Dragons loom large in Chinese folklore and mythology, and the Bok Kai Festival has included a dragon in the parade as far back as 1900.

In contrast to the fire-breathing, evil dragons in European legends, Chinese dragons traditionally symbolize positive power. Dragons are strongly connected to water in Chinese folklore, exerting control over rivers, waterfalls and oceans, and with the power to create or prevent floods. So dragons are especially appropriate to be associated with celebrations of Bok Kai (Bok Eye) since he is considered the god of the river.

 

At right: The 1900 Bok Kai Dragon, Gum Lung, also known as Moo Lung

 

 

The number nine, the largest single digit, is considered to be very lucky in Chinese tradition, and Chinese dragons are frequently connected with the number nine. Chinese dragons have 117 scales, of which 81 (9x9) are yang and 36 (9x4) are yin. There are nine forms of the dragon; each dragon has nine attributes and nine children. Nine was also considered the number associated with the Emperor, so only the most senior court officials were allowed to wear nine dragons on their robes. A number of places around the world are name nine dragons, the best known being Kowloon (Cantonese for "Nine Dragons"), in Hong Kong.