>
>Ryūjin no Yōkai - It's explained in the text what this phrase
>means; the only thing to add here is that in this context, it ties
>into what little is known about Meiling's background in the source
>material, where basically every supernatural being who isn't an
>outright oni* is lumped together under the general heading
>yōkai—even human magic-users who have transcended ordinary
>mortality, which seems a bit unfair. Mind you, the source is cagey
>about whether she's actually a dragon, but if she is, I guess dragons
>are yōkai in the Touhou universe? Whatever, man.
>
>Anyway, it means a slightly different thing in the Fire Nation vs. IRL
>Japan, but the essence of it is the same—they're spirit creatures
>manifest in the physical world. Whether their purpose is explicitly
>malign is a matter of interpretation.
>

After studying a lot of sources on yōkai I'll add the (possibly) usefull note that, basically from the source, some yōkai are dragons. However, some yōkai are /Umbrellas/, man eating houses, carnivorous trees and centipedes - being yōkai does not, in fact, appear to give a single good goddamn about obeying other people's classifications about what should or should not be type x, and that frequently when there are yōkai dragons there are also non yōkai dragons. (the difference appears to primarily be one of /temperment/ over all.)

The rules appear to be that a certain amount of supernatural power is involved, along with the capability (but not necessarily the culpability) for great malice; A lot of yōkai are pretty chill. Others will seriously wreck your entire province just for being there; Being yōkai at birth sometimes apparently just happens. Being born at all isn't strictly necessary. Becoming yōkai later in life is fairly common if you mess around with the wrong (or right) things.

Not all yōkai feed on humans, but many do; however this may be just that humans are particularily tasty magic food and when you combine that with a: not being human(It is especially common in those who are very not near human), b: capability for great malice and c: general antisocial dispositions, well, skip to the devouring.