中国龙与西方dragon文化对比
dragon在中国和西方国家的不同含义
dragon在中国和西方国家的不同含义
在中国文化中，龙（dragon）是一种神圣和吉祥的象征。
在中
国传统文化中，龙被视为最高的动物，被认为是天子的象征，代表着权力、尊贵和荣耀。
在中国传统艺术、建筑和文化节日中，龙常常出现，如龙舟节、舞龙表演等。
此外，龙也被视为带来雨水和水灾的象征，与水和雨相联系。
在西方文化中，龙通常被描绘为一种巨大的、有翅膀的爬行动物，带着火焰喷射的能力，并与勇气、力量和战斗精神联系在一起。
在西方神话和传说中，龙常常是恶龙的形象，代表邪恶、危险和毁灭。
西方的龙在文学、电影和游戏中也被广泛使用，如《哈利·波特》系列中的龙、《权力的游戏》中的龙等。
两种文化中的龙形象有着不同的象征意义，但都在各自的文化中扮演着重要的角色，并成为文化、信仰和艺术的重要元素。
中西方龙文化的差异作文
中西方龙文化的差异作文
《中西方龙文化的差异》
哎呀呀，说到龙文化呀，那可真是很有意思呢！我记得有一次，我去参加一个动漫展。
展会上有各种动漫角色的展示和表演。
在那里呀，我看到了两种不同风格的龙的形象。
一边呢，是那种西方龙的造型，大大的翅膀，长长的尾巴，还会喷火呢，看起来特别霸气，就像是从魔幻电影里走出来的一样。
人们看到它都忍不住发出惊叹声，觉得好酷好威风啊！好多小朋友都围在那里拍照，眼睛里满是新奇和兴奋。
然后呢，我又在另一边看到了中国龙的展示。
哇，那长长的身子蜿蜒盘旋，五彩的鳞片闪闪发光，那龙须飘荡着，透露着一种神圣的气息。
和西方龙的那种凶猛不同，中国龙更多的是一种威严和祥瑞的感觉。
它仿佛是从天而降的神灵，让人忍不住心生敬畏。
说起来，这中西方的龙差别可真大呀！西方龙常常被描绘成凶猛的怪兽，代表着邪恶和力量的象征；而咱中国的龙呢，那可是高贵、吉祥、权威的代表呀，是能带来福气和好运的呢！就像在咱中国传统文化里，龙总是和一些重大的事情联系在一起，什么皇帝穿龙袍呀，龙能行云布雨呀。
总之呀，那次在动漫展上的经历让我对中西方龙文化的差异有了更深刻的认识呢！这不同的文化塑造出的龙还真是各有各的特点呀，真的是太有趣啦！
这就是我对中西方龙文化差异的一点小小的观察和感受，嘿嘿！。
从中西“龙”的文化差异,看“龙”的翻译
从中西“龙”的文化差异,看“龙”的翻译摘要:“龙”在中国不单是一个图腾,更有着很深的文化底蕴,把中国“龙”译为西方的“dragon”,既忽视了两种文化的不同内涵,也不符合时代精神。
本文从中西“龙”的历史渊源和文化内涵入手,指出中西“龙”文化的差异,进而提出把“龙”翻译为“Loong”更符合中国“龙”的本色。
关键词:龙;文化;翻译“龙”在中国不单是一个图腾,更有着很深的文化底蕴。
毫不夸张地说,龙是中国文化的重要组成部分,是中国的象征。
如果没有了龙,中国的文化传统乃至语言文字都会显得苍白无力。
而在西方文化中却不然,这体现了中西文化间的差异。
因此,把中国“龙”译为“dragon”,既忽视了两种文化的不同内涵,也不符合时代精神。
本文从中西“龙”的历史渊源和文化内涵入手,指出中西“龙”文化的差异,进而提出把“龙”译为“Loong”更符合中国“龙”的本色。
1.中国龙的历史渊源及文化内涵中国是龙文化的故乡,历史上关于龙的传说更是源远流长。
据《山海经·海内东经》载,“雷泽中有雷神,龙首而人头,鼓其腹,在吴西。
”《史记·五帝本纪》载,“黄帝有熊国君……生日角龙颜,有景云之瑞,以土德王,故日黄帝。
”又载,“神农氏,姜姓也。
母曰任姒,有蟠氏女。
登为少典妃,游华阳,有神龙首,感生炎帝。
人身牛首,长放姜水。
有圣德,以火德王,故号炎帝。
”《国语·晋语》则载,“黄帝以姬水成,炎帝以姜水成……故黄帝为姬,炎帝为姜”,这便进一步构成了普天下所有的炎黄子孙、华夏儿女都称自己是“龙”的传人、“龙”的子孙的由来。
“龙”是中国民间信仰中最神圣的神异瑞兽,被赋予强大的生命力。
在《说文解字》中:“龙,麟虫之长,能幽能明,能大能小,能长能短,春分而登天,秋分而入渊。
”不仅如此,龙还能兴云布雨、化育万物,具有无可估量的创造力。
封建社会中,“龙”成了帝王的象征。
皇帝称为“真龙天子”。
皇帝的一切御用之物也均冠以“龙”字,皇帝的容貌是龙颜、鼻子是龙准、宝座是龙座、帝铺是龙床、外衣是龙袍等。
中西方“龙”文化对比
文化长廊中西方“龙”文化对比朱祝新 湖北工业大学外国语学院唐卫红 湖北工业大学外国语学院摘 要：在跨文化交流过程中，中国“龙”文化往往被认为与西方“dragon”文化相似。
但是，由于“dragon”文化充斥着消极邪恶的气息，导致部分不明真相的外国友人误会了中国“龙”文化，并造成“龙”的文化形象一落千丈。
为了消除人们对“龙”文化的刻板印象，加深人们对中国“龙”文化的了解，本文从词语“龙”与“dragon”的使用范围、发展历程和象征意义等方面出发，深入阐述并剖析二者之间的差异。
关键词：龙；dragon；文化作者简介：朱祝新（1995.9-），女，汉族，安徽安庆人，湖北工业大学外国语学院18级在读研究生，硕士学位，专业：汉语国际教育，研究方向：二语习得、跨文化交际；唐卫红(1975.8-)，女，汉族，湖南蓝山人，湖北工业大学外国语学院副教授，硕士，专业：外国语言学及应用语言学，研究方向：二语习得、跨文化交际。
[中图分类号]：G125 [文献标识码]：A[文章编号]：1002-2139(2019)-23-162-021、引言“龙”是中华民族的象征，“龙的传人”是中华儿女的自称，“龙”是民族自信心的源头。
然而，在文化输出的过程中，“龙”却与西方“dragon”相对应，这种对应与事实不符，它忽略了中国“龙”与西方“dragon”在文化内涵方面的差异，造成了“龙”的文化误读现象，这种现象的出现导致中国“龙”形象受损，在一定程度上打击了中国人民的文化自信，如2006年出现的“弃龙风波”和2008年“龙”落选奥运会吉祥物，反映了部分中国人开始自我怀疑，甚至自我否定。
所以，为了加深人们对中国“龙”文化的了解，本文从词语“龙”与“dragon”的使用范围、发展历程和象征意义等方面出发，深入阐述并剖析二者之间的差异。
2、词语“龙”在使用范围方面的不对称文化影响着语言，语言承载着文化，不同的语言所承载者的文化内涵也不同，因此在中文“龙”与英文“dragon”中所承载的文化内涵并不相同，其使用范围亦有所不同。
西方的龙文化揭秘中西方的龙文化对比
西方的龙文化揭秘，中西方的龙文化对比龙在中西方人眼中的文化完全不同，在中国文化中，龙往往指的是一种能够升云起雨，神秘莫测的神兽。
而在西方，dragon被描述为一种巨型怪兽，形似鳄鱼，身披鳞甲，长有巨爪和翅膀，能游水能飞行，还能喷火，凶猛异常，破坏力极大，因此龙在西方属于邪恶的动物。
那么，中西方的龙文化到底存在着哪些差异呢？下面的文章就为您全面阐述。
西方的龙文化西方的龙有着虚幻和事实的两种。
但是西方的文化很大一部分源于现实，那就是说唯物主义比较严重，所以西方的龙是现代恐龙部分的延伸，乃至于意义也是如此。
而且西方圣经中将龙作为了一种怪兽，所以西方很大意义上对圣经的依赖，导致了西方思想对龙的批判。
我看到西方人对中国龙也进行了宣传片，将中国的龙按照我们历史上的描写和他们的想法，做出来了一个纪录片，当然，西方人的描写很现实，把龙描写成了一个真实的怪兽。
中西方的龙文化对比中国的龙和西方的龙长相不一样，文化不一样。
在中国，龙是吉祥的象征；在西方的神话传说中，龙却象征着一种需要靠力量和智慧征服的兽性。
在中国，龙基本上被认为是一种祥瑞之兽。
中国人心中的龙常常是神，或者是神人的坐骑，《礼记·礼运篇》中，龙被称为“龙、麟、凤、龟”四灵之首。
在中国，龙的历史源远流长。
1987年在河南省淄阳发掘了一处距今6000多年的仰韶文化早期的大墓，在男性墓主人身边出土了一条用蚌壳堆塑的龙，人称“中华第一龙”。
内蒙古还出土过一个样子很漂亮的玉龙，它的身体细长，弯曲成C形，龙头很像猪。
这个猪头形玉龙也有5000多年的历史了。
商周时期，龙常常出现在青铜器和骨器上。
那时的甲玉龙（中国西北部的内蒙古出土）骨文中就有“龙”字，“龙”字的写法有100多种。
2000多年前的战国时期，龙多次被生动地描绘在帛画上。
到了汉代，龙的样子就跟我们今天见到的龙差不多了。
以后，经过各个朝代的加工，龙的样子越来越威武神气了。
“角似鹿、头似驼、眼似兔、项似蛇、腹似蜃、鳞似鱼、爪似鹰、掌似虎、形似牛”，龙的样子不同于自然界中的任何一种动物。
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 andWestern 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，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。
