With the advent of the Year of the Dragon, there has been a heated debate among Chinese netizens about whether the English translation of 龙 (long) must be “Dragon” or “Long”, and the topic briefly topped the list of trending topics on Weibo.
The discussion stems from the official use of the word “loong” in translations of Chinese New Year events and reports this year in China. Shortly after the beginning of the year, China Global Television Network (CGTN), which targets English-speaking audiences, translated 龙年 to “Year Long” when reporting on Spring Festival items with dragon elements in the international commercial city of Yiwu. After that, they also translated 龙舞 (Wu long) as Loong Dance in other reports. The English name of the CCTV Festival Spring Festival mascot is 龙辰辰 (Long Chen Chen) He was also introduced as Loong Chenchen.
An article by the Shanghai Writers' Association noted that the word “loong” sounds similar to the word “long,” with the two “o”s resembling the bright, shining eyes of a dragon. She also said that the translation captures the figurative and semantic features of Chinese characters, and that the elongated word “long” better describes the long, slender shape of a dragon or dragon boat.
… Since the 13th century, 龙 in the palaces of the Yuan Dynasty were called “dragon” by foreigners.
As for why 龙 was previously translated as dragon, a Xinhua News Agency article noted that the term “dragon” appeared early in Marco Polo's voyage around the East; He may have thought that the Chinese architectural depiction of the dragon bore some similarities to the Western concept of the dragon.
The article adds that it was collected by British missionary Robert Morrison Chinese language dictionaryWhich also translates 龙 as dragon. Peng Ping, professor and vice dean of the College of English and International Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, was quoted as saying that this dictionary had a profound impact, and this translation spread among the majority of Westerners, and it still exists today.
Thus, since the 13th century, 龙 in the palaces of the Yuan Dynasty were called “dragon” by foreigners.
However, “loong” has also been used for a long time. In the early nineteenth century, British missionary Joshua Marshman mentioned in his book Elements of Chinese grammarhe still translates it as “dragon”, but it is transliterated with 龙 as “loong”, which shows that “loong” is not a term recently proposed by the Chinese, and it is not uncommon for foreigners to translate the names of unique things in countries The other.
Chinese dragons usually feature a horse's head, eagle's claws, fish scales, deer's horns, and a snake's body, and are wingless, symbolizing good luck and auspiciousness.
Dragons: Good in China, Evil in the West
So what are the differences between Western dragons and Chinese dragons? Luca Normio, a researcher at the University of Luxembourg, said in the same Xinhua News Agency article that Chinese dragons are friendly and benevolent, while Western dragons are often portrayed as monsters, so there is a clear difference. He feels it would be good to name it for a long time, because “Western dragons don't reflect Chinese culture in that way.”
British Sinologist Frances Wood also pointed out in the same article that the dragon in China is a symbol of nobility and has a very positive image, in contrast to the image of Western dragons. She believes that given the current understanding and public acceptance, it may be appropriate to translate it as “Chinese Dragon”. The Oxford English Dictionary previously had an entry for “Chinese dragon”, with annotations emphasizing the positive importance of dragons in Chinese culture.
Chinese media point out that Western dragons usually breathe fire, have large wings, are ferocious and aggressive, and are generally portrayed negatively. In contrast, Chinese dragons usually feature a horse's head, eagle's claws, fish scales, deer's horns, and a snake's body, and are wingless, symbolizing good and auspicious luck. There is a big difference between the two, so translating 龙 to “loong” is closer to the original meaning of Chinese dragon, while “dragon” is imprecise, especially considering there are precedents for translating it to “loong”.
Decades of discussion
In fact, the Chinese academic community has been discussing translations of 龙 for decades. According to research conducted more than 20 years ago by Associate Professor Huang Jie from the School of Communication at East China Normal University, translator Professor Lu Binghong was one of the first scholars in China to say that 龙 should not be translated as “dragon”.
