{"id":4705,"date":"2024-02-16T17:23:50","date_gmt":"2024-02-16T09:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=4705"},"modified":"2024-02-16T17:28:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T09:28:18","slug":"happy-new-year-of-the-dragon-or-should-that-be-loong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=4705","title":{"rendered":"Happy New Year of the Dragon – or should that be \u2018Loong\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\uff08A dragon statue in Ljubljana, Slovenia, (left) and a golden Chinese dragon, or loong. The former was first portrayed a monster but was transformed into a symbolic protector of the city.. \uff09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every Lunar New Year, China ushers in a new zodiac sign from a cycle of 12 auspicious animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, it\u2019s the Year of the Dragon, or more accurately, the \u201cYear of the Loong,\u201d says Chinese state media, using its preferred term for the mythical beast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLoong\u201d has been used in the past to describe dragons, but this year it\u2019s been popularly embraced as the preferred translation of the Mandarin word for a creature long revered in Chinese culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word dragon, state media says, is heavily associated with the Western image of a vicious and fire-breathing beast, unrepresentative of the wise and peaceful folkloric creature many in China know and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese \u201cloong\u201d conjures positivity, nobleness and fortune and therefore should be distinguished linguistically from its Western cousin, state media argues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese media has dedicated coverage and airtime to promote the new nomenclature over the past week or so, though both \u201cdragon\u201d and \u201cloong\u201d are being used interchangeably in English-language reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The push comes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping in recent years has urged the country to assert more \u201ccultural confidence\u201d \u2014 part of his bid to raise China\u2019s international stature. Amid rising nationalism, Western books, movies, and other forms of perceived influence have been viewed with increasing suspicion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Chinese revelers have embraced the \u201cloong\u201d terminology, sending each other blessings of \u201cloong\u201d during the Lunar New Year \u2013 including, mostly notably, a top official from Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are all here to welcome the Year of the \u2018Loong\u2019,\u201d said the city\u2019s Chief Executive John Lee at a tourism event last week that further ignited discussion about whether to use the word dragon, or the term apparently preferred by Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\uff08People gather in front of a dragon statue at the Wong Tai Sin Taoist temple in Hong Kong on February 9, 2024. \uff09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does a \u2018loong\u2019 look like?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like their Western counterparts, \u201cloongs\u201d have sharp claws and fangs. But unlike the rough, scaly skin of some mythical Western depictions, they have elongated bodies and often shiny golden scales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A long silky mane runs down their backs, as depicted in most Chinese paintings and sculptures, and they glide effortlessly through the sky despite having no wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their eyes, round and benevolent, are believed to be the window to their soul, as the Chinese saying goes \u201cpainting the pupils when drawing dragons,\u201d meaning the image of a dragon is incomplete without the finishing touch of the eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western dragons come in many forms and shapes, from the most fearsome Smaug from The Hobbit to the cuddly version in Pete\u2019s Dragon, a 1977 Disney film that featured Elliott, a large green cartoon dragon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in a recent article, China\u2019s official state news agency Xinhua said: \u201cWestern dragons are often described as giant reptiles with wings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is much harder to liken Chinese dragons to any existing animal,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bradford Lee Eden, a scholar in fantasy writing and Dean of Library Services at Valparaiso University, Indiana, said the popular image of the Western dragon can be traced back to ancient literature and tales, elements of which have carried over to modern-day pop culture productions such as Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTraits associated with Western dragons include aggressiveness, love of gold and treasure, greedy, destroyers, and generally enemies of mankind,\u201d said Eden, the founding editor of Journal of Tolkien Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fierce Western dragons may have been based on evolutionary theories related to mankind\u2019s inner fears, he said, which \u201cresulted in an amalgam creature that could fly, breath fire, cause fear and panic by its presence, and chase on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Eastern dragons are generally seen as more contemplative, thoughtful, helpful, and lucky than their Western counterparts, said Eden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are dragons so central to the Chinese culture?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eden noted that the Chinese \u201cloong\u201d is also seen as the guardian of Chinese emperors, who wore golden \u201cdragon robes\u201d and sat on their \u201cdragon throne.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Royal palaces were adorned with paintings and carvings of dragons, decorations that can also be found in temples and shrines across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ancient Chinese also viewed themselves as the \u201cdescendants of the dragon,\u201d the same phrase used in a popular song released in the 1970s that\u2019s still sung today as a patriotic tribute to Han ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some couples try to ensure their children are born in the Year of the Dragon, a symbol of prosperity and vigor, often resulting in a bump in the country\u2019s birth rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dragon also plays an integral part of the Chinese language, often symbolizing vitality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, \u201cdragon horse vitality\u201d – or \u201clong ma jing shen\u201d in Mandarin – is a blessing people exchange during Chinese New Year to wish each other a life full of vigor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there a need to tell \u2018loongs\u2019 from Western dragons?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many on Chinese social media Weibo supported the use of the term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good thing because the west has demonized China and then put the name of one of their evil objects on our mascot, which is nothing short of being civilized,\u201d one \u200binfluential user, who has 1.8 million followers, wrote in a post liked by 4,000 others on Weibo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the accurate translation should have been \u201cLong\u201d – with a single \u201co\u201d – based on China\u2019s standard romanization, Professor Victor Mair, who specializes in Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, pointed out in his blog recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTranscribing long into English \u2018loong\u2019 would cause more problems and confusion than translating it as \u2018dragon\u2019,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mair also suggested the move to use \u201cloong\u201d appears to be driven more by politics than language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that \u201csome patriotic and political sources in the Sinosphere\u201d have been peddling the concept that the Western dragon is fearful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he said he doesn\u2019t believe that, \u201csince the typical Chinese dragon has horns, claws, fangs, gaping whiskered maw, glaring eyes, snake-like body with scales, [and is] not a creature you\u2019d like to meet in the middle of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eden, from Valparaiso University, said evil dragons exist in Eastern culture just as there are benevolent dragons in the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their portrayal depends on who\u2019s telling the story \u2013 and the message they want to convey about their society, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that this emphasis comes from nationalistic and cultural developments that arise from cultures, modern-day nations, and peoples wanting to distinguish themselves and their cultures and ideas from others, in this particular case, to focus on the differences between Eastern and Western society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\uff08A dragon statue in Ljubljana, Slovenia, (left) and a golden Chinese dragon, or loong. The former was first portrayed a monster but was transformed into a symbolic protector of the city.. \uff09 Every Lunar New Year, China ushers in a new zodiac sign from a cycle of 12 auspicious animals. This year, it\u2019s the Year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-point"],"yoast_head":"\nHappy New Year of the Dragon - or should that be \u2018Loong\u2019? - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=4705\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Happy New Year of the Dragon - or should that be \u2018Loong\u2019? - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\uff08A dragon statue in Ljubljana, Slovenia, (left) and a golden Chinese dragon, or loong. 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