The Hidden Dragon and the Crouching Lion

The Hidden Dragon and the Crouching Lion

Collin Leong. Feb 14, 2016

Chinese New Year is here again this week. This year, in 2016, it's the year of the "red monkey", one of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.  In Chinese mythology, there was a great and ferocious dragon called "Nien" that came out once a year to devour the villagers. A wise monk told the villagers that the dragon can only be scared away by the color red and by loud noises, hence the use of firecrackers. Families wore red and hang red cloth over their door frames. In this way, the dragon Nien will be afraid and pass over them. Thus in Chinese, observing the New Year is called "Guo Nien" which literally means to "Pass over" or to survive the dragon Nien.

Interestingly, there is also a symbolic "dragon" in Christianity. We read this in the book of Revelation 12: 7-9:

"Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."

The passage made it clear that this "dragon" was the devil or Satan. He was around since before the world was created, and was the creature that deceived Eve in the garden of Eden, and is still in the business of deceiving many people in the world. Today, the dragon is often "hidden" so that many are misled by half-truths that he and his angels propagate in our government, society and religion.

Verse 10 of Revelation continued to tell us:

"And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."

It says that the dragon is the "accuser of the brethren," who keeps accusing believers day and night before God about our failure, our sin, about our unworthiness. He wants as many guilty people to be sentenced to hell together with him. Contrary to the Chinese myth, this dragon will not be cowered by loud noises or just any red color. There is only one way to defeat the dragon, which is by the red blood of the lamb - that is, the sacrificial blood of Christ, who died for our sins. The dragon has no power over the protection of Christ's blood. The only noise we are asked to make is our word of testimony of this good news.


The tradition of putting red over the door frame is not unique to the Chinese. Over 3000 years ago, God instructed the Israelite families who were slaves in Egypt to sacrifice lambs and to paint the door frames with their blood. God was about to come and punish the Egyptians for refusing to let the Israelites go free. Any house that has the blood of the lamb on its door was protected. Those that did not have the blood, the life of the first born of every man and animal were taken. This event is called the Jewish "Passover", because death had passed over their house, and the festival is still practiced today.


The lamb represented Jesus, and the bible tells us that the blood of the lamb (Jesus) covers us, removes our sins and make us righteous before God. That’s why the word for righteousness in Mandarin has the symbol of the "lamb" on top of  the word “me”. When God looks down from heaven, He sees the blood over the believer, and as far as God is concerned, the believer is considered righteous because of what Jesus Christ has done for him. That is the only way to destroy the dragon's claim over our lives. 

There is also another animal that is common between Chinese tradition and Christianity. This is the Lion. Many people pay for the Lion dance to grace their place of businesses or their homes. It is supposed to bring luck and to ward off the evil spirits. In Christianity, the Lion describes Jesus Christ when he comes again in the future, as described in Revelation 5:5-7:

'And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne."'

The first time he came 2000 years ago was as a sacrificial lamb described above as "a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain". The next time He comes again, he will come as a Conquering Lion to put right what is wrong in this world. He will capture the dragon and finally to cast him into the Lake of Fire forever.

So as Christians Chinese, when we put a red cloth over our doors or wall, or give out red packets, it means a lot more than just wishing each other luck, but a hope that all believers have in conquering death and to have life eternal, free from evil and sin. The oranges we exchange with each other reminds us that we have been purchased not by mere silver or gold, but by the infinite worth of the blood of the Son of God.

HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR!






The "Lo Hei" tradition:

Preparing the traditional new year salad ("Lo Hei")

Use chopsticks to raise the salad. The higher the luckier!