There are many opinions about the origin of the image of the dragon. One says it belongs to a crocodile, the other says it belongs to a snake, and some people think it belongs to a pig. Some people even say that the earliest dragon was lightning in the sky when it rained. At present, most experts believe that the dragon is a totem complex with snakes as the main body. It has snake body, pig head, antlers, ox ears, sheep whiskers, eagle claws and fish scales, which constitute the dragon totem.
As a totem, the dragon is different from the general totem. It is not a single animal, but a collection of many animals, which highlights the great national spirit and thought of the Chinese nation. The earliest gods in ancient mythology were not people, but animal totems. Primitive people can't distinguish the boundaries between human beings and animals, and think that an animal is its own ancestor and protector. This is a totem. Totem, as the ancestor and symbol of clan and tribe, is generally a single animal. When a clan and tribe have a merger war, the victors often destroy their totems after capturing each other, and the newly generated tribe still has a single totem.