Yong (Mireu)

Character Profile

Name Yong 

Other names Mireu , ryong

Type/Species Snake-like dragon, hybrid creature, scaly creature, the god.

Size Huge 

Capacity Bringing rain and cloud 

Color blue, red, yellow, green, or brown

Subtype(s) Yong wang

Parents Unknown

Children Eggs

Activity cycle Unknown 

Diet Mammals 

Origin Korean mythology 

Terrain The water

A sky dragon, essentially the same as the Chinese lóng. Like the lóng, yong and the other Korean dragons are associated with water and weather. In pure Korean, it is also known as ‘mireu’.

Appearance:

In Korean, dragons are known as “yong” or “ryong.” In appearance, they can have deer antlers, a snake belly, a fish tail, claws, and whiskers. They can also be a number of colours like blue, red, yellow, green, or brown.

The Korean Yong is a long thin dragon making it a subspecies of the Asian Long. They are narrower and longer than Chinese Long and can also be distinguished by having 4 toes relative to a Long’s 5 or Ryu’s 3 and can also be noted to have larger scales than other species and fewer spines.

Another thing that differentiates Korean dragons from other dragons is that they have longer beards. Also, you’ll usually see a Korean dragon with an orb, which is known as a “Yeouiju – 여의주” in Korean. This is a Cintamani, or wish-fulfilling jewel. It can be held in its claws or mouth. It’s believed that whoever holds a Yeouiju has the power of omnipotence and creation. Another feature that differentiates Korean dragons is that they have four toes to hold and wield the Yeouiju, as opposed to lesser three-toed dragons.

Personality:

Unlike the western idea of dragons, which are thought to be destructive and harmful, dragons in Korea are thought to be a sign of good luck. In fact, dragons are thought to be the bearer of good fortunate and spiritual clarity because of their loud voices. Their voices clear away any and all delusions of corrupting thought. In Korea, dragons are said to have power over the sea, floods, and storms. And specifically in Buddhism, they are thought to be one of eight kinds of protective deities that help guard the teachings of the Buddha (the dharma).

Intelligence:

Ancient texts sometimes mention the Young are speaking dragons, capable of understanding complex emotions such as devotion, kindness, and gratitude.

Interactions:

They are like blue, red, yellow, green, or brown in color with a white mane and whiskers while their eggs are colored white like a Long’s but unlike a Long’s turn golden upon contact with water. The young will hatch while the egg is underwater and will be mainly aquatic for many years. Even when adult the Yong will never stray far from water and will make a nest in a cave or crater near a volcanic spring as they rely upon for heat in winter.

They mainly eat small mammals, especially musk deer, which they constrict after hypnotising it with a peculiar mixture of a strange swaying dance and a call which starts of like a yodel and falls to a low drone. If its normal prey is not available it will eat fish then waterfowl.

Legend:

Generally regarded as a celestial and powerful creature, the Korean Yong has been deified and worshipped by the Korean people. They have called them “Yong wang”, or the dragon kings. In Korean legend, they are said to control the three seas that surround the Korean Peninsula.

The Koreans believe that dragons started off in Korea and when they left the numbers of toes changed. They also believed that most Korean Yong originally were Imugis which the Imugis got their power from the sun god and the power flowed through a human girl who would change into an Imugi on her 17th birthday. It also said that the girl would have a dragon-shaped mark on her shoulder, revealing that she was an Imugi in human form which is why they are active in the day.