I'm doing a bit of research for a little Chinese New Years kids party we are having this weekend and I'm not sure why dragons are chasing orbs? If anyone can give me a Chinese Dragon Symbolism 101, that'd be great.
My research did turn up a cool link between dragons and dinosaurs that I hadn't considered before. The Chinese had discovered dinosaur bones 3,000 years ago, called them dragons and created cool mythologies about them. Even to this day, some cures and tonics call for ground up "dragon bones" and believe that that dinosaur fossils carry curative powers when ingested.
Maybe that's why many cultures have their own concept of dragons--that they've all bumped into these bones at some point in the past.
The idea that dinosaurs were discovered 300 years ago simply tracks the modern western awareness of these amazing beasts.
