Museum Talks: Sarawak Snapshots

10 March 2024: The Chinese Dragon (Lung) in Sarawak by Dr Monica Janowski

Dr Monica Janowski, in her talk “The Chinese Dragon (Lung) in Sarawak” presented some of the findings from her research into beliefs about lung – Chinese ‘dragons’ – among the Chinese in Sarawak. She explored aspects of the relationship between the Chinese lung, the landscape and watercourses. She also considered ways in which Chinese beliefs about the lung have interacted with indigenous and Malay beliefs about water beings. 

Dr Monica Janowski is a social anthropologist who has been carrying out research in Sarawak since 1986. Until 2017, her research focus was the Kelabit people of Sarawak. Since then, she has been carrying out research on water dragons among the different peoples of Sarawak. She began this research into these beliefs when she was a research fellow at the Sarawak Museum, as part of the preparations for the Borneo Cultures Museum. The link for the recording is here.