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The Chinese word for "dragon" is spelled out in roman characters as either lung or long. In China, the dragon was credited with having great powers that allowed it to make rain and to control floods (by striking the river with its tail, causing it to open and thus divert the floodwaters). dragons transported humans to the celestial realms after death; this belief was so prominent that "to mount the dragon" became a euphemism for dying.

The dragon was described visually as a composite of parts from nine animals: the horns of a deer; the head of a camel; the eyes of a devil; the neck of a snake; the abdomen of a large cockle; the scales of a carp; the claws of an eagle; the paws of a tiger; and the ears of an ox.

The emperor, his sons, high-ranking princes, and high officials who had been rewarded for their duties were permitted to wear robes decorated with five-clawed dragons called long. Other princes, and noblemen of the third and fourth rank, wore robes decorated with four-clawed dragons called mang. Three-clawed dragons decorated the robes worn by fifth-rank officials and selected worthies.

Abstract ideas, hopes, and feelings have traditionally been expressed in China by physical objects. These symbols come from ancient Chinese folklore, philosophy, and religion, or may arise out of visual puns. The popularity of the bat motif, for instance, is based on its association with the word for happiness, which is pronounced in the same way as the word for bat. The Chinese language has many such rebuses that contribute to the rich symbolism of these robes.

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