但是由于中国的国际地位的提升，中西方文化的交流变得更多，使得西方人对于中国龙的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AbstractUp 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, proudly 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 promotion 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 MeaningOutlineI. IntroductionII. Origins of DragonA. The DefinitionB. The ImageC. Different Symbolic Meanings of Dragon III. Different symbolize meanings of dragonA. Dragon in Proverbs and idioms1. Chinese dragon2. Western dragonB. Dragon in Myths and Legends1.Chinese dragon2.Western dragonC. Dragon in Movies1.Dragon in Chinese Movies2.Dragon in western MoviesD. The reasons for different dragon cultures Ⅳ. Different recognition of dragon cultureA. The western recognition of Chinese dragonB. The recognition of western dragon in China Ⅳ. ConclusionA Contrastive Study on the Differences between Chinese and WesternDragon CultureI. IntroductionFor 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 DragonAs 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 DefinitionA 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 ImageFor 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,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 mouth 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 cultureThousands 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 Idioms1.Chinese dragonThere 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. Lóngfèngchéngxiáng is a phrase which means dragon and phoenix could bring bliss and auspiciousness. It can also be used as an adjective to describe the love between couples. If they have baby, people would like to bless the baby “shēnglónghuóhǔ (生龙活虎)” and “lóngmǎjīngshén (龙马精神)”. These two phrases exhibit that baby will be like the dragon and tiger full of energy and vigor. Also, in our country, most parents look forward their children to having successful career and life. This situationshould be called “wàngzǐchénglóng (望子成龙)”. What`s more, if their children find a good job or pass in university entrance examination, people call this situation “lǐyǘtiàolóngmén (鲤鱼跳龙门)”. It means a carp could finally be a dragon after its insistent efforts of leaping into the dragon gate. After their daughter grows up, they hope to find a son-in-law of high rank. To describe a respectable son-in-law, people usually use “chénglóngkuaìxǜ (乘龙快婿)” whose literal meaning is that a well-content son-in-law is just like riding a dragon and bringing happiness. If the son-in-law has an elegant handwriting, then the elegant handwriting can be called “Lóngfēifèngwǔ (龙飞凤舞)”. This phrase also means the generous mountains. Although the dragon always means auspicious and blissful things in Chinese culture, sometimes it is still not amiable and approachable to civilians. For example, when people encounter a hazardous places or situation, they often use the phrase “lóngtánhǔxuè (龙潭虎穴)” which means the deep pond and cave where a dragon and a tiger live can be easily used to describe.2.Western dragonOn the contrary, western dragon is regarded as evil, and its symbolic meaning are all derogative and negative. For example, if someone has got the “dragon”, he needs to brush his teeth, because here “dragon” just means bad breath. In another case, when you find a man wearing a pink skirt and blue heels with purple highs, you may want to “dragon” his outfit, or say, “That guy’s outfit is so ‘dragon’.” which means the outfit makes you feel sick. It is so disgusting. Dragon can refer to those impenetrable women vividly. For instance, “She is a real dragon. You`d better keep away from her.” “Dragon” in this sentence has a metaphor meaning of shrew. If you call a woman “dragon”, you mean that she is unpleasant and fierce. For example, “She is a bit of dragon