中西方龙文化差异对比研究

中西方龙文化差异对比研究

A Contrastive Study on the Differences between Chinese and

Western Dragon Culture

摘

要

上下数 千年，

龙已渗透了中国社会的各个方面，

成为一种文化的凝聚和 积淀。

现如今，龙文化已是中华民族文化的象征，中国人也因身为

“

龙的传人

”

而骄傲。

龙文化在中国传统文化中占有重要的地位，

每一个致力于学习和传播中国文化 的

人都要对中国龙文化有一定的了解。

然而，

< br>在西方的文化中，

龙却是邪恶的代表，

是撒旦的化身。尤 其在二十世纪九十年代，

西方人对于龙形象的误解。

但是由于< /p>

中国的国际地位的提升，

中西方文化的交流变得更多，

形象有了更加深入的认识。

随着时间的变化，

通过对于文学甚至电影中龙形象的

了解，对 于西方龙的认识也发生了改变。因此本文从东西方龙的起源、形象及其

象征意义入手，对 东西方龙文化进行对比。加强东西方文化的深入了解和探讨。

关键词

：龙

;

起源

;

形象

;

象征意义

i

Abstract

Up and down for thousands of years, the Chinese dragon which penetrated all

aspects of society has become a culture of accumulation and cohesion. And nowadays,

dragon culture is a symbol of Chinese culture, what`s more, Chinese around the world,

proud

ly proclaim themselves “the offspring of the dragon”. On the contrary, dragon in

western

culture

is

the

representative

of

evil

and

the

incarnation

of

Satan.

What`s

worse, westerner thinks that defeating the dragon is their mission. However, due to the

prom

otion

of

China’s

international

status,

there

are

more

and

more

communication

between

Chinese

and

western

culture.

These

interactions

give

western

people

opportunities to deeply understanding images of Chinese dragon. With the time goes

by,

Chinese

people

also

have

new

recognition

of

western

dragon

through

literature

and movies. Because of these differences, this thesis tries to make a contrastive study

on

the

differences

between

Chinese

and

western

dragon

culture

from

their

origins,

images and symbolic meanings. It also introduces the different recognition of different

dragon cultures.

Key words

: Dragon;Origin;Image;Symbolic Meaning

ii

Outline

I. Introduction

II. Origins of Dragon

A. The Definition

B. The Image

C. Different Symbolic Meanings of Dragon

III. Different symbolize meanings of dragon

A. Dragon in Proverbs and idioms

1. Chinese dragon

2. Western dragon

B. Dragon in Myths and Legends

1. Chinese dragon

2. Western dragon

C. Dragon in Movies

1. Dragon in Chinese Movies

2. Dragon in western Movies

D. The reasons for different dragon cultures

Ⅳ

. Different recognition of dragon culture

A. The western recognition of Chinese dragon

B. The recognition of western dragon in China

Ⅴ

. Conclusion

iii

A Contrastive Study on the Differences between Chinese and Western

Dragon Culture

I. Introduction

For thousands of years, the dragon has infiltrated all aspects of Chinese society

and

become

a

kind

of

culture

and

heritage.

Dragon

culture

as

an

important

part

of

Chinese traditional culture has deeply roots in Chinese culture. In the entire history of

Chinese

civilization,

Dragon

culture

has

been

an

integral

part

of

its

continuous

development and improvement. Dragon, involved in the process of accumulation of

western civilization, however, formed a distinctive dragon culture.

Because

of

cultural

differences,

western

people

are

different

from

Chinese

people

in

understanding

and

using

dragon

images.

Therefore,

this

thesis

tries

to

compare

and

contrast

the

differences

between

western

and

Chinese

dragon

culture

with

an

aim

to

allow

people

to

truly

understand

the

meaning

of

dragon

culture

in

cross- culture communication.

What’s

more,

the

dragon

culture

still

influences

many

aspects

of

western

and

Chinese

society,

such

as

literature,

film

and

television

works,

clothing.

