本文是考察中國區域龍和龍珠圖像及相關問題。雖然中國龍圖年代久遠，但表現龍和龍珠的圖像組合卻要晚到南北朝六世紀時才能見到。與龍匹配的龍珠是來自佛教的摩尼寶珠，所以摩尼寶珠和龍的圖像即俗稱龍搶珠或龍戲珠圖，是漢化了的外國寶物滲入中國傳統圖紋的結果，之後漸次成為王朝最高規格且經常被賦予政治意涵的祥瑞。龍在宋代是趙姓皇室的守護神，由於宋帝的龍連帶地也將鳳視為帝后的象徵，而做為佛國寶物之一的寶珠到了元代被納入藏密八寶（八吉祥）之中，甚至可以和龍戲珠一同被表現在同一件工藝品之上。

This article investigates the iconographies of the dragon and the dragon pearl in China and questions arising from them. Despite the long history of the image of the dragon in China, the iconographic combination of the dragon and the dragon pearl only started to appear as late as in the sixth century during the Northern and Southern dynasties. The dragon pearl motif paired with a dragon derives from cintāmaṇi (Mani, or Mani jewel) in Buddhism. Thus, the iconography of cintāmaṇi combined with a dragon, commonly referred to as dragons chasing a pearl or dragons playing with a pearl, is the result of sinicized exotic treasures morphed into traditional Chinese motifs which further became the most high-profile auspicious omen of imperial dynasties, often endowed with political connotations. During the Song Dynasty, the dragon was the guardian of the House of Zhao and in particular of the emperors, while the phoenix was considered the symbol of the empresses. As the treasure in Buddha-kshetra, cintāmaṇi was incorporated during the Yuan dynasty in Ashtamangala, the eight treasures in Tibetan Buddhism, and could even appear together with dragons pursuing a pearl on the same object.

龍; 龍珠; 摩尼寶珠; 八寶; 八吉祥; 地理新書

dragon; dragon pearl; chintamani (Mani, or Mani jewel); eight treasures; Ashtamangala; dili xinshu