around this place.” A “dragon lady” can be paraphrased as a woman behind the ruler. It means a woman whose identity is the wife of the ruler, and she has much great power just like a female dictator. In Chinese history, there are many descriptions of the “dragon lady”. And it would be really funny if someone takes its translation forgranted as “xiǎolóngnǚ (小龙女)” because they are completely different. In English slang, the phrase “chasing the dragon” means smoking heroin and inhaling the fumes. This slang derives from the description about dragon of ancient legends. Since a dragon can breathe out fire and smoke, someone taking the heroin is like chasing the dragon. Another phrase “dragon teeth” originated from the Greek tale of hero Cadmus. Cadmus killed a fierce dragon and sowed its teeth into a land. Soon after, the dragon`s teeth became some warriors and jumped out from the land to attack Cadmus. Cadmus cast a huge rock among the warriors and these warriors began to kill each other. Therefore, “dragon’s teeth” has a connotation of killing each other and “sowing dragon’s teeth” has a metaphor of disharmony or conflicts .B.Dragon in Myths and Legends1. In Chinese mythologyIn Chinese mythology, dragon is a magical animal which is changeable, and specializes in control over water, rainfall, hurricane, and floods and benefits the crops. According to Dadailiji(大戴礼记), the body of dragon can be changeable, either short or long, slim or huge, dark or bright. In spring, dragon flies in the sky; in autumn, dragon swims in the deep. In Ciyuan(Etymology), there are four patron saints---dragon, phoenix, kylin, tortoise. Dragon is the head of the scale insects. Three Emperors and Five Sovereigns (三皇五帝) in the legend and Shennong（神农）, Nvwa, according to ancient records are related with the dragon. Therefore, dragon became the symbol of the imperial power. Emperors always regard themselves as son of dragon and their clothes is decorated with dragons which are called dragon robe. In the book of Chuqiuhechengtu(春秋合诚图), it was recorded that Rao(Chinese emperor) was born by his mother QingDou with his father “a dragon”. What’s more, the Yu(禹)’s father was said to be Huang Dragon. And the dragon helped him to dredge river, so that he could be an emperor. In Han Dynasty, Liu Bang(刘邦) in order to strength his regime and imperial power, coined a legend “His mother dreamed a dragon when she gave birth to LiuBang”, putting himself on the sacred aura. In ourfamous traditional novel Journey to the West to, there are four dragons to make seasonable weather for crop raising. When Sun Wukong(孙悟空), the monkey who protect his master Tang Seng(唐僧) needed water to put out a fire, he asked the king of dragon who control rain to help. So, the dragon also means the kind-hearted and upright which is positive.2. In western mythologyIn western mythology, dragon is the incarnation of evil and its symbolic meaning is negative and ugly. Dragon is sexual and has a hundred sons. But in China, dragon can only give birth to nine sons. In Western culture, dragon always lives in caves and likes collecting treasures especially the gold coins or diamonds so that dragon sometimes symbolize greedy. In Beowulf, dragon is burner and the treasure guard. Once a person stole a gold cup, the dragon breathed out fire to burnout the houses and crops. Finally, Beowulf duelled with dragon and perished together. In Bible, there is a red dragon made flood to pushing away the woman in order to eat her baby. It even agitated other monsters to conquer human and custody. Dragon can breathe out the fire and has a strong body and invulnerability. In German mythology, Siegfried killed a dragon named Fafnir. He took a shower with the dragon’s blood. He ate the dragon`s heart and after