Therefore,

understanding

the

differences

between

Chinese

and

Western

dragon

culture

contributes

to

understanding

the

different

cultural

backgrounds

and

knowing

more

implied meaning of the dragon. In addition, it’s better to exchange and communicate

in cross-culture communication.

II. Origins of Dragon

As the most common animal in the legends, dragon does not actually exist, even

none ever did exist; it is an imaginary animal. However, few people know the origins

of both Chinese and western dragon accurately. This part tries to introduce the

different origins of dragon through their different definitions and images.

A. The Definition

A

dragon

is

a

legendary

creature,

typically

with

serpentine

or

reptilian

traits,

that features in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions

of dragons: the European dragons and Chinese dragon.

The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from

Old

French

dragon,

which

in

turn

comes

from

Latin

draconem

(nominative

draco)

meaning

“huge

serpent,

dragon”

from

the

Greek

word,

drakon

(genitive

drakontos)

“serpent, giant seafish” .Western dragon also means a fiercely vigilant or intractable

person or something dangerous.

In Chinese culture, the dragon is the combination of many animals, a symbol of

the totem worship in the primitive society. In ancient times, people could not have a

reasonable

explanation

of

most

natural

phenomena

so

they

use

natural

animals

as

totems.

And Chinese dragons

traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious

powers,

particularly control water, rainfall, hurricane, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol

of

power,

strength,

and

good

luck

for

people

who

are

worthy

of

it.

With

this,

the

Emperor

of

China

usually

used

the

dragon

as

a

symbol

of

his

imperial

power

and

strength.

B. The Image

For

Chinese

dragons

or

western

dragons,

they

have

varied

appearances.

The

paper will show their most representative images. As for western dragon, a mythical

monster traditionally represented as a gigantic reptile having a lion claws and the tail

of a serpent, wings, and a scaly skin. The earliest record of western dragon is William

Tyndale’s The New Testament. It is a great red dragon with the image as that it has

seven heads and ten horns and on its heads seven diadems; and its tail drew the third

part of the stars of heaven; and cast them to the earth. It has a strong power that can

breathe out fire. However, dragon in the Chinese history is a totem image. In Beijing,

Beihai Park, there is a wall called “Nine

-

dragon Wall”. The dragon has

27 meters long,

2

5

meters

high,

1.2

meters

thick.

The

Chinese

dragon’s

image

combine

camel’s

or

horse’s head, deer’s horns, rabbit’s eyes, bull’s ears, snake’s neck, clam’s belly, fish’s

scales, hawk’s claws and tiger’s palms together. In addition, its mout

h looks like an

alligator’s mouth, horse’s manes and fish’s tail.

All in all, its image most like a snake

but has four claws. Dragon, an omnipotent animal, both in the air and underground

can make clouds and bring them rain.

The

greatest

difference between

Chinese and

western dragon image is that one has wings, but the other does not.

III. Differences between Chinese and Western dragon culture

Thousands

years

ago,

western

and

Chinese

ancestors

respectively

gave

the

dragon

different

symbolic

meanings.

The

different

symbolic

meanings

caused

a

lot

of

misunderstandings. Chinese introduced themselves “the descendants of the dragon”,

however, the western dragon has different understanding of Chinese dragon and their

own dragon images. Therefore, this part will describe the differences between Chinese

and

western

dragon

culture

from

proverbs,

idioms,

myths

and

legends

and

movies.

Also, I will analysis the causes of different dragon cultures.

A. Dragon in Proverbs and Idioms

e dragon

There are varied proverbs and idioms about Chinese dragon and western dragon.

In

China,

most

of

dragon`s

meanings

are

positive

and

inspiring.

If

a

couple

get

married,

Chinese

will

say

“lóngfèngchéngxiáng

(

龙

凤

呈

祥

)”

to

bless

them.

Ló

ngfè