Different Interpretations of Loong in Chinese and Western Cultural Contexts在中西方文化背景中对龙的不同阐释.doc

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1、在中西方文化背景中对龙的不同阐释摘要： 从古至今，中国人都对汉字“龙”感到自豪，因为龙是吉祥和权威的象征。而在西方人的眼中，英语单词“dragon”意味着罪恶和怪物，是邪恶的象征。因此龙和dragon在很大的程度上是不同的。但是在英译汉或汉译英中，我们会经常把这两个词互译。这种翻译忽视了中西方文化的差异，从而造成了严重的文化误解。显而易见，这种翻译是有问题的。因此如何把汉字“龙”翻译成英语就成为一个很严肃的问题。从龙和dragon的差异、汉语和英语这两种语言特点的差异来确定龙的英译不失为一种好的方法.关键词：文化差异；dragon; 龙；翻译Different Interpretations

2、of Loong in Chinese and Western Cultural ContextsAbstractChinese people are proud of the Chinese character “龙” from ancient times till now, which is the symbol of auspiciousness and authority. But in Western peoples eyes, the English word “dragon” is the symbol of devil and bugbear. So “龙” and “drag

3、on” are quite different. But in English-Chinese or Chinese-English translations, the two words are often translated into each other. The translations ignore the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, and cause cultural misunderstanding. So how to translate the Chinese character “龙” into E

4、nglish becomes a serious problem. It is a good way to translate them from the differences between “龙” and “dragon”, from the relation between characteristics of the Chinese language and the English language.Key Words：cultural differences; dragon; “龙”；translationContents 中文摘要iAbstractiiAcknowledgemen

5、tsiiiIntroduction1I. The Differences between the Chinese Word “Loong”and the English Word “Dragon”1A. “Loong” in China4B. Dragon in the West6C. Comparison between “Loong” and “Dragon”.8 II.Some Problems in Translation11A. Illustrations of the Wrong Translation of “Loong”11B. Misunderstandings Caused

6、 by the Wrong Translation12III. Right Ways of English Translation of “Loong”15A. Some Theories in Translation15B. One Way of English Translation of”Loong”15 C. Another Way of English Translation of “Loong”.17Conclusion20Notes22Bibliography2322Different Interpretations of Loong inChinese and Western

7、Cultural ContextsIntroductionIt is well-known that there are many differences between Chinese and Western cultures. And “龙” is one of the most important symbols of the Chinese culture for about seven thousand years. Loong takes an indisputable role in the fields of Chinese religion, policy, literatu

8、re, art and so on. From Ming Dynasty, “龙” is translated into “dragon” in English. However, there are many distinctions between them both in appearances and connotations. Besides the differences in their appearances, “龙” is the symbol of charm, cleverness, happiness, and majesty while “dragon” is the

9、 symbol of devil, fierce and tyrannical. From this factor, “龙” should not be translated into “dragon” again. But nowadays cultural communication between different countries is very frequent, so accurate translation becomes in great need as occasions require. But great differences exist in different

10、languages. People in every nation always understand other nations cultures with their own views without considering whether they are right or wrong in origin, as is a very common phenomenon. Hence the misunderstandings between different nations come into being. It is more and more important that cul

11、tural understanding serves as the communicational way between different nations. And people also have begun to notice the misunderstandings caused by translations. Especially culture-loaded words, which stand for every nations culture and spirit, are translated carelessly. Then misunderstandings spr

12、ead and expand. Take the Chinese character “龙” for example, “龙” is a traditional culture-loaded word. “龙” is always translated into the English word “dragon” in many translations. But the English word “dragon” is a kind of bugbear, which can breathe out fire according to western legends. Because of

13、the translation from “龙” to “dragon”, great misunderstandings exist between Chinese peoples and westerners minds. The Differences between the Chinese Word“Loong” and the English Word “Dragon” There are many differences between Chinese and western cultures. Therefore, there are many differences betwe

14、en the Chinese character “龙” and the English word “dragon”. In translation, there is an argument on how to translate the Chinese character “龙” into English. For example, all parents hope their children will be useful, in its original Chinese meaning, that is, to hope their children to be dragons. “D

