<P> The Sheng'an waiji (升 庵 外 集) collection by the poet Yang Shen (楊慎, 1488--1559) gives different 5th and 9th names for the dragon's nine children: the taotie (饕餮), which loves to eat and is found on food - related wares, and the jiaotu (椒 圖), which looks like a conch or clam, does not like to be disturbed, and is used on the front door or the doorstep . Yang's list is bixi, chiwen or cháofēng, pulao, bi'an, taotie, qiuniu, yazi, suanni, and jiaotu . </P> <P> Oldest known attestation of the "children of the dragon" list is found in the Shuyuan Zaji (椒 园 杂记, Miscellaneous records from the bean garden) by Lu Rong (1436--1494); however, he noted that the list enumerates mere synonyms of various antiques, not children of a dragon . The nine sons of the dragon were commemorated by the Shanghai Mint in 2012's year of the dragon with two sets of coins, one in silver, and one in brass . Each coin in the sets depicts one of the 9 sons, including an additional coin for the father dragon, which depicts the nine sons on the reverse . </P> <P> The early Chinese dragons can be depicted with two to five claws . Different countries that adopted the Chinese dragon have different preferences; in Mongolia and Korea, the four - clawed dragons are used, while in Japanese dragon three - clawed dragons are common . By the Yuan dynasty, the five - clawed dragons became reserved for use by the emperor while the princes used four - clawed dragons . The usage of the dragon motif was codified during the Yuan dynasty, and phoenixes and five - clawed two - horned dragons may not be used on the robes of officials and other objects such as plates and vessels . It was further stipulated that for commoners, "it is forbidden to wear any cloth with patterns of Qilin, Male Fenghuang (Chinese phoenix), White rabbit, Lingzhi, Five - Toe Two - Horn Dragon, Eight Dragons, Nine Dragons,' Ten thousand years', Fortune - longevity character and Golden Yellow etc ." </P> <P> The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty emulated the Yuan dynasty rules on the use of the dragon motif and decreed that the dragon would be his emblem and that it would have five claws . The four - clawed dragon would become typically for imperial nobility and certain high - ranking officials . The three clawed dragon was used by lower ranks and the general public (widely seen on various Chinese goods in the Ming dynasty). The dragon, however, was only for select royalty closely associated with the imperial family, usually in various symbolic colors, while it was a capital offense for anyone--other than the emperor himself--to ever use the completely gold - colored, five - clawed Long dragon motif . Improper use of claw number or colors was considered treason, punishable by execution of the offender's entire clan . The convention was carried into the Qing dynasty, and portraits of the Qing emperors were usually depicted with five - clawed dragons . </P>

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