The difference between The Chinese dragon and the Chinese dragon

下面为大家整理一篇优秀的essay代写范文 -- The difference between The Chinese dragon and the Chinese dragon，文章讲述龙是具有超能力的传奇物种，存在于不同的文化环境中。在某些文化中，龙是神圣，高贵的，并且敬畏而崇敬。在其他一些文化中，龙是邪恶的。人们希望杀死他们，而屠龙者也备受尊重。由于中西文化的差异，他们以完全不同的态度对待神话中的龙形象。西方和中国文化中关于龙的传说，故事和形状截然不同。西方的“龙”和中国的“龙”分别代表各自的族裔。通过他们，可以看到不同国家的历史变迁和文化发展。在不了解一个国家的历史和文化的情况下，任何正面或负面的判断都将是武断的。这种主观断言将阻碍我们对它们本质的深刻理解。此外，这种行为不显示对其他国家的尊重。鉴于西方国家和中国龙文化的多样性，我将努力研究和比较龙在本研究中的含义，内涵和神话。

1.0 Introduction

Dragon, as a legendary species with super powers, exists in different cultural environments. In some cultures, dragon is sacred, noble and held in awe and veneration. While in some other cultures, dragon is evil. People wish to kill them and dragon slayers are much respected. Due to the differences between western and Chinese culture, they treat the image of the mythological dragon with entirely different attitudes. Legends, stories, and shapes of dragon in western and Chinese culture are disparate. The western "Dragon" and the Chinese "Long" each represents their ethnic groups. Through them, one can see the historical changes and cultural development of different nations. Without understanding the history and culture of a nation, any judgment whether positive or negative will tend to be arbitrary. This kind of subjective assertion will impede us from a deep comprehension of the essence of them. Moreover, this behavior shows no respect for other nations. Given the variety of dragon cultures in western countries and China, I will endeavor to investigate and compare the denotation, connotation and myth of dragon in this research paper.

2.0 How western and Chinese dragon differ in their denotative meaning

“Drache” means “dragon” in German. It is derived from “draco” in Latin and “drakon” in Greek, which both mean “snake” (Xu). It seems obvious that western dragons “borrowed” their images from snakes, which are usually represented as: a gigantic reptile, breathing fire, having a lion’s claws, the tail of a serpent, wings, and scaly skin.

The Chinese dragon, called “Long”, explained by Modern Chinese Dictionary as: “the miraculous animal of the ancient legend, which has a long body, scale, horn and legs. It can walk, fly, swim, cloud and rain.” The dragon looks like a combination of many animals. For the Chinese people, dragons are described visually as a composite of parts from nine animals: the head of a camel; the eyes of a devil; the ears of an ox; the horns of a deer; the neck of a snake; the abdomen of a large cockle; the scales of a carp; the claws of an eagle; and the paws of a tiger.

Dr. Williams, in his “Middle Kingdom,” mentions only three varieties and says that these are respectively dragons of the sky, of the sea, and of marshes (Luther). However, the Chinese dragon are much more diverse—there are at least eight species of animals possess the designation of “dragon” and each distinguishes from the others by its particular features. For instance, Chinese people consider that the one species, Shen Long, controls and operates in all of these spheres. Most of the other varieties are minor creatures, which are practically unknown (Luther).

3.0 How western and Chinese dragon differ in their connotative meaning

In western countries, dragon is used as a derogatory term, a symbol of sins, monsters and demons. They are usually depicted as brutal, vicious, untruthful and greed, having an irritable temper and long hatred for mankind. As a result of its frightening traits, dragon gradually became the symbol of war. The Roman legions adopted it in the 1st century AD, inscribing the figure of a dragon on the standards carried into battle by the cohorts; the legendary monster was also depicted on the shields of the Teutonic tribes that invaded Britain (Zeng). According to Microsoft encyclopedia online dictionary, dragon also means “an offensive term for a woman regarded as fierce and formidable”. Recently, some western media even began to relate the word “dragon” with terrorist or “rogue states”. In 2005, there was a cartoon depicting US President George W. Bush fighting with an ugly dragon, and there were three names inscribed onto it, “Syria, Taliban, and Iran” (Zeng).