that he could understand the birds’ language. So the dragon symbolizes war and strong power. If the king publicize them as the dragon, they are always considered as a king who is bad and not respected. However, in England, dragon can be kind. In the story of King Arthur, the white dragon means Uther Pen-dragon, it is charity and kindness. The red dragon symbolizes V ortigern, it is evil and sinful. Fortunately, the white dragon killed the red dragon and appeared a baby named King Arthur. So, there are two dragons on the hat of English King.C.Dragon in Movies1. Dragon in Chinese MoviesDragons are often used in movies, especially in Chinese. Although dragon is notthe protagonist, its name and figure is widely used in the movies. Chinese directors like using the word dragon to name videos, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon(卧虎藏龙)、Enter the Dragon(龙争虎斗)、Dragon Travels around the World(龙游天下). Actually, these videos are not talking about the dragon, but why the directors named that? The name of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a Chinese idiom referring to hidden or unsuspected forces or powers. While traditional Chinese martial arts films usually place female characters in secondary roles. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, there are three powerful women as highlights, each of whom plays a distinct gender role. Traditionally given to men, the most intense fighting scenes are all performed by women, with one exception. Lee uses combat scenes not only to showcase the intricate martial arts but also to emphasize the will, agility, and physical strength of the female leads. It tells people that the ordinary people may have strong powers, and the dragon here refers to the ability and physical strength. The Enter the Dragon does not mean there are fights between dragon and tiger. Here the dragon and the tiger refers to two people who both have the comparable ability. Lee and Han were taught by a teacher, however, Han betrayed his teacher. Commissioned by the master, Lee attended the competition to defeated and cleaned up Han who is traitor in this story. And their battle was so called Enter the Dragon. Dragon Travels around the World describes an emperor Sima Yulong(司马玉龙)travels around his territory to looking for his mother incognito while checking the character of an official. As dragon is the symbol of emperor, people prefer to call him real dragon and the son of god rather than emperor. All in all, most dragon in Chinese videos on behalf of the person whose characters are kind, bright, powerful and honest.2.Dragon in western MoviesIn most western movies, dragon appeared to be killed and the dragonslayer was the hero respected by the masses. For example, George and the Dragon directed by Tom Reeve is a film describing a story of George and dragon. George is a lad whose father wants to kill a dragon. The father once speared into the dragon`s body unfortunately, the dragon was still alive and ate his feet. Therefore, the father insistedasking George to kill the dragon. Finally, George used his father`s lance killing the dragon and became the sage in the eye of human. Actually, the dragon never hurt others. This shows that the entire dragon is evil in their mind and necessary to be killed. Reign of Fire is a film directed by Rob Bowman. It described a boy called Quine who awakened a dragon by accident, and the dragon breathed out fire to burn everything. Finally, his mother was killed and the dragon and its descendants occupied the world. It was a war between dragon and human. However, few of movies described the bright image of dragon. In the film of Dragon Heart, a dragon shared his heart to injured prince. When the prince became a brutal king, his warrior thought