| What's the truth? | |
|---|---|
| Dec 12, 2006 23:33 |   |
 | Recently on Chinese TV there's been a hot topic...about the Chinese Dragon. Or Long. Or Loong, as some websites call/spell it. With the impending arrival of the Olympics and other such international face-making opportunities for China, the Chinese have apparently been thinking a LOT about the kinds of symbols that represent them. And they have decided AGAINST the Dragon...not for any national reasons, but because they feel that the Western countries perceive Dragons as dangerous, evil and threatening. So the Chinese believe Westerners will think the Chinese are also like this... But, as a Western woman, I TOTALLY don't agree! I think Dragons are cool, and in recent years there have been a lot of films and stories etc. that have been released portraying Dragons as totally awesome. And, even if someone does believe that Dragon=bad, they usually know enough that the Chinese Dragon is different from our castle-knight variety of Dragon...and thus wouldn't make the assumption that Dragon=Bad therefore Chinese=Bad. How/why have the Chinese changed something so precious to their culture based on, what I believe, is a misconception of what Westerners believe? What do you all think? How do you feel about the Dragon? Do you agree that Westerners believe Dragons are evil and bad? |
| Dec 13, 2006 00:09 | #1 |
| It's ridiculous!!! Why don't they change our base or route???I think Dragon is cool,I totally agree with you in this point,Stocktov. And it also means strong and powerful,I like it very much. I also heard some western friends told me that Dragon is evil in the west!But why China cater to the other countries' taste??? |
| Dec 13, 2006 01:24 | #2 |
| 'Father' word not good for me and heartily good for the Western people. Will they stop use the word hearing this news? Dragon - A long cultural historical sign of China. I am not in favor to change it |
| Dec 13, 2006 18:24 | #3 |
| If you are correct about the Chinese government moving to disassociate China from the Dragon, it is a sad thing. Where will the cultural concessions end? Hasn't new money, TVs, cell phones, personal cars, and hip clothing done enough damage to the culture already? OYE! |
| Dec 13, 2006 20:41 | #4 |
| I don't understand why most Asian Govenments are so concern about what the Westerners think. The Chinese Dragon is part of China for so many centuries and is so uniquely Chinese why change this identity or symbol? Let the Western countries understand what it is. Do not change your identity just because of what the Western Countries think. |
| Dec 15, 2006 00:35 | #5 |
| Hi guys/gals, Relax. It is not a government thing. There are some experts discussing this issue publicly, but soon their opinion were disproved by others. I like Chinese Dragon, and I also can't believe that such ridiculous things can be talked by those so-called experts. Chinese Dragon is totally another thing compared to western one. The only thing they share is the name, which I believe should be a translation misunderstanding. Maybe change the English name of Chinese dragon is a better idea. To the case of Chinese catering foreigner/foreign countries, I think it is because that we Chinese are still not confident enough. Foreign moon is even brighter, someone believes. We still don't have enough confidence, tolerance and sublimity. |
| Dec 15, 2006 02:32 | #6 |
| as one chinese, i oppose to change very much.most of chinese also don't agree.Dragon stand for china for thousands years, but some chinese cater to western people. every Spring festival, we have Lion and Drangon Dance,we have change? |
| Dec 16, 2006 08:53 | #7 |
| I am pleased by what May says. The dragon was a symbol of danger in the past, for example England's Patron Saint (a traditional religious thing) St George who was said to have slayed the bad dragon ...and probably saved a beautiful young lady at the same time! I would guess that these days few children in England know about this....BUT they may well know of Chinese dragons and Chinese New Year celebrations are shown on TV news each year. So there is no reason to think that China's reputation will suffer if it talks about dragons...in fact it is part of the intrigue. |
| Apr 25, 2007 22:48 | #8 |
| First: the Western people will have to learn the Story of Dragon before say something good or bad about that. |
| Apr 27, 2007 08:44 | #9 |
| Since we can accept the traditional Chinese words as Kongfu,Tofu,Taiji (with the Chinese pronunciation),why not accept Loong? The word Dragon is really easy to make people misunderstand its meaning by the first time. http://blog.smmail.cn/ http://www.loong.cn/ |
| Apr 27, 2007 09:19 | #10 |
| I saw a TV show recently called, "Dragons made real." It was done in a Discovery channel format - actually Animal Planet. Very scientific. I enjoyed the show immensely...but was uncomfortable with the presentation appearing so scientifically authentic. A number of times during the program I asked myself, "Could scientists really have discovered true dragon fossils???" The after-program did set the record straight - but the show really had me going.... Here is a link to the TV program commercial: http://animal.discovery.com/ |
Page 1 of 2 < Previous Next > Page:
Post a Reply to: What's the truth?
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.