Tradition: Chinese mythology
Alternative Names: Garyō, Drawing the Dragon and Dotting Its Eyes
Category: Dragon
The Myth
The Garyō is a dragon depicted in painted form, but one capable of becoming a living creature when its eyes are completed. Its most important feature is therefore the eyes: without them, the painted dragon remains motionless on the wall, but once they are added, the dragon can awaken and fly into heaven.
The story comes from the famous painter Zhang Sengyao of the Liang dynasty. When the Anle Temple in Jinling was being decorated, Zhang painted four white dragons upon its walls. Yet he deliberately left their eyes unfinished.
When people asked why, Zhang warned them that painting in the eyes would cause the dragons to fly away. They dismissed his warning as nonsense and insisted that he complete the paintings.
At last, Zhang took up his brush and dotted the eyes of two of the dragons. At that very moment, thunder and lightning erupted, the wall was broken apart, and the two dragons sprang from the painting and ascended into heaven upon the clouds.
The other two dragons remained upon the wall, still without eyes. They had been left untouched, and so the temple retained two dragons that never came to life.
From this tale came the expression of “drawing the dragon and dotting its eyes,” referring to the crucial final touch that brings an otherwise incomplete work to completion.
Sources
Takahashi, Toshihiro. “臥竜 [がりょう] (Garyō).” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). October 21, 2024. https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1083003608.html