it was the fault of dragon. So he decided to revenge and kill that dragon. At last, he found that it was not the fault of dragon but the prince. The dragon sacrificed himself to help overthrow the prince`s tyranny and became a star to guard the land. Therefore, the dragon here symbolized selflessness and protection.D. The reasons for different dragon culturesThe reasons for different dragon cultures are various. First, Chinese and western people have different customs and history. From the description of Chinese dragon’s definition and image, it is easy to find that dragon`s appearance is a combination of bull, deer, tiger, fish and snakes. In their views, snake is a beautiful animal. Because, in Chinese history, people were made by Nv Wa(A goddess in Chinese mythology) whose figure was human’s head with snake’s body. And in history, the ancients thought that the camel’s head symbolizes wisdom; antlers symbolize longevity; bull’s ears mean the brightest and best; the tiger’s eyes symbolize dignity; eagle symbolizes bravery; lion’s nose symbolizes wealth; horse’s teeth mean hard-working; fish’s tail symbolizes flexible, etc. All these contents are auspicious symbol. So, in Chinese, the dragon culture is full of positive energy. But it is totally different in western culture. It is negative and evil. In western culture, the dragon’s image is based on viper, and integrates many different animal characteristics which feel horror and disgust, such as crocodile, lizard, bat, toads and so forth.These animals are mostly living in deep forestand volcano which are cunning and grotesque. Therefore, the dragon in western was not welcomed and loathed by ancients. For a long time, it becomes a sign of the violence and evil.Second, Chinese and western have different mode of thinking. In ancient Chinese, people reverence nature. An important feature of Chinese traditional culture is to emphasize the harmony between man and nature, rather than men conquer nature. Even the emperor also dares to call themselves “the son of nature”, but not has the courage to overcome nature. Dragon is the creation based on the nature and the real life which ancestors put into their fear, dependent, doubts, imagination and worship of nature. In their mode of thinking, dragon can fly in the sky and swim in the ocean, make clouds and bring them rain. People worship and pray it to bring good weather, have a harvest and bless mankind. Therefore, dragon becomes a totem that people hope to get help and have strong power. On the contrary, western believe that “Men conquer nature”. Dragon as the creation of nature was the symbol of monster. It has strong power such as breathe out of fire, toxic teeth. It can kill human, damage the harvest and ruin a country. In order to protect the country, people control it and prevent it from unscrupulous, indiscriminate killing of innocent people. So, western dragon also means war.Third, Chinese and western have different religion. Before the rise of Christian civilization, the dragon in western was kind. But in 1st century AD, the Christian becomes the main denomination; the image of western dragon became evil. As the classic book of Christianity, Bible described a story in the New Testament that Archangel Michael killed the red dragon. In Bible, dragon appeared as the incarnation of the Christian enemy Satan, so in the long spirit reign of Christianity, dragon`s image had been vilified and worse. Hereafter, dragon was been defined as the incarnation of evil. Meanwhile, in the culture of Taoism which was Chinese bishop, they worshiped nature and animals. They thought that dragon can communicate with god and ghosts. Later, Buddhism was introduced into China. And they regarded dragon as a symbol of faith. After that, a lot of Dragon Temples were built in both north and south of China that become an important part of Chinese dragon image.Because of these different national history, religion, customs and ways of thinking, the understanding of Chinese and western culture, the dragon exhibit great differences. What’s worse, during the cross-cultural communication, it is easy to make misunderstanding with each other, especially the dragon’s symbolism.