEEN MOTHER OF THE WEST The goddess of immortality Note The Chinese names in this book use the pinyin system to represent the Chinese language in English
INTRODUCTION The Dragon the Phoenix and the Beautiful Pearl is an adaptation of the traditional Chinese folktale The Bright Pearl Its origin is unknown In this version a dragon and a phoenix find a beautiful stone that they carve into a pearl The light from the pearl is so bright that it attracts the attention of the goddess Xi Wang Mu She then wants to own it The goddess Xi Wang Mu is known by many names including Queen Mother of the Western Heavens and Queen Mother of the West By her palace was said to grow golden peaches that could make a person live forever Many classical Chinese tales feature dragons and phoenixes They have been an important part of Chinese culture for thousands of years Along with the tortoise and the unicorn they were thought to guard one of the four cardinal points north south east and west In mythology the dragon and the phoenix symbolized good luck The dragon was thought to be a gentle creature that brought rain to the people Later it represented the emperor The phoenix's image stood for the empress and symbolized peace
Once there was a band of light that lit up the night sky It was called the Celestial River Here lived two very special creatures They were the Golden Phoenix and the Jade Dragon
