Jiaotu

Jiaotu does not have a recorded classical birth narrative in the supplied sources. Instead, he appears as one named member in the conventional listing of the Nine Sons of the Dragon — a classificatory motif in Chinese mythic-symbolic practice whereby each son is attributed particular temperaments and suited decorative uses. The available materials present Jiaotu as part of this repertory rather than as a biographical offspring with a single originating text (Wikidata; BlackDrago; ninesons.txt).

The sources do not record a fixed biological description; instead Jiaotu's depiction is primarily functional and architectural. A traditional simile recorded in a short folklore list describes him as "as tight-lipped as a mussel or a snail," and that image is carved on doors. Other accounts emphasize that his image is used in door and threshold ornamentation rather than providing a standard corporeal portrait (ninesons.txt; BlackDrago; The Nine Dragon Scroll).

Rather than documented supernatural feats, sources attribute character-associations and symbolic functions to Jiaotu: secretive and self-contained temperament ("tight-lipped"), reclusive disposition described as living behind high walls and refusing to leave or come to the door (modern site summaries), and an association with guarding thresholds through door-carving motifs. Secondary modern glosses describe him as "arrogant, but fiercely loyal to the few he considers under his protection," presented as character-association used in contemporary retellings rather than as recorded magical powers in primary traditional texts (ninesons.txt; BlackDrago; Made by Meghan).