从对龙的阐释看中西文化差异
关键词: 龙；中西文化；差异
Abstract Under different cultural backgrounds, people have different understandings of the symbolic meanings of animals. Therefore, Chinese and Westerners have completely different interpretations of loong and dragon. Chinese people regard loong as a kind of mascot, and also call themselves descendant of loong. However, in Westerners’ eyes, dragon is an ugly demon and it often brings a lot of disasters to the human beings. If we don’t clarify these cultural differences, it will bring misunderstandings and barriers to cultural exchanges between Chinese and Western countries. This paper makes a comparative analysis of different conceptions between Chinese loong and Western dragon, then it analyzes the causes of cultural differences on Chinese loong and Western dragon and finally proposes some solutions to barriers in cross-cultural communication, in the hope of promoting the studies on Chinese loong and Western dragon.
Key words: loong and dragon; Chinese and Western culture; differences
On Differences of Chinese and Western Culture from the Interpretation of Loong and Dragon
Contents
摘 要 i
Abstract ii
I. Introduction 1
II. Comparison on Differences between Chinese Loong and Western Dragon 2
2.1 Conceptual Differences Between Chinese Loong and Western Dragon 2
2.1.1 The Conception of Loong in China 2
2.1.2 The Conception of Dragon in Western Countries 4
2.2 Cultural Differences between Chinese Loong and Western Dragon 5
2.2.1 Chinese Loong Culture 5
2.2.2 Western Dragon Culture 7
III. The Causes of Differences on Chinese Loong and Western Dragon 8
3.1 Environmental Causes 8
3.2 Cultural Causes 9
IV. Solutions to Barriers in Sino-Western Cultural Communication 11
4.1 Barriers Existing in Sino-Western Cultural Communication 11
4.2 Solutions to Cultural Barriers 12
V. Conclusion 13
Bibliography 15
Acknowledgments 16 I. Introduction
With the development of globalization, cultural exchanges between eastern and western countries become more and more frequent. As we all know, loong(龙) is the totem of China, Chinese people are proud of loong. But in Western countries, people regard dragon as a evil demon. The English word dragon is usually translated into Chinese as “龙” and the English translation of “龙” is usually dragon or Chinese dragon. However, such translations still need discussion so as to avoid misunderstandings in Sino-Western cultural communication.
Western and Chinese scholars have done some researches to explore the different conceptions of loong and dragon. Ezra F. Vogel, professor of Harvard University, wrote a book entitled The Four Little Dragons—The Spread of Industrialization in East Asia. Professor Wu Weixiong, council member of the Translators’ Association of China, wrote an article entitled Why “Dragon” is Translated into “Tiger”, He proposed that while assimilating foreign culture property, we should also let the outside world know our brilliant Chinese culture. However, these studies are not systematic and deep-going enough, for the cultural roots underlying such differences should be further explored to instruct the intercultural communication.
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