According to an article by Huang, Lu wrote in a 1987 article that in Chinese culture, the dragon represents the emperor and symbolizes nobility. There are dragon boats, dragon lanterns, and the saying 龙凤呈祥 (dragon and phoenix bring happiness), where the dragon symbolizes happiness. There are many myths and metaphors related to dragons in China, and Chinese people are called “descendants of the dragon.” For example, the metaphor 他在县里是条龙,到了省里成了条虫 (was a dragon in the province, but a worm in the province) – here, “dragon” means power and strength, while in English “dragon” is Something violent, combative, massive, destructive. If someone says, “His wife is a dragon,” the metaphor has a negative connotation.
Huang adds in his article that later, people like Chinese anthropologist Professor Yan Yunxiang and English language expert Ji Chuangwei also said that 龙 and “dragon” should not be translated interchangeably.
Huang goes on to say that Chinese people's interest in translating 龙 dates back to November 2005, when the 2008 Beijing Olympics mascot was unveiled, and it is surprising that the dragon was not chosen despite it being the favourite. The Olympic organizing committee explained that the dragon has different connotations around the world, and the Western perception of dragons does not match the emotional importance attached to the Chinese people, which may lead to misunderstanding, so it was not suitable as an Olympic mascot. .
Huang adds that one could say that the dragon is the most important symbol in Chinese culture, and that the Olympics is a world-famous sporting event, offering the best opportunity to showcase Chinese culture. Not making the dragon the Olympic mascot suddenly made people realize the importance of translating the word 龙.
Since then, there has been controversy over the translation of 龙. During the two sessions (两会) in 2015 between the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a CPPCC member proposed further clarification on the English translation of 龙 and called for it to be translated to “loong”.
…Changing the word “dragon” to “long” reflects China’s desire to control the narrative, but is mostly intended for self-amusement. -Johnny Lau, Hong Kong current affairs commentator
Gradual literal translation of dragon
As Huang mentioned, in recent years many Chinese companies and organizations have begun to adopt this approach. For example, the English name of China's first CPU chip 龙芯 is Loongson; There is Zhejiang Long Airlines. The English title of the film 龙之战 (lit. Dragon War), produced by the National Radio and Television Administration and other units, is Long's War.
The article adds that as the character 龙 has been gradually translated, some Chinese institutions have also chosen to write certain cultural terms in a literal manner. In 2009, the Chinese National Sports Administration announced that in order to promote the global popularity and popularization of Chinese chess, the English transliteration “xiangqi” would be used instead of the previously popular Chinese chess. Another example is 粽子, which was officially translated to “zongzi” in English in 2020, and not “rice dumpling” as before.
The Yangtze Evening Post quoted Cheng Shuiying, an English teacher at the School of Foreign Languages at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, who said that transliteration is a smart translation method for some proprietary terms in Chinese with traditional cultural connotations, because it allows cultural information from the source language to It will be transferred to target language readers. Besides zongzi, other examples include 功夫 (kungfu) and 豆腐 (tofu).
Translating 龙 into “loong” is becoming increasingly accepted nowadays, Cheng said.
Hu Shijin, former editor-in-chief of the Global Times, wrote on February 8 that as China moves toward and embraces the world, the “long” image reshaping process will continue. “It is a long-term and challenging process to change mindsets,” he said.
There is now a global demand, including from the West, to understand “the power of China,” Hu wrote, though some still view China’s rise as a dragon-like threat. Like it or not, they have to adapt to a new form of globalization and coexist with China. “Eventually, they will see from China's development that 'long' is not 'dragon.'
Johnny Lau, a Hong Kong current affairs commentator, believes that changing the word “dragon” to “long” reflects China's desire to control the narrative, but is mostly for self-amusement. In an interview with BBC China, he explained that such practices violate established linguistic norms, and believes the word “loong” is unlikely to become mainstream usage around the world. “Language is dynamic and evolves over time. If all words have to be traced back to the original language, that is not a modern way of thinking.
However, discussions about translating 龙 are still growing in international circles, demonstrating the spread of Chinese culture.
But if the English translation of the Chinese word 龙 is one day confirmed as “loong” instead of “dragon,” what should the Chinese translation of the Western word “dragon” be?
This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao under the headline “China plans to rename Dragon Loong?”.
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