Longmu's Sons

Once upon a time in Guandong, a girl named Wen Meihua was doing laundry at the river when she found a shiny rock. She took it home, thinking it was valuable enough to sell to a landscaper.

A few days before she made up her mind, the stone broke and five infant snakes with legs tumbled out. Despite being from a peasant family, Meihua decided to adopt the infants as her own sons. She kept the best morsels of her meals for them and they grew up well.

After the five foster sons grew up, they helped Meihua with fishing work for several years until a drought arrived. Being dragons with a connection to rain, they worked together to bring the rain back to Guandong. Meihua was given the nickname Longmu as a result. She was bestowed with more honors due to her sons' great deeds.

Years later, Emperor Shi Huangdi heard of this and commanded Longmu to see him in the capital, hoping to impress her sons in the imperial service. The five sons played a trick on the imperial boat to prevent their mother from being forced to leave. In the end, the emperor relented and let her stay home.

When Longmu died, her sons all mourned her before shedding their godly forms and becoming five men carrying the surname Loong. They went their separate ways and were eventually lost to history.

There is little historical basis beyond an actual Wen Meihua having once existed. It is unclear whether Meihua's five foster sons were literal dragons or five brothers who carried the holy surname.

It is one of the conflicting primordial myths attempting to explain the existence of the surname Loong (Long or Leong depending on dialect transcription) as it is the only critter-based Chinese surname to have holy roots.

Known only to certain regions of south China, and then mostly among those who are related to the Loong family.

In some retellings, a single baby came out of the stone instead of five.

One adaptation gives the five sons different fatal flaws, the eldest being brutish, the second being greedy about money, the third lazy, the fourth being too cunning, and the fifth a crybaby. They had personality strengths to offset said fatal flaws.

Emphasizes filial piety and good parenting at the same time. Longmu is held as an example of parental love not being restricted to biological children.

A huge statue of Longmu and her sons stands at the main dock of New Luoyang.