Though similarly having powerful and magical abilities, the images of Chinese dragon are colorful. Generally speaking, there exists the good and the evil, some neither good nor evil, and even others whose characters can change and development. Most of the time, dragon is a symbol of harmony and power. “Long” is a totem, a complex composed of many different totems, a virtual synthetic creature which only exists in totem rather than in the biosphere. In Chinese mythology, dragon, as a leader in nature, is good at changing and able to meet the aspirations of people for good weather. Thus, it became a symbol of harmony and power. Chinese dragon, in the unique form of Eastern Mysticism and through complex artistic modeling, implies typical basic concepts of Chinese people and Chinese culture. To be specific, the four perceptions Chinese people value most are: the unity of man and nature; the mutual benevolence among people; the development from the intercourse of yin and yang; the inclusiveness of multiculture. Therefore, the ideal target for Chinese people when dealing with these four main relationships is to pursue the harmony between them. Above all, the deepest cultural heritage of the image and culture of Chinese Dragon is the basic spirit of pluralistic integration and comprehensive innovation.

4.0 The myths of western and Chinese dragon

During the Middle Ages, dragon is a symbol of evil. The Bible story considered Satan “the great dragon”. In western epic, such as Greek mythology, Germanic mythology, Norse mythology, there is no lack of stories about some heroic dragon slayers. In Mesopotamian epic Enuma Elish, before the foundation of the world, the Lord God Narduk defeats the dragon of chaos—Tiamat, cuts its carcases in half, one half becoming the heaven and one half turning into the earth, thus creating the world.  In the legend of Saint George and the dragon, there is an evil dragon who asks the nearby cities for a beautiful girl every month; In the legend of Golden Fleece, a fire dragon tries to eat any warrior who wants to encroach on the Golden Fleece; and in movies, dragon is a super monster who attempts to destroy our planet, after meteorite, Godzilla and alien.

In china, legends and myths about dragon are constantly appearing in many Dynasties. Ascend to the era of the Yellow Emperor, the legend talks about how the dragon helping him fly to the sky and defeat Chiyou. In the water control legend about Xiayu, the holy dragon draws his tail on the floor which turns into rivers, and consequently dredges the flood. The Han emperor Liu Bang, is said to be born after his mother’s dream of mating with the Red Dragon and being pregnant. Besides, many places of China that named after “Long” has their legends about dragon, which has no shortage of stories about raging dragons. Set Heilongjiang as an example, the legend said that once upon a time, the White Dragon havocked the place. Later, in a riverside village, one family was in labor and gave birth to a black dragon. It turned out that the Black Dragon was to help get rid of the White Dragon. Finally, the White Dragon was removed by the villagers, after following the Black Dragon’s instructions. Therefore, people named the river “Heilongjiang” (Black Dragon River) to commemorate the Black Dragon.

5.0 Conclusion

The emergence of "Dragon" is a cultural phenomenon. Owing to the distinction of geographical location, culture and education between the westerner and the Chinese, people understand this culture phenomenon diversely. For the deeper understanding of the dragon, one need to open up his mind, do more research and evaluate them objectively.

References

Luther, Newton Hayes. The Chinese Dragon. Kay Rubacek, 2012. Print.

Xu, Lin. Chinese dragon vs. Western dragon. China.org.cn, February 6, 2012. Nov 30, 2014. <http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-02/06/content_24559935.htm>.

Zeng, Lingcai. Western dragon and Chinese Long: Mistranslation and resolution. US-China Foreign Language, ISSN 1539-8080, USA. Sep. 2008, Volume 6, No.9  (Serial No.60). <http://www.abirus.ru/user/files/History/loong.pdf>.

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