When the Year of the Dragon arrives, not only Chinese people celebrate the festival, but also many overseas people enjoy it. Many people have noticed that in some English expressions, "dragon" is no longer translated as dragon, but loong. What's the doorway here?
* Screenshots. In fact, at least since the 80s of the last century, some domestic scholars have pointed out that dragon and dragon should not be translated into each other. The reason is simple, there is a significant difference between the dragon in Chinese culture and the dragon in the Western context. The Chinese dragon is a product of agricultural civilization, mainly responsible for blessing the wind and rain, carrying the beautiful meaning of courage and progress, infinite vitality, auspiciousness and good luck.
In contrast, the Western dragon is a product of marine civilization, often haunted in the eastern Mediterranean, ancient Greece and other places, stirring up wind and waves, breathing fire and cannibalism, and is mostly regarded as a symbol of **. In Western film and television works such as "Heart of the Dragon", "The Legend of Merlin", "Game of Thrones", etc., there are such image shapings. When we claim to be "descendants of the dragon" and publicize it to the outside world, people who do not understand Chinese culture are likely to misunderstand.
* Screenshots. Should the translation of the dragon be changed? At present, there is no consensus on the dispute. It is believed that the earliest person to translate dragon as dragon was Morrison, a missionary who came to China during the Qing Dynasty. Hundreds of years have passed, especially with the increase in interaction between China and the West, Westerners have long known that the Chinese dragon is not equal to the Western dragon, and there are also positive images of dragons in Western literary and artistic works.
However, there is also a large number of objections to the need to reconsider the translation of a term as important as dragon, which carries important cultural meanings. As a result, new translations such as Chinese dragon and loong began to appear one after another. For example, the official English name of the 2024 CCTV Spring Festival Gala mascot "Long Chenchen" is "Loong Chenchen"; When reporting on the "Chinese New Year Dragon Dance Challenge", CGTN translated "Year of the Dragon" as "Loong Year" and "Dragon Dance" as "Loong Dance".
Exactly how to translate better, we look forward to in-depth research by professionals, but one thing is for sureThe issue behind this debate is very important – how China can transcend cultural differences and convey a credible, lovable, respectable image.
*: Xinhua News Agency CGTN Beijing**.