Ⅳ.Different recognition of dragon cultureBecause of the different culture, western people and Chinese have different understanding of their dragon cultures. Also, with the time goes by, people have new recognition of dragon culture. Chinese dragon is regarded as a god controlling the rain and water. However, western dragon is the symbol of monster and flood. They have different definitions, and images. The image of western dragon is widely acquainted and accepted by the world as evil and monster. This part will introduce the different recognition of dragon culture.A.The western recognition of Chinese dragonBecause there are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragons and the Chinese dragon. So, this part will introduce the changes of the Chinese dragon image in Europe. According to European historical documents, Mendoza’s Historia del Gran Reino de la China was the most influential Chinese monograph for Europe which published in1585. In this book, dragon was written as Serpents, so until the end of 16th century, the Europe did not have the dedicated translation of dragon. But, as the decorative patterns, beautiful dragon pattern had been used for Church’s decoration. During 17 to 18centuries, European were longing and yearning for Chinese culture. At that time, they were interested in dragon and its symbolic meaning---imperial power. They used the words “elegant, great, noble” to praise the dragon patterns. In 1735, Jean Baptiste du Halde upgraded the definition “national symbol of the Chinese”. At this time, Chinese dragon image was objectively reported, and not be deliberately vilified. On the contrary, they described the dragonimage was closely accompanied with magnificent royal style.After 18th century, European countries were competing for overseas expansion. And the negative image of Chinese bureaucracy occupied the main impression. All these bad impressions influenced the image of Chinese dragon. What`s worse, in 1860, comics named “conquer Chinese dragon” were popular in Europe. They draw a classic scene “St. George slays Dragon”, the angel handed with a lance to spear the so-called Chinese dragon which symbolizes the forces of backwardness. During this time, many western countries issued a large number of such commemorative postcards. For example, in Germany postcard “Western powers conquer China”, western soldiers were draw like St. George riding white horses, wearing silk, taking lance and spearing the huge dragon. These actions leaded to the vilification of Chinese dragon image.With the development of Chinese economy and politics, more and more people choose to study, work and live abroad. Also, there are many foreigners choose to study and work in China. From 1978-2012, the number of study abroad has increase nearly 400 thousand. And the population of American of Chinese ancestry has occupied 12% of the American total population. The population of Chinese in England and France is nearly 430 thousand. Since these people brought Chinese culture to the west, the image of Chinese dragon became bright and positive. And the foreigners who live in China has already experiencing the Chinese dragon culture. They may bring their new thoughts back to their countries. In addition, there are some famous Chinese people who are well known around the world. Li Xiaolong