15、ragon” mean differently between the East and the West. But, it is wrong to translate “龙” into “dragon”. In fact, “龙” is so different in nature from “dragon” that it may be more reasonable to consider them as dissimilar creatures, rather than as the same creature interpreted differently. The word loo

16、ng lu: was created on the base of the pronunciation of its counterpart character in Chinese at least 60 years ago. “Loong” is an all-powerful animal whose realm covers the sky and the sea. It has long been a symbol of auspice and majesty. “Loong” is imagined as something like a snake and is flowing

17、in the sky for most of the time. “Loong” is said to have the face of the horse, the horns of the deer, the ears of the ox, the body of the snake, the claws of the eagle and the scale of the fish. Chinese people regard “Loong” as god and say that they are the offspring of “Loong”. The “God of Loong”

18、of the four seas can charge the rainfalls, so we sometimes call them the god of the water or rain.1 Conversely, the dragon in western legends is considered as the flying dinosaur, which can stand on the ground with feet and fly with huge wings. They lay eggs just like dinosaurs. The dragons of the W

19、est have the ability to erupt fire, which can destroy everything, so that dragons are not welcomed at all. There are many differences between “long” and “dragon”, from outward and appearances to implied meaning from the origin of the word to the language circumstances. Understand the differences of

20、“long” and “dragon”, for our better understanding, they have very important rolesA. “Loong” in China In ancient China, there were many origins about loong, such as lizards, crocodiles and dinosaurs and so on. Loong is regarded as totem in ancient times. Chinese people in ancient times admired loong

21、though it was just an imaginary animal in the legend. The form look of loong is also close in perfect: Some people think that the Yangtze crocodile is the archetype of the dragon. However, most people hold that dragon is a combination of many animals. And the abilities of those animals have been col

22、lected to it. Wang Chong, a scholar of Han Dynasty, said Loong is a mythological creature, with the head of a camel or horse or snake, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a cow, the neck and body of a snake, the belly of a kind of huge clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of a ha

23、wk, the palm of a tiger, whiskers and a beard or been said with the head of a camel or horse, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a cow, the neck and body of a snake, the belly of a kind of huge clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of a hawk, the palm of a tiger, and without wing

24、s. It has whiskers and a beard, and is deaf. It is generally regarded as benevolent but is also the source of thunder and lightning. The Loong is a spiritual tie linking the Chinese people. The Loong, as the symbol of the Chinese nation, has become part of the Chinese culture. Chinese people are pro

25、ud to call themselves the offspring of the Loong. The Loong is translated as dragon wrongly now. In fact, Loong is so different in nature from Western Dragons that it may be more reasonable to consider them as dissimilar creatures, rather than as the same creature interpreted differently. Or used to

26、 be the symbol of Chinese kings, they were called “the son of the Loong”. While it is said that it is also a surname of Chinese people. And a new definition for long is the stage property used in The Dance of Loong.Among the unearthed cultural relics which have the history of more than five thousand

27、s years are there Jade pig dragon and Jade dragon. They are much simpler than the dragon today. We can imagine people had added more characteristics to it after the Jade dragon having been created. Then it turned to the dragon that we know now gradually. Why ancient Chinese people wanted to create a

28、 dragon? Many scholars think that it originated from the worship to animals. In remote antiquity the main human activity was hunt. So animals were what people most interested in. Ancient people had to survive from hunting animals which were the main food for them and also had to dodge the attacks wh

29、ich were the threats to their lives from fierce animals. In the course of those activities worships and fancies to the special abilities of those animals including flying in the sky, swimming in the river, walking without feet and hibernating etc. were originated. They put the special abilities toge

30、ther and created the dragon whose power were beyond all other animals. They made dragon a deity and worshiped it thereafter. Later, dragon became the symbol of power and monarch. Now it is the symbol of the whole Chinese people. In China, long is attached to a plenty of commendatory cultural meaning

31、s. Since the ancient times, long has been regarded by Chinese people as the incarnation of their ancestor. Consequently they like to think themselves as the offspring of long. Hence long has been regarded as the symbol of China and Chinese people, and China is called dong fang ju long-a huge orienta

32、l country. In China, the traditional symbols of royalty are long and feng. The word long stands for the Chinese king or emperor and feng for the queen. Therefore many things which are connected with the king or royalty contain the word long, such as long yan which means the appearance of the emperor

