The Differences between Chinese Long and Western Dragon.docx
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TheDifferencesbetweenChineseLongandWesternDragon
TheDifferencesbetweenChineseLongandWesternDragon
TheDifferencesbetweenChineseLongandWesternDragon
[Abstract]
Inthispaper,IwouldliketodiscussthedifferencesbetweenChineseLongandwesterndragon.Thetwowords“Long(龙)”and“dragon”areoftentranslatedintoeachotherinEnglish-ChineseorChinese-Englishtranslations.ButtheyarequietdifferentunderthebackgroundofChineseandwesternculture.Inmypaper,IwillintroducethedifferencebetweenChineseLongandwesterndragon,andthenanalyzesomemisunderstandingcausedbythismistranslation.Theconclusionandsuggestionswillbeshowedinthelastpart.
[Mainbody]
WiththerapiddevelopmentoftheInternetandtransportation,interculturalcommunicationisbecomemoreandmorefrequent,peoplemainlygettheinformationofotherculturethroughtranslations,soaccuratetranslationsbecomeingreatneed.Buttherearegreatdifferencesexistedindifferentlanguages.Peopleineverynationalwaysunderstandothernations’culturewiththeirownviewswithoutconsideringwhethertheyarerightorwronginorigin.Thusthemisunderstandingsbetweendifferentnationscomeintobeing.Sothemisunderstandingcausedbytranslationsisworthourconcerns.
TakingChineseword“Long(龙)”forexample,Longisatraditionalculture-loadedwordinChinesewhichisthesymbolofauspiciousnessandauthority.ThiswordisalwaystranslatedintoEnglishworddragoninmanytranslations.ButinWesternpeople’seyes,theEnglishworddragonisthesymbolofdevilandbugbear.BecauseofthetranslationfromLongtodragon,greatmisunderstandingarisesbetweenChinesepeople’sandwesternpeople’sminds.
A.LonginChina
InancientChina,therearemanyoriginsaboutLong,suchaslizard,crocodile,dinosaurandsoon.Longisregardedastoteminancienttimes.PeopleinthattimesadmiredLongthoughitisjustanimaginaryanimalinthelegend.
InChina,Longisattachedtoaplentyofcommendatoryculturalmeanings.Sincetheancienttimes,LonghasbeenregardedbyChinesepeopleastheincarnationoftheirancestor.ConsequentlytheyliketothinkthemselvesastheoffspringofLong.HenceloonghasbeenregardedasthesymbolofChinaandChinesepeople.
InChineseculture,thetraditionalsymbolofroyaltyisLong.ThewordLongstandsfortheChineseemperor.ThereforemanythingswhichareconnectedwiththeemperorcontainthewordLong.
InModernChineseDictionary,theoriginalmeaningofLongisakindofasupernaturalanimal,whichcarrieshornsandwhiskersandonlyhasonehead.Itcanmakerainaswantedinlegend.Thesecondmeaningistheheadofanimals,whichcanbeblackorbright,canbeslenderorcoarse,canbeshortorlong,flyingtotheskyinspring,anddivingintheseainautumn.Inotherwords,Longistheheadofchangeablewateranimals,whichishelpfulforeverything.Sopeopleaweandadmireitastotem.AndLongcanalsoberegardedasimageryofheroesandwisepersons.
B.DragoninWesternCountries
Thedragonisoftenasymbolofdeviltowesterners.Theyregardthedragonasafiercemonsterthatcandestroyotherthings.Therefore,intheiropinion,itcanmakemanydisasters.Thereareseveralstoriesofheroesdealingwiththestrugglesagainstsuchmonsters,whichinmostcasesarekilledintheend.
Andthesecanbeseeninmanywesternfilms.Forexample,inthefilmHarryPotter,dragonisacruelcharacter,inthismovie,Harryfightsagainstthedragontostopitfromdestroyingtheworld.Westernfilmscanreflectwesterncultures.Ofcourse,thecharactersintheirfilmscanreflectdirectors’opinions.Theimageofdragoninthefilmsisthereflectionofdragoninwesternlegend.
InBible,Satan,adevil,iscalledthegreatdragon.RevelationintheBooksofTheNewTestamentofBibledescribesdragonlikethis:
Agreatreddragon,withsevenheadsandtenhorns,andsevendiademsonhishead.Andwarbrokeoutinheaven;Michaelandhisangelsfoughtagainstthedragon.Thedragonandhisangelsfoughtback,buttheyweredefeated,andthereisnolongeranyplacefortheminheaven.Thegreatdragonwasthrowndown,thenancientserpent,whichiscalledtheDevilandSatan,thedeceiverofthewholeworld,wasthrowndowntotheearth,andhisangelswerethrowndownwithhim.InMicrosoftEncyclopedia,dragonisdescribedasalegendaryreptilianmonstersimilarinformtoacrocodileandusuallyrepresentedashavingwings,hugeclaws,andafierybreath.Aboveitisabouttheappearanceofdragon.Fromthedescription,dragonisveryugly,anditsfigureisveryhuge.
