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This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided no alterations are made and the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder.
Cover illustration: Archaic Chinese jade in Huang form (玉璜), possibly from Eastern Zhou (ca. 770–221 BCE), depicting a dragon with prevalent cloud motif on the body in the form of a (double) rainbow. The Chang-Blust Collection. Photograph by Matthew Fox at Lark Mason Associates, New York, N.Y.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Blust, R. A., author.
Title: The dragon and the rainbow : man’s oldest story / by Robert Blust.
Description: Boston : Brill, [2023] | Series: Ancient languages and civilizations, 2667-3770 ; volume 5 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023028737 (print) | LCCN 2023028738 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004678293 (hardback : acid-free paper) | ISBN 9789004678309 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Dragons–Folklore. | Rainbows–Mythology.
Classification: LCC GR830.D7 B58 2023 (print) | LCC GR830.D7 (ebook) | DDC 398.24/54–dc23/eng/20230725
LC record available at
LC ebook record available at
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download:
ISSN 2667-3770
ISBN 978-90-04-67829-3 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-67830-9 (e-book)
Copyright 2023 by Robert Blust. Published by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Brill Wageningen Academic, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau and V&R unipress.
Koninklijke Brill NV reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use.
This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.