龍

See also 龙, and 竜

Translingual

Stroke order

shinjitai	竜
simplified	龙
traditional	龍

Etymology

Originally a serpent with prominent whiskered mouth and eyes, alternatively interpreted (in oracle script) as a crown (王).

Current form developed in large seal script, with serpent’s body on right (tail at upper right, legs on right), whiskered/fanged mouth at lower left, and eyes/crown at upper left. Left side was subsequently simplified and abstracted, with some influence of 立 and ⺼/月. Note that 竜 existed as a traditional variant dating back to large seal script, and figures a dragon seen face-on, rather than curled around.

Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Han character

龍 (radical 212 龍+0, 16 strokes, cangjie input 卜月卜尸心 (YBYSP), four-corner 0121₁)

1. dragon
2. symbolic of the emperor

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/龍
• 瓏, 蘢, 嚨, 籠, 㰍, 櫳, 曨, 朧, 寵, 襱, 礱, 瀧, 豅, 聾, 蠪, 壟, 隴, 襲

Descendants

• 竜 龙

References

• KangXi: page 1536, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 48818
• Dae Jaweon: page 2076, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 7, page 4803, character 1
• Unihan data for U+9F8D

---

Cantonese

Hanzi

龍 (simplified 龙, jyutping lung4, Yale lung4)

---

Hakka

Hanzi

龍 (POJ lîung, Guangdong liung²; liung², lung² [Bao'an], lung² [Dongguan], Hagfa Pinyim liung2, lung2)

References

• CCDICT (Chineselanguage.org)
• Academia Sinica - Hakka-English Dictionary
• Lau, Chun-fat. Hakka Pinyin Dictionary (Chinese). Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1997 (Chinese IME supplement) ISBN 962-201-750-9.

---

Japanese

Noun

龍 (hiragana たつ, romaji tatsu)

1. dragon
   • 931-938: Wamyō Ruijushō (book 8 page 1)

     龍 文字集畧云、龍、力鍾反、太都、○下總本有和名二字、神代紀齋明紀同訓、按太都 [...]

龍 (hiragana りゅう, romaji ryū)

1. dragon

Proper noun

龍 (hiragana りゅう, romaji Ryū)

1. A male given name
2. A surname.

Kanji

龍 (uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

Readings

• On: りゅう (ryū), ろう (rō)
• Kun: たつ (tatsu)

Usage notes

Kyūjitai; simplified into 竜 as isolated shinjitai kanji, but used in Jōyō characters 襲 and 籠 (latter Jōyō as of 2010).

References

• 1968 May 24 [931-938], Shitagō Minamoto; Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu, Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, ISBN 4-653-00507-9:

---

Korean

Hanja

龍 (hangeul 룡>용, 롱>농, 방, revised ryong>yong, rong>nong, bang, McCune-Reischauer ryong>yong, rong>nong, pang, Yale lyong>yong, long>nong, pang)

---

Mandarin

Hanzi

龍 (simplified 龙, pinyin lóng (long2), Wade-Giles lung²),

Compounds

龍船 龍膽 龍膽紫 龍燈 龍飛鳳舞 龍鳳餅 龍肝鳳膽 龍宮 龍井 龍卷風 龍口 龍口奪糧 龍口奪食

龍馬精神 龍門 龍門刨 龍門吊 龍門陣 龍腦樹 龍盤虎踞 (lóng pán hǔ jù) 龍袍 龍山文化 龍舌草 龍舌蘭 (lóngshélán) 龍蛇飛動 龍蛇飛舞

龍蛇混雜 龍生九子 龍潭虎穴 龍套 龍騰虎躍 龍體 龍頭 (lóngtóu) 龍頭蛇尾 龍王 龍王廟 龍舞 龍蝦 (lóngxiā) 龍涎香

龍驤虎步 (lóng xiāng hǔbù) 龍行虎步 (lóng xíng hǔ bù) 龍須菜 龍須草 龍須面 龍牙草 龍眼 (lóngyǎn) 龍吟虎嘯 龍爭虎斗 龍鐘 龍舟 恐龍 (kǒng lóng)

---

Middle Chinese

Han character

龍 (*liong)

---

Vietnamese

Han character

龍 (long)