The Dragon and the Dragon Pearl

This questions arising from them. Despite the long history of the image of the dragon in China, the iconographic combination of the dragon and the dragon pearl only started to appear as late as in the sixth century during the Northern and Southern dynasties. The dragon pearl motif paired with a dragon derives from cintama.i (Mani, or Mani jewel) in Buddhism. Thus, the iconography of cintama.i combined with a dragon, commonly referred to as dragons chasing a pearl or dragons playing with a pearl, is the result of sinicized exotic treasures morphed into traditional Chinese motifs which further became the most high-profile auspicious omen of imperial dynasties, often endowed with political connotations. During the Song Dynasty, the dragon was the guardian of the House of Zhao and in particular of the emperors, while the phoenix was considered the symbol of the empresses. As the treasure in Buddha-kshetra, cintama.i was incorporated during the Yuan dynasty in Ashtamangala, the eight treasures in Tibetan Buddhism, and could even appear together with dragons pursuing a pearl on the same object.