Lung-wang

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Lung-wang (‘dragon kings’). Taoist mythological figures who have immediate authority over life and death, in the sense that they are responsible for rain and funerals. Humans depend on them, but they in turn are accountable (annually) to the primordial lord who originates all things (Yüan-shih Tʾien-tsun; see SANSHʾING). See also DRAGONS, CHINESE.