who studied and worked in America. His Chinese kung fu was famous for the world. Because of his name, the Chinese dragon was aware by the west. Cheng Long, another famous star was also known to the world. He was also named dragon and famous for his kung fu. Thus, the west became to know the real meaning of Chinese dragon. What’s more, 2000 was the year which meets the turn of millennium and a century, coincided with the Chinese traditional culture of Dragon Year. At this year, China held the first Chinese dragon culture and art festival. Chinese vice premier Qian Qichen published a paper to declare that Chinese dragon is the symbol of nationalstrength because of its spirit of unity and cohesion. Meanwhile, Chinese who lived in other countries also held the party to celebrate the dragon year. They brought the bright and positive dragon image to the world. In 2005, an academic exchange activity named “Chinese dragon image rectification” was held in Chinese Culture Park. This activity aimed to promote the Chinese dragon image in international level and it suggested naming the Chinese dragon as Chinese pinyin “Long”. Because of improvement of China’s international status and these different activities, more and more western people eliminate their misunderstanding and have new recognition of Chinese dragon.B. The recognition of western dragon in ChinaFrom another point of view, the Chinese people always get the information about western dragon from their movies and literature. In western culture, dragon as a symbol of evil and monster. And the strongest evidence of western dragon comes from the Bible’s Apocalypse. In fact, there are also some positive images of dragon in Bible. For example, the holy mighty angel leader, the crutch in Moses hands that save the tribe for many times, the brass snake that Jesus think could represent himself and so on. Nowadays, we can still find these content in the official bible. For the stories that already talked about many times, such as dragon rob princess, knight hero story, only could be found in the medieval European literature. Prior to this, the Celtic who were throughout the most of Western Europe and the Nordic Vikings were also worship the dragon totem like Chinese people. They consider the dragon as their national symbol and the patron saint. The Celtic descendants even put dragon on their flags today. With the development of technology, the communication throughout world becomes convenient. More and more Chinese people read both ancient and modern literature which have content of dragon image.Good and bad, good and evil, may both appears on anything. And the judgment of good and bad is often related to the position of the people themselves. This is the dialectical thought. Although there is no clear evidence that the dragon is real in theobjective world, it still leaves many imaginations in the myth and legend. People in different culture should widely absorb the knowledge of each other. With the development of our society and world, people will have new recognition of different dragon cultures.Ⅳ. ConclusionBecause of different national histories, religions, customs, ways of thinking and geographies, western dragon and Chinese dragon have many differences in definition, image and symbolic meaning. Compared with the evil and formidable western dragon, Chinese dragon is auspicious and noble. The western people misunderstand the Chinese dragon decades years ago. However, with the development of Chinese economy and politics, there are more and more people study, work and live abroad. These people are helpful to eliminating the misunderstanding of Chinese dragon. Also, many foreigners are willing to come to China and experience the Chinese culture. Therefore, on one hand, China should develop the economy first, so that Chinese international status can upgrade. Chinese should do better to show the real spirit of dragon---unity, selflessness, integrity, so that the world can realize the connotation of Chinese dragon. On the other hand, Chinese people also need to learn more about the knowledge of western dragon before the judgment.。