InEurope,thereisafamousdragonnamedHydra,whichisverycruelandrude.Hydrahasnineheadsandhaslonglife.ItisverydifferentfromLonginChina.AndEuropeanpeoplehateHydraverymuch.Thusdragoninwesterncountriesmainlymeanscruelandbadthings.Forexample,“wecallheradragon”meanssheisveryrude.“TheOldDragon”referstotheSataninBible,andinthephrase“chasethedragon”,dragonmeansdrug,whichcanmakepeoplecrazyandgotodeath.
C.ComparisonbetweenLongandDragon
Accordingtotheanalysisabove,Longanddragoncanbecomparedasfollows.
Dragon:
(1)Havingmanyheads
(2)Uglyinappearance(3)Evilforce
Long:
(1)Havingonehead
(2)Emperor(3)Wisepeople;
Itisobviousthattherearemanydifferencesbetweenthem,theyoriginatefromdifferentcultures.InfacttheChinesewordLonghasmuchmoremeaningsthandragon.AndmeaningsofLongarefine,whiledragonmostlymeansbadthings.
D.MisunderstandingsCausedbytheWrongTranslation
Theimpropertranslationexistsindifferentpartsoflife.ThewrongtranslationmakeChinesepeoplefacealotofdifficulties.SomeChinesestudentswhostudyinEuropeancountriesarelaughedbywesterners,whentheyintroducetheirnationisacountryofdragon.Thoughitisjustaword,ithashurtthefeelingsbetweenChineseandwesternpeople.Wordsarealsolanguagesinsomeextents.Whatisalanguage?
Itreferstothecultureofonecountry,andcanembodypersonalityofonecountry.Solanguagesindifferentcountriesaredifferent,thoughtheyhavesomethingincommon.IfusingChinesedragonforLong,westernpeoplemaybegivethedifferencesbetweendragonandChinesedragon,buttheystillcannotimaginewhatChinesedragonislike.ThetranslationcannotembodythecharacteristicsofLong.
Therearealsomanyothermisunderstandings.Forexample,Chinesephrase“WangZiChengLong(望子成龙)”meanslongingtoone’ssonsuccessful.Ifsomepeopletranslateitintolongingtoone’ssontobeadragon,westernpeoplewillthinkwhyChinesepeoplewanttheirchildrentobeacruelperson.Thebadimpressionofdragoninwesternpeople’seyesisdeepforalongtime.Itisverydifficulttoletthemacceptit.InChineseculture,Longmeansauthority.Butinwesternpeople’seyes,dragonisakindofbugbearthatdestroysthewholeworld.Manyheroeswanttofightagainstit.ItisverydifficultforwesternerstounderstandwhyChinesepeoplelikeit.
Allthemisunderstandingsmaketheculturalcommunicationsgoonbadly.ThebestsymbolofChinafacesaseriousproblemincommunications.Inordertochangethesituationandsolvetheproblem,correctingtheEnglishnameofLongisaninevitableaction.
Sincemascotsof29thOlympicgameswereinformed,manypeoplewereverysurprisedatthatChineseLong,whichisregardedwellbyChinesepeopleallovertheworld,wasnotchosen.BeijingOlympicCommitteeexplainedthatLonghasmanydifferentdefinitionsandunderstandingsindifferentcountries.IfchoosingLongasmascotandthentranslatingitintodragon,manypeopleallovertheworldwillmisunderstandChina.Fromthisevent,itcanbeknownthatthewrongtranslationhasaffectedtheleadersofChinatomakedecisions.
EventhoughChinesepeoplemaybecorrectthemistake,westernersstillusetheworddragontointerpretChinesewordLong.Intheirminds,Chinesekingsareverycrueltopeople,whichisjustliketheimpressionofdragonintheirhearts.Butforeignersdonotrealizethedifferencesbetweenthem,sotheirviewisone-sided.ChinesewordLonghasmuchmoremeaningsthanwhattheythink.Anditmainlymeanskindness.Inordertomakethecommunicationbemoreharmonious,themisunderstandingsshouldbepaidattentionandeliminated.
Someforeignscholarsgavethespeechesorwrotearticlesontheinternetandotheroccasions.Theyregardedtheoffspringofdragonasthechildofdevil,beingbasedonthatdragonisdevilandbugbear.Theyarelackofbenevolence,andhavebadimagineonChina.Theworldisunified,andthecivilizationshavedifferentforms.Theglobalizationshouldbethecombinationwithallkindsofcivilization,notbeonekind.Chinesepeoplecannotthinkwesterners’opinionswiththeireyes.Atthesametime,ChinesepeoplecannotaskthemtounderstandChinesepeoplewithoureyesight.
E.Conclusion
Chineseculturehasitsspecialty.Ifwewanttointroduceittoothercountries,andmakeforeignersunderstandoracceptitcorrectly,theculture-loadedwordsmustbetranslatedproperly.Ifnot,misunderstandingswillhappen,andthefunctionsofculturalcommunicationwillnotexist.
BecauseofimproperEnglishtranslationdragon,manyforeignersdonotunderstandChineseLongculture.TheycannotunderstandwhyChinesepeopleregardLongasChinesesymbol.Thecostisveryponderous.Becauseofthismisunderstanding,theOlympicCommitteedidnotchooseloongasOlympicmascot.Becauseoftheimpropertranslation,westernersthinkChinesepeopleugly,andthinkChinesecultureaggressive.Thismistakehasbeeninpeople’smindsforalongtime.WhenChinesepeopl