Once, long ago, there were no rivers or lakes at all and all of the water of the world was contained in the Eastern Sea. Four dragons lived in the Eastern Sea: the Long Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, the Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon.

The four dragons were great friends and they loved to play together. One day, as they soared and dived and played at hide and seek among the clouds, the Pearl Dragon saw something on the Earth below. "Come look!" he cried out to his friends.

The other three came to see what caught the Pearl Dragon’s attention. The people were putting out fruits and cakes and burning incense, and praying to the heavens. There had been no rain for a long time. The crops had all withered before they ripened, the grass had yellowed, and the fields had cracked under the scorching sun. A white-haired old woman carrying a thin little boy on her back knelt on the ground. "Please send rain quickly, God of Heaven, so that our children may have rice to eat." She pleaded.

Struck with pity, the Yellow Dragon cried out, "How poor the people are! They will all die if it doesn’t rain soon."

The Long Dragon nodded in agreement. "Let us go and beg the Jade Emperor for rain," he suggested.

He lept above the clouds, climbing high into the sky towards the Heavenly Palace, his three friends close on his heels. They clambered up the palace steps and into the audience hall. The powerful Jade Emperor was not best pleased by their sudden entrance.

"Why do you come to me in the sky instead of staying in the sea where you belong and behaving as you should?" he demanded.

The Long Dragon stepped forward and said, "The crops are withering and dying, and the people with them your Majesty. We have come to beg you to send rain to the people as quickly as may be."

"Go back to the sea, I will send rain tomorrow," the Emperor said dismissively. He had not truly been listening to the dragons’ plea, but to the music of his fairies instead, and he had no intention of honoring his promise, but the four dragons took him at his word. They thanked him profusely for his generosity and went happily back to their home.

Ten days passed, and still not a single drop of rain fell from the sky. The people’s suffering increased, and some fell to eating bark and the roots of the dead grass, and when even those ran out they tried to eat white clay.

The dragons watched in sorrow as all of this happened. They knew now that the Jade Emperor only cared about himself and his pleasures, and that he didn’t hold the people in his heart. They must rely on themselves if they wished to help the people in their plight.

Looking at the vast Eastern Sea that was their home, the Long Dragon had an idea. His three friends listened closely as he described his plan. "Is there not plenty of water in the sea, our home?" he asked them. "We should scoop it up in our jaws and spray it towards the sky. The water will be like rain drops and it will pour down to save the people and their crops."

The others clapped their hands in delight. "We must do it immediately!" they cried.

"You must all think on it though," the Long Dragon warned, for he had thought long and hard on his plan. "If the Jade Emperor hears of our intervention, he will be angry and punish us.

"I will do anything to save the people," the Yellow Dragon said, resolute.

"Then let us begin," the Long Dragon said, "and never regret our intervention."

The Black Dragon and the Pearl Dragon would not be outdone. They flew with the Long Dragon and the Yellow Dragon to the sea. All four dragons scooped up water in their mouths, then flew high up in the sky to spray it over the Earth. Many times they flew back and forth, until the sky was dark with clouds from the water they sprayed. Before long it began to rain.

The people cried out for joy and danced in their fields. "The crops will be saved!" they cried, and called out their thanks to the gods. Wheat stalks raised their heads and sorghum stalks straightened, full of life once more. The dragons rejoiced to see their deeds turned to good fortune.

As the dragons had known would happen, the Jade Emperor discovered their actions when the god of the sea made his reports. The Jade Emperor was enraged. "How dare the four dragons bring rain without my permission!" he roared, his anger thundering through the skies. He ordered his heavenly generals to take their troops to the Eastern Sea and arrest the recalcitrant dragons.

The four dragons were far outnumbered and they did not fight their jailers. They were soon brought back to the heavenly palace and made to stand before the emperor, where he decreed their punishment.

Because they had not gone where he told them to go, and because they had acted without his orders the Jade Emperor declared that the four dragons would never be able to do so again. He ordered the Mountain God to bring him four mountains to lay on top of the dragons so that they could never move again.

But even imprisoned as they were, the four dragons never regretted bringing the people the rain they so sorely needed. Indeed, they were determined to help the people forever, and so they turned themselves into the four great rivers of China –  Black Dragon River in the far north, Yellow River south of him, Long River south of him, and Pearl River furthest south of all.

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