The Chinese Dragon

The subject of this little book [1923] is of general interest to people who are acquainted with things Chinese. The dragon has played a large part in Chinese thought through four thousand and more years…. The author is peculiarly fitted to undertake this piece of work. He was born in China and speaks the Chinese language as a native. Thus, he has had the first-hand knowledge and the language to help him in his study. He has been studying on the subject of the dragon for fourteen years. In this time, he has traveled over more than one half the number of provinces of China…. The author’s acquaintance with the people and the language of China have made it possible for him to go to original sources and to study the subject from every angle. (Introduction)
The son of American missionaries, Luther Newton Hayes was born in 1883, in Soochow, China. He received a B.S. from Wooster College in 1905 and an M.A. from Princeton University in 1907. For the next twenty-five years, Hayes worked in China, mostly with the YMCA. The book is replete with illustrations. This recording adds their descriptions at the end of each chapter. - Summary by Book Introduction and David Wales (1 hr 16 min)