论东西方龙的文化差异.doc

本科毕业生论文The Cultural Differences BetweenEast and West on Dragon论东西方龙的文化差异院 系： 人 文 社 会 科 学 系 专 业： 英 语 学生姓名： 学 号： 指导教师： 2008年6月ContentsAcknowledgements.IAbstract.II摘要.III1 Introduction.12 The Cultures in the East and West on Dragon.5 2.1 The Cultures in the East on Dragon.5 2.1.1 Chinese Dragon.5 2.1.2 Chinese Dragon in Popular Culture.62.2 The Cultures in the West on Dragon.92.2.1 Dragon in the Western Culture.92.2.2 The Bible.103 The Cultural Differences Between the East and West on Dragon.11 3.1 The Contrast about the Origin of Dragon.12 3.2 The Contrast about the History of Dragon.14 3.3 The Contrast about legends on the Dragon.163.3.1 Legend of the Yellow Emperor.163.3.2 Legend of the Carp.163.4 Mentions of the Cultural Differences on Dragons in the Bible.174 The Reasons for the Cultural Differences.225 Conclusion.25References.27AcknowledgementsI would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mr Zhou Changjun who has advised and encouraged me during the whole process of writing the paper, showing great patience and insight. Without her guidance the thesis would be simply impossible.Likewise, my sincere thanks should be also given to the teachers who have instructed my courses and who have offered me great help during my study in Wanfang Institute of Science and Technology, Henan Polytechnic University. They are Li Aiqin, Pang Mixiang, Yan Lige, Huