When did the dragon begin to become the Teng of Chinese civilization?

The Book of Rites says, "Lin, phoenix, turtle and dragon are collectively called the four spirits." The forest, phoenix, turtle and dragon are actually the totems of ancient China and the objects worshipped by Chinese ancestors. Guo Moruo said in "Investigation of Silk Paintings in Late Zhou Dynasty": "Phoenix is a mysterious bird and a totem of Yin people"; "Dragon is the totem of Xia nationality". So the dragon has always been one of the totems of China. There are many ancient tribes, so their totems are different. For example, in history, the leader of the Yan Di tribe was called the "bull head", so the Yan Di tribe took the cow as a totem. However, according to the surname "Jiang", it can be considered that the surname is matriarchal and Jiang is Qiang, so the matriarchal totem is sheep. The Yellow Emperor means the ruler of the Loess Plateau, and his totem should be loess. Shao Hao tribe takes birds as totems, while Tai Hao tribe takes dragons as totems. In ancient times, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River where Tai Hao tribes lived had a warm climate, and most of the vegetation kept its original pattern, and poisonous snakes and beasts could be seen everywhere. Seven or eight thousand years ago, people made stone tools and used collective strength to kill wild animals, but there was nothing they could do about the poisonous snakes that existed in the jungle and could survive on the banks of swamps. Fear worships snakes as gods. Therefore, it is very early to take dragons as totems. According to research, the flag of Xia nationality is the Dragon Flag.