龙文化在中西方文化中的差异-精品文档资料
龙文化在中西方文化中的差异龙是一种令人敬畏的、由人们拼凑出来的生物，世界各地几乎都有以龙为主题的神话传说或故事。
在中国文化中，龙有着重要的地位和影响。
从距今7000多年的新石器时代，先民们对原始龙的图腾崇拜，到今天人们仍然多以带有“龙”字的成语或典故来形容生活中的美好事物。
在欧洲，龙被描绘成一种喷着火的蜥蜴般的大型爬行动物，人们不喜欢它，却又害怕它。
人们相信，在每个毁灭周期过后，它能让世界重新开始。
一、中西方龙的起源龙起源于新石器时代早期，距离今天的时间不会少于八千年。
这个时期，原始先民已不单纯地、被动地依靠上天的赏赐了，他们把猎获的野马野牛野猪等等畜养起来；也不单单吃那些是采拾得来的野果了，而是有选择地种植谷物以求收获。
生产活动使人们同大自然的接触越来越宽泛，自然界作为人之外的不可思议的力量对人们精神世界的撞击也越来越大。
他们模糊地猜测到，应当有那么一个力大无穷的，与“水”相关的“神物”主宰着指挥着操纵着管理着这些动物和天象，像一个氏族必有一个头领那样。
于是，作为对未知的自然的形象的具体化的中国龙便诞生了。
在中国的龙出现1000年左右，西方的龙才开始出现在神话传说中。
在希腊神话中，较早被提及的龙是与众神之神宙斯作战的龙形巨人，这些龙形巨人是大地女神盖亚与天神乌拉诺斯所生，他们面目狰狞，须发杂乱，身后拖着一条带鳞的尾巴。
在大部分希腊神话中，龙都是扮演着这样的反抗者角色，完全和中国龙高贵睿智的形象截然相反。
至于中西方对于龙的认知差距的产生原因，一般认为，希腊文明是西方文明的源头。
希腊文明诞生在以巴尔干半岛为中心的地中海北岸地区，那里遍地丘陵，土地贫瘠，气候多变，物产稀缺，与华夏文明诞生地优越的自然条件相去甚远。
在相对恶劣的农条件下，西方人的祖先把目光投向了大海，这就注定了他们成为海洋民族。
而由于航行过中往往会遇上蛇，蜥蜴，鳄鱼，甚至是鲨鱼，大王乌贼之类猛兽，就形成了以这些猛兽为板的龙的邪恶形象。
对比也可以知道，中西方的龙的形象差距是很大的。
龙文化差异：东方龙祥瑞，西方龙邪恶
龙文化差异：东方龙祥瑞，西方龙邪恶在中国几千年的发展过程中，形成了源远流长的“龙文化”，龙以其腾云驾雾、呼风唤雨的本领、尖利的巨爪和来无影去无踪的神秘感成为所有历代炎黄子孙的精神寄托，我们至今还自称为“龙的传人”，古代皇帝也将自己视为龙在人间的化身，所用之物皆与“龙”有关。
皇帝的座椅叫“龙椅”，身体叫“龙体”，甚至是床也叫“龙床”，可见经过历代的发展，龙在中国人的心中，已经成为了尊贵、高傲、强大的象征。
无独有偶，龙这一形象也曾出现在西方，且和我们东方的龙一样流传了近千年，唯一不同的是，西方的龙一直以来都是邪恶的象征，而中国的龙则成为祥瑞。
那么，这么巨大的差异因何而来？一、首先我们要了解的一个问题就是在东方与西方，龙文化分别有着怎样的起源东方关于龙的记载很早就散见于《山海经》、《诗经》、《楚辞》等文献中，《说文解字》对龙的解释为“鳞虫之长，能幽能明，能巨能细，春分而登天，秋分而潜渊”，从中我们可以看出，早在东汉时期，人们就已经构建出了对“龙”这一生物的基本认识，那就是龙为天下鱼和虫之首，并且形状多变，春季飞升上天，到了秋天就潜藏进水里的基本特点。
而《礼记》中对龙这一生物的地位抬得更高，直接说它是“龙、鳞、凤、龟”之首，因此在历代中国人的心目中，龙以其稀有性和能力的强大性、地位的尊贵性成为祥瑞的象征。
但是如果要深究龙文化的起源，历史学家们的观点更倾向与图腾说，即认为龙是蛇、鳄鱼、等图腾的综合，其中，又以蛇图腾为主体。
在远古氏族社会，生产力还很低下的时候，蛇图腾的家族不断征服其他家族，所以在图腾方面也接受和容纳了其他氏族的图腾，最后形成了龙。
在上世纪末的时候辽宁曾出土过一批玉龙，经过鉴定发现这应该是夏王朝时期的，由此可见早在夏朝的时候百姓就已经有了对龙这一形象的具体概念。
随后，人们将未知的事物或无法解释的异象都与龙这一神秘的生物联系到了一起。
周朝的褒姒也曾记载是踩到了龙涎的宫女后怀孕所生，可见龙在中国人的思想中可谓是万能。
中西方文化中对龙的解读的差异
中西方文化中对龙的解读的差异对现代中国人来说，龙的形象更是一种符号、一种意绪、一种血肉相联的情感，“龙的子孙”、“龙的传人”这些称谓，常令人们激动、奋发、自豪。
龙的文化除了在中华大地上传播承继外，还被远渡海外的华人带到了世界各地，在世界各国的华人居住区或中国城内，最多和最引人注目的饰物仍然是龙。
因而，“龙的传人”、“龙的国度”也获得了世界的认同。
龙是中国人的独特文化创造、观念创造、符号创造。
“龙的精神”是中华民族的象征，是中国五千年伟大历史的象征，是崛起的伟大中国人们勤劳、勇敢、不屈不挠、大胆创造、诚信和谐的立于世界民族之林的精神。
中国龙的起源，可以追溯到八千年前。
在漫长的远古岁月中，它曾作为先民们与神沟通的工具而存在，担负着村落的兴衰。
它的形象被广泛应用于祭祀器皿，承担起天神代言人的角色。
人们还用泥沙土石在田里制成龙的形象，以此求雨。
姑且把巫术与宗教因素撇开，龙的起源与原始图腾信仰也能找出不少联系。
图腾，源于印地安语，原意是“他的亲属”或“标记”。
原始氏族，对周遭的自然物象知之甚微，这样，他们就凭借着猜测，认定有那么一种具有超凡主宰能力的物种，它与降雨息息相关，控制着世界的秩序，而他们，又与这种特定的物种有着亲缘关系，因此，他们将这种动物作为本氏族的象征和保护神，并将其取名为龙，遂自称为“龙的传人”。
据古代文献记载，中国是有不少氏族曾以龙为图腾的，从远古时期黄帝、炎帝的子孙到尧、舜、禹的族人，以至再后来的吴国、越国的子民。
这些关于龙的神话虽已经过后人的修改和加工，但仍然涵载了当时的历史背景。
公元前约26世纪，黄帝和蚩尤在涿鹿掀起大战，传说中，黄帝派出了“应龙”参与对战，应龙是一种可以掌管风雨，长有翅膀的巨龙。
在中国神话里，龙到底长一个什么样子，似乎没人能说得清。
在宋代，古人明确提出了一个龙的形象：“角似鹿、头似驼、眼似兔、项似蛇、腹似蜃、鳞似鱼、爪似鹰、掌似虎、耳似牛”。
到了当代，龙的形象可塑性更强，在卡通、电影中扮演着不同的角色。
东西方的“龙”文化差异[1]
请叫Chinese＿long而不是Chinese＿dragon中国的龙（龙）都是蛇身的，而外国的龙（准确地说那个字应该是上立下电）。
不知大家注意了没有，中国的十二生肖，只有龙是世间不存在的想象的动物。
其它都是生物界实际存在的动物。
为什么我们的老祖宗会想象出“龙”这一造型？而且关于它的来源与构成，各有种的理解。
究竟应该怎样认识它呢？龙的雏型在新石器时代晚期已萌芽，是以夏族图腾为主体虚拟的想象物。
古人对它有种种解释。
有说〔tng〕蛇没有脚而能飞（见《荀子·劝学》）；有鳞的叫蛟龙，有角的叫虬〔qi囚〕龙，无角的叫螭〔chī吃〕龙。
（均见《离骚》洪补引《广雅》）有翅膀的叫应龙（《天问》王注）。
有说龙像狗像牛，《论衡》则说：“龙之像，马首蛇尾。
”还有的说龙的形状是鹿的角，牛的耳朵，驼的头，兔的眼，蛇的颈，蜃〔shè甚〕的腹，鱼的鳞，鹿的脚掌，鹰的爪子。
这显然是晚期发展了龙的形象，比最初的龙越来越复杂，被综合进去的图腾也越来越多，说明它在不断丰富发展。
对于龙的主体原形的探讨，学者们作过许多有益的研究。
有鳄鱼说、晰蜴说、马说等等。
但普遍认同龙的基调是蛇。
最初系统提出这一见解的是闻一多的名篇《伏羲考》。
龙即大蛇，蛇即小龙。
闻一多认为，蛇氏族兼并别的氏族以后，“吸收了许多别的形形色色的图腾团族（氏族），大蛇这才接受了兽类的四脚、马的头、鬣〔liè劣〕的尾、鹿的角、狗的爪、鱼的鳞和须”，而成为后来的龙。
后人在闻一多研究的基础上，作了许多丰富与补充。
考察龙，首先要弄明白，究竟什么是其基调、主干或主体原形。
简单概括一下，就是从龙一出现的初期，一直延续下去，恒定不变，而且是构成龙的主体部分，缺了它，龙就不成其为龙，这才是龙的基调、主干或主体原形。
在龙的身上，倘若抽去了蛇的躯体，那龙便不再存在了。
龙变来变去，头有时像鳄鱼，有时又像马；它的脚有时像蜥蜴足，有时又像狗爪；唯有蛇的修长的身子从未变过。