I recently discovered a second place with a Chinese name that means 9 dragons. I already knew about the Kowloon (九龍) peninsula in Hong. Apparently, the name refers to eight mountains and a Chinese emperor. Kowloon – Wikipedia
I’ve now discovered that the Mekong Delta is known in Vietnamese as Nine Dragons (Cửu Long) River. The name reflects the splitting of the Mekong into many smaller rivers as it nears the sea. Cửu is the Sino-Vietnamese for of the word for ‘nine. The native Vietnamese form is chin. Vietnamese numerals – Wikipedia Sino-Vietnamese
How did you discover it? Nine is an auspicious number in the East Asian culture.
We’ve just come back from a river cruise from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, so that’s where I heard about the Mekong Delta. And I remembered about Kowloon from trips to Hong Kong.
I asked a Hong Kong friend about the name Kowloon. He agreed with the eight mountains plus Song Emperor = nine dragons description (Kow = Gau = nine in Cantonese). But he elaborated that it is also related to feng shui.
So I then asked Copilot “Is the name Kowloon related to feng shui”.
And the response was:
“Yes! The name Kowloon (九龍, meaning “Nine Dragons”) is deeply connected to feng shui traditions. According to legend, the area was named by Emperor Bing of Song, who fled to Hong Kong in the 13th century. His advisors pointed out that Kowloon had eight mountain peaks, which were considered “dragons” in feng shui. The emperor then declared that there were actually nine dragons, including himself!
In feng shui, Kowloon is seen as a powerful energy hub because it is surrounded by mountains and faces Victoria Harbour, which helps accumulate positive energy (chi). The landscape follows classic feng shui principles, making Kowloon a prosperous and dynamic area.
I did a bit more reading about this and decided that this addendum is worth sharing.
Song Emperor Bing was the final Song dynasty emperor. His reign lasted less than one year: 10 May 1278 – 19 March 1279. And his reign ended because the Mongols under Kublai Khan invaded and totally conquered China. The Mongols established a pseudo-dynasty called the Yuan dynasty (pseudo in the sense of a Chinese front for Mongolian military rule).
Yuan lasted nearly 100 years. In 1368 ethnic Chinese retook their country and established the Ming dynasty.
And, oh yes, back to Song Emperor Bong – the Kowloon dragon number nine. Not only did his reign last only 313 days, he was only six years old when he declared himself the ninth dragon! And he died not in battle with the invading Mongols but by committing suicide by jumping off a cliff in Guangdong Province, just north of Hong Kong, when his advisors told him that all was lost.
Paul, thanks for the additions.