# Why do Chinese & Japanese dragons have nose-tendrils? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623 "2012-07-08T20:19:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/1 "2012-07-08T20:19:37Z")
Chinese and Japanese dragons are always portrayed with a long tendril appended to each side of the snout or muzzle. Looks kinda like a mustache, but not much. Where did they get that idea from, the [tentacled snake](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erpeton_tentaculatum)? Probably not, it’s not native to either country, it’s found in Thailand, Vietnam, etc. Are there any theories? ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/2 "2012-07-08T20:24:46Z")
To me they always looked like tendrils from a catfish. There are species of those native to China. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/3 "2012-07-08T20:58:26Z")
I always thought they were whiskers of some sort, but I got no evidence or facts whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Sinisterniik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Sinisterniik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinisterniik)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/4 "2012-07-08T21:02:13Z")
From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Like these other Asian dragons, most Japanese ones are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. I think **listedmia** is on the right track. While Western dragons are winged lizards, Eastern dragons are more fish-like. Think Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/5 "2012-07-08T21:03:28Z")
Because dragons have those in real life. Someone had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/6 "2012-07-08T21:30:51Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > From Wikipedia: > I think **listedmia** is on the right track. While Western dragons are winged lizards, Eastern dragons are more fish-like. Think Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. The wings are hardly ubiquitous in Western dragon design; while they often appeared on Welsh dragons, the Norse dragon was wingless, as we other European dragons. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/7 "2012-07-08T22:49:32Z")
I always thought of them as catfish whiskers. One of the first stories I remember about “Asian” dragons was one dragon was the spirit of a river, and he shapeshifted between being a non-corporeal part of the river itself, a big fish in the river, his dragon form, and the form of a young man. I think it was some variant on the “catch and release the magic fish for a prize or reward” story, with a little bit of a love story mixed in there somehow. Since the dragon was part of the river, and the illustration of him as a fish showed him as a catfish-type of fish (with those same whiskers) then I just figured that’s what it was. He looked sort of like [that](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HDWYJYulSM4/T13N24XrTSI/AAAAAAAAOsE/bEXdpMmxdTs/s640/wels-catfish.jpg) as a fish. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/8 "2012-07-09T01:00:54Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > From Wikipedia: > I think **listedmia** is on the right track. While Western dragons are winged lizards, Eastern dragons are more fish-like. Think Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. The dragon in _Spirited Away_ had **fur.** Not very fish-like. Not even seal-like, more like a cat’s or dog’s fur. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/9 "2012-07-09T01:08:01Z")
According to Wiki, [the Chinese dragon is a sort of composite creature:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_dragon#Mythical_creature) > [@](#): > > From its origins as totems or the stylized depiction of natural creatures, the Chinese dragon evolved to become a mythical animal. The Han Dynasty scholar Wang Fu recorded Chinese myths that long dragons had nine anatomical resemblances. > > > [@](#): > > > > The people paint the dragon’s shape with a horse’s head and a snake’s tail. Further, there are expressions as ‘three joints’ and ‘nine resemblances’ (of the dragon), to wit: from head to shoulder, from shoulder to breast, from breast to tail. These are the joints; as to the nine resemblances, they are the following: his horns resemble those of a stag, his head that of a camel, his eyes those of a demon, his neck that of a snake, his belly that of a clam (shen, 蜃), his scales those of a carp, his claws those of an eagle, his soles those of a tiger, his ears those of a cow. Upon his head he has a thing like a broad eminence (a big lump), called [chimu] (尺木). If a dragon has no [chimu], he cannot ascend to the sky.[11] > > Further sources give variant lists of the nine animal resemblances. Sinologist Henri Doré lists these characteristics of an authentic dragon: “The horns of a deer. The head of a camel. A demon’s eyes. The neck of a snake. A tortoise’s viscera. A hawk’s claws. The palms of a tiger. A cow’s ears. And it hears through its horns, its ears being deprived of all power of hearing.”[12] He notes that, “Others state it has a rabbit’s eyes, a frog’s belly, a carp’s scales.” The anatomy of other legendary creatures, including the chimera and manticore, is similarly amalgamated from fierce animals. But, nothing about the nose-tendrils. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/10 "2012-07-09T01:23:56Z")
On [this one,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ThreeToeDragon.jpg) the tendrils are erect and project forward. ---
**Author:** ![Sinisterniik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Sinisterniik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinisterniik)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/11 "2012-07-09T02:44:07Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > …more like a cat’s or dog’s fur. [Tangent.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWnW-OuggoE) ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/12 "2012-07-09T02:49:30Z")
The Chinese Dragon is closely associated with carp. Some, such as the Yu Lung, are literally carp that turn into dragon, others are the descendants of carp and others just have carp features such as scales. One of the most notable features of koi (oriental carp) are two [fleshy barbels](https://www.google.com/search?q=carp%20barbels&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=uUL6T7PtHrHBiQf_-4DuBg&biw=1173&bih=771&sei=1EL6T7bUB_CaiAft5OH9Bg) forming a [moustache-like structure](http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Minnow44.jpg)on the upper lip. When the mouth is held open the[barbels point forwards](http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a04/cj/2s/what-food-do-carp-eat-800x800.jpg) as in **BrainGlutton** ’s picture. These barbels have commonly been transferred to images of dragons. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/13 "2012-07-09T17:14:02Z")
But that’s like asking why Bugs Bunny can talk. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/14 "2012-07-09T17:20:20Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > But that’s like asking why Bugs Bunny can talk. Not really, Bugs Bunny can talk because a small handful of his creators said that him talking would work well for their property. Eastern Dragons (and anything else in folklore) have traits collectively decided upon and codified by millions of people over the course of history. Asking “why” on either of them is a perfectly fine question (there might be a good, interesting production reason why Bugs isn’t a silent character), but asking the question about folklore says important things about the consciousness of the culture it comes from. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/15 "2012-07-09T19:36:59Z")
Dragons live in the clouds and are associated with rain. Sometimes they’re golden. It’s seemed probable to me for years that dragons are inspired at least in part by lightning, and may be viewed as lightning made flesh. Those tendrils and excresences on its body that resemble those of carp and other creatures are, to my mind, a way of interpreting the branching nature of lightning. There are other figures in Western art and myth that are similar to this. But the Western dragon seems to be a very different beast. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-chinese-japanese-dragons-have-nose-tendrils/627623/16 "2012-07-09T20:58:35Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > [Tangent.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWnW-OuggoE) Bakshi’s Smaug was a dragon with fur. His head looked like a wolf’s.