The story about the fiery dragon of Lake Baikal, about his brothers in the south and why one should be afraid of him.
Dragon Kings
Most of the peoples of East Asia revere the dragon as one of the most powerful creatures inhabiting the earth. In the culture of China, Korea, Vietnam, there are many legends and myths about them. Moreover, the Asian dragon, unlike the European one, has always been associated with the water element. In many eastern countries, dragon boat races and other festivals in honor of the dragon are still very popular, and the Chinese name for the Amur River (Heilongjiang) means "Black Dragon River".
It is believed that all Asian dragons are descended from Chinese. The Chinese moon (dragon) is more of a positive character than a negative one, but he could be angered. According to tradition, it was believed that there are four dragon kings in the world who were brothers and ruled the seas in all four cardinal directions. The Indian Ocean was considered the Western Sea, the South China Sea as the South, the East China Sea as the East, and Baikal as the North.
Among the Mongolian peoples, which include the Buryats, these mythical dragons were also the patron spirits of various localities, primarily water bodies. In Buryat mythology, the dragon is also the patron saint of Baikal. It is possible that this is one of the brothers of the dragon kings. One of the most ancient legends associated with the lake was composed about him.
Lord of the sacred sea
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According to legend, a fire-breathing deity in the guise of a fairy dragon lives deep in the waters of the lake. It governs all creatures living in Lake Baikal, and the well-being and even the life of the peoples living on the shores of the lake depends on its location. An ancient legend says that as soon as the first stars lit up in the firmament, and then the great Sun rose above the earth for the first time, a golden chariot descended from the sky, from which a fiery dragon emerged. The first blow of its mighty tail parted the rocky mountains and formed a deep crevice. The second blow melted the ice on the peaks, and life-giving waters poured into the rocky basin, forming a great lake. From the third blow, the surroundings were covered with rich vegetation and inhabited by living creatures. After that, the all-powerful dragon went to the lake, which became his new earthly home. Further in this legend, it is said that the fire dragon once in a hundred and twenty years went out on land, and then people who called themselves "the sons of the fire dragon" organized festivities in his honor and made abundant sacrifices to their deity.
However, gradually the peoples began to forget about their benefactor, and one day, once again emerging from the waters of Lake Baikal, the fiery dragon saw that people did not have a trace of his veneration. And then the deity became angry. The earth's firmament shook from the dragon's anger, then the waters of the sacred lake flooded it, destroying all living things around to the Great Ocean itself. And the ungrateful "sons of the fiery dragon" disappeared from the face of the earth. They were replaced by other tribes who no longer had the former greatness and past sacred knowledge …
Bloody sacrifice
Echoes of this legend were reflected in the ritual ceremonies of the Buryats and Mongols up to the first quarter of the 20th century. It is known that the Mongol armies, moving from south to northwest in the XII-XIV centuries, made bloody sacrifices to the Baikal deity, carving out the surrounding villages and dumping the corpses of their inhabitants into the waters of the lake. Thus, the Mongol commanders tried to attract military luck to their side. Until the time of the final development of the Trans-Urals by Russia in the 17th century, the Evenk, Nenets and Yakut princes sent ambassadors with rich gifts to the shores of Lake Baikal, who, having built a boat and placing sacrificial animals, furs and gems on it, sent it sailing on the lake.
Already in the XX century, some scientists have put forward the hypothesis that the legend of the fiery dragon has a real basis. In particular, there is a lot of evidence of fishermen and enthusiastic researchers who allegedly met with an unusual large creature living in Lake Baikal. Echolocation surveys of the lake bottom carried out at the end of the 1980s recorded a large moving object, the length of which was more than thirty meters. However, to date, it has not been possible to document the existence of the legendary fire dragon.
They say that a fiery dragon sometimes comes out of Lake Baikal and arranges monstrous earthquakes, like the one that happened in 1862, when five villages were submerged as payment for disrespect for the ancient spirit.
Who knows, maybe the dragon is still looking with disapproval at what is happening near his house? In this case, he can again demand his bloody sacrifice …