禿尾巴老李傳說介紹了一條在山東地區著名的神傳奇龍。這些傳說則介紹了其出身及傳奇事跡。

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廣傳版本發生在山東的一條村落中，李家少女李仙在河邊洗衣服時發生意外而失去意識，醒來後卻發現自己竟然懷孕了。十四個月後，她終於誕下一個嬰兒，但眾人不禁驚嘆，那嬰兒竟是一條黑龍！李父勃然大怒，拿起菜刀想斬死小龍，但只把其尾巴斬斷。黑龍逃脫後，就開始修行真到他長大成為一條真龍。期間他亦會化成探望母親。

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由於他是李姓家庭所生，以及沒有尾巴的關係，村民稱他為「禿尾巴老李」。他所到之處帶來豐收與太平。

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後來，他決定前往一片遠方土地定居，但他亦要面對敵人白龍; 一説他是盤踞此地的白龍或被玉帝召喚的白龍。兩條龍互相撕殺，老李就對托夢給山東村民，以向泛白的河水投物打敗白龍。在村民幫助下，禿尾巴老李成功打敗對手，並住在那地，從此那地方因禿尾巴老李的事蹟稱為「黑龍江」。

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此故事在山東省各地流傳，並衍生不同地區的版本。其中在文登市的版本被紀錄在清代文學《子不語》，禿尾龍的出生是因為一位年輕妻子吃了由龍耳而化的李子而懷孕誕生，龍名不詳，後來故事亦在另一清代關於文登市文獻中演化成現代版本。當時帝王亦下令在城內修築廟宇供奉禿尾龍與龍母。雖然這些遺跡已經消失，城𥚃剩下的「龍母墳」是唯一紀念龍母與禿尾龍傳説的遺跡。

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The Short-tailed Old Li is a legendary, mythical dragon with a special status in Shandong, where he was honored and worshipped. The Story of Short Tailed Old Li is the tale that explains his origins and heroic acts.

 

Modern versions of the tale place the setting of the story in a village in Shandong. There in the village, a young teenaged women, Li Xian (李仙), was washing clothes near the riverside, when an unexpected accident caused her to fall unconscious. When she regained her senses, she discovered herself pregnant, with the father being unknown. After 14 months of pregnancy, she finally gave birth to the infant, which, to everyone’s surprise, was a black dragon. Enraged, Li’s father grabbed a sharp knife, intending to kill the dragon, but only ended up chopping his tail off instead. After running off, the dragon decided to cultivate himself to become a real dragon. He would also visit his mother while disguised as a human.

 

With a missing tail and born from the daughter of the Li family, he was dubbed “Short Tailed Old Li” by the villagers. Wherever he went, he brought rain, and was worshipped as a rain god.  

 

Later, he decided to move to a distant land to settle himself over there, but he was confronted with the White Dragon as an enemy. Some sources described the White Dragon as either a former occupant of the land Old Li wanted to settle in, or a dragon ordered by the Jade Emperor to capture Old Li. Both dragons fought for a long time, and Old Li summoned help from the residents in Shandong through their dreams, telling them to throw items into the river if the water turned white. With the help of the villagers, Old Li successfully defeated the White dragon and occupied the land, which is now known as “Heilongjiang” (黑龙江), or Black Dragon River, in his legacy.  

 

This tale is well-known among various areas in Shandong, with different versions in different areas. In Wendeng City, the black dragon was first described as being born after a young wife consumed a plum that was transformed from a dragon’s ear, except his name was never specified, as documented in What the Master Would Not Discuss (子不语), a Qing Dynasty compilation of supernatural stories. In another Qing dynasty text, which documented matters related to the city of Wendeng, a version of the story that is very similar to the modern version can be found. Temples honoring both the dragon and his mother were also constructed around Wendeng city, under the orders of the Qing emperor. These temples no longer exist, but The Tomb of the Dragon’s Mother is the remaining heritage site within the city that honors the legendary mother and tale.