Meanings
"Jiao < *kǒg 蛟 is defined with more meanings than any other Chinese draconym", writes Carr (1990:126), "(1) 'aquatic dragon', (2) 'crocodile; alligator', (3) 'hornless dragon', (4) 'dragoness', (5) 'scaled dragon', ( 6 ) 'shark', and (7) 'mermaid'."
In some textual usages, differentiating these jiao meanings is problematic. For instance, jiaolong 蛟龍 can be parsed as two kinds of dragons or one. Some contrastive contexts clearly use the former meaning "jiao and long dragons"; the Zhuangzi (17, tr. Watson 1968:185) parallels "the sea serpent or the dragon" with "the rhinoceros or the tiger." The latter meaning of "jiao dragon" is evident from usages such as the Guanzi (1, tr. Visser 1913:77), "The kiao-lung is the god of the water animals. If he rides on the water, his soul is in full vigour, but when he loses water (if he is deprived of it), his soul declines. Therefore I (or they) say: 'If a kiao-lung gets water, his soul can be in full vigour'."
Schafer notes the problems with translating jiao as "dragon".
The word "dragon" has already been appropriated to render the broader term lung. "Kraken" is good since it suggests a powerful oceanic monster. … We might name the kău a "basilisk" or a "wyvern" or a "cockatrice." Or perhaps we should call it by the name of its close kin, the double-headed crocodile-jawed Indian makara, which, in ninth-century Java at least, took on some of the attributes of the rain-bringing lung of China. (1967:218)
Read more about this topic: Jiaolong
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