The artistic transformation of animal figures in Chinese mythology

In addition to being a journey from nothing to everything, Chinese Mythology is similar to a great dream cloud whose origin is very ancient, where the mundane is synthesized with surreal phenomena and raised to the level of exaltation. The cloud that an almighty dragon pours rain from is one of the great riches of the people also who look up to the sky with prayers on their lips and open palms. But are the dragons really frightening monsters that keeps the princess captive? Does the phoenix wings symbolize posthumous punishment? Is Qilin the Bambi? Are tigers just some brutal predators? What do shíshīs prevent by standing outside of the doors? In this study; some of the animals in Chinese Mythology are examined and the meanings of the mentioned creatures are referred with detailes by researching the artworks containing the images of these animals and mythological creatures. Based on this, both the technical and symbolic changes of the images in the Chinese artworks produced throughout history were presented. In the findings and discussion section, animal images in Chinese mythology are discussed in my studies together with Chinese culture.