Cheongryong is the Azure Dragon, the eastern guardian among the four directional beasts (Sasin). It is paired with spring and the element wood, and appears widely in Korean tomb murals and fortress ornament, including the Goguryeo tomb paintings.
It is the same lineage of beast known in Japan as Seiryu. As an emblem of cosmic order binding direction, season, and element into one body, it was held to guard the eastern sky and preside over the generative force of spring.