33、, long ti which means the body of the emperor and long pao which means the robe for the emperor. Besides, long is supposed to bring good luck as an auspicious creature. In the phrase wang zi cheng long，long means a successful person with prestige. 2 In Modern Chinese Dictionary，the original meaning

34、of long is a kind of a supernatural animal, which carries horns and whiskers and only has one head. It can make rain as wanted in legend. The second meaning is the head of animals, which can be black or bright, can be slender or coarse, can be short or long, flying to the sky in spring, and diving i

35、n the sea in autumn. In the other words, long is the head of changeable water animals, which is helpful for everything. So people awe and admire it as totem. In lunar calendar, Feb. 2nd is a traditional festival of long. On this day, people pray for spring rain and good harvest. In Modern Chinese Di

36、ctionary, it also refers to the emperor in the feudal society of china. It is recorded before Jie Zitui , who is a Chinese historical person, left Jin Dynasty, he wrote a poem,“有龙于飞，周遍天下龙返其乡，得其处所。”Long in this poem represents emperor. Long can be regarded as imagery of heroes and wise persons. There

37、 is a record in the old text The Stories of Three Countries，which says that “徐庶见先主，先主器之，诸先生曰：诸葛孔明者，卧龙也，先主岂愿见乎？” Here, Xu Shu regarded Zhuge Liang as latent long，which means that Zhuge Liang s wisdom and talent were buried. Besides, there is another phrase long pan feng yi in ancient records to demon

38、strate wise persons who are not known by most people. Long in the ancient times also meant noble steed.In modern Chinese, long in some phrases has lost its original meaning, and got meanings of trope. Such as, the phrase shui long tou, which looks like long. The phrase yi tiao long is not a real lon

39、g, but series of good methods or ways. Besides, long juan feng and che shui ma long all mean trope.B. “Dragon” in the WestThe dragon is often a symbol of devil to westerners. They regard the dragon as a fierce monster that can destroy some other things. Therefore, in their opinion, it can make many

40、disasters. There are several stories of saints or heroes dealing with the struggles against such monsters, which in most cases are killed in the end. The most notable story perhaps is the story of Beowulf. An Anglo-Saxon epic around the year of 700 A.D., tells how the hero Beowulf defeats a monster

41、called Grandel, but he is eventually mortally wounded during the process of slayingadragon.3 In Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, dragon is a mythical monster traditionally represented as a gigantic reptile having a lions claws, the tail of a serpent, wings, and a scaly skin. Most Western drag

42、ons live in caves or mountains or hidden away in the forests. They often guard a stash of gold. Western dragons are often used to symbolize greed. Dragon has wings, but most of loong has not wings. But Ying Loong has huge wings as bat. Loong will become Ying Loong after a one-thousand-years self-tem

43、pering. Dragon has the power to breathe out fire, but loong is thought the source of wind and rain. Most of dragons have dark and thickset bodies, loongs have slender bodies and golden or colorful colors. Dragon is the symbol of devil, which can be seen in many western films. For example, in the fil

44、m Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a cruel characterdragon. Most people know that Harry Potter is a righteous boy. In this movie, he fights against the dragon to stop it from destroying the world. In another cartoon film Shrek the Third, whose end is very different from other similar fi

45、lms, there is a very cruel dragon named Boss. In the film Boss always hurts others. There is another film about dragon-Region of Fire. In this movie, after the dragon was waked by others, he begins to destroy the world for a long time. Many people are killed by him. In the film Dragon Heart, because

46、 the figure has a half of heat from dragon, he becomes a very rude person. At last, he gets his nemesis. From these films, dragon is well known to appear with a cruel image. Western films can reflect western cultures. Of course, the characters in their films can reflect directors opinions. The image

47、 of dragon in the films is the reflection of dragon in western legend.In Bible, Satan, a devil, is called the great dragon. Revelation in The Books of The New Testament of Bible describes dragon like this: A great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his head. And war bro

48、ke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there is no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, then ancient serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 4 In Microsoft Encyclopedia, dragon is described as a legendary reptilian monster similar in form to a crocodile and usually represented as having wings, huge claws, and a fiery b