Dragon pillars
Dragon pillars are common to be seen in Chinese temples because Dragons themselves are regarded as gods by Chinese. Besides, the beautiful sculptures of dragon patters on the pillars are the important decoration for Chinese temples. Dragon pillars must be strong enough to support the whole temples so they are often made of stone, brazen, marble or concrete. In Chinese Religion, if people come to temples for making wishes and then their wishes come true. They must do something for the temples in
return for gods’ Blessing. Some of them may hire artisans to sculpt dragon pillars for the temples. But it costs a lot to do so. Therefore, only the rich ones (also with high reputation) can afford it.
In many Chinese shrines, in addition to dragon pillars, visitors can see Dragons on many places like the ridgepoles, wall beams,
walls, the Incense burner, the eaves of temples and so on. It is because Chinese think Dragons can protect the temple and people. In Taiwan, Lungshan temple is one of the temples that worship Dragon King. The vivid and elegant images of Dragons have become the important features of Chinese temples. We went to many Chinese temples to take the pictures of Chinese Dragons. Each of them is so different and beautiful. Here we have a photo gallery about Chinese Dragons in Chinese temples!
