The Sacredness of Water in China and Japan: The Dragon as a Divine Mediator

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/ecao.105709
Keywords: mythology, religion, dragon, symbology, mythocriticism

Abstract

This paper examines water as a sacred element present in the mythical and religious imagery of the ancient cultures of China and Japan taking the symbol of the dragon as analytical subject. Through a mythological and comparative analysis, the study proposes an examination of the sacredness of water considering its symbolic function, the role of the dragon as a sacred manifestation in the profane sphere and as a mediator between the divine and human realms, and the relationship between the sacredness of water and the dragon as an instrumentalized mechanism for political legitimation. This study seeks to validate the application of Western mythocritical approaches in Asian corpuses.

Author Biography

Alba Medina García, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Alba Medina García holds a degree in Modern Languages from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (2018–2022), where she specialized in Chinese language and culture. She later completed a Master’s Degree in Teaching Spanish and Its Culture at the same university (2022–2023), which allowed her to deepen her knowledge of the didactic and cultural aspects of Spanish as a foreign language.

She is currently a PhD candidate in the Doctoral Programme in Linguistic and Literary Studies in Their Sociocultural Contexts (DeLLCOS), also at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Her main research interest lies in comparative mythology, with a particular focus on the dialogue between Chinese and Greek traditions, exploring their similarities, divergences, and cultural meanings.

Throughout her academic career, she has worked on topics related to symbolism, identity, and mythology from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining linguistic, anthropological, literary, and cultural approaches.

View Citations

Format

Crossmark

Metrics

Published
2026-09-28
How to Cite
Medina García, A., & Pérez de Amézaga Torres, A. (2026). The Sacredness of Water in China and Japan: The Dragon as a Divine Mediator. Estudios Complutenses de Asia Oriental, 2(2), e105709. https://doi.org/10.5209/ecao.105709
Issue
Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026)
Section
Culturas de Asia

License

In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Estudios Complutense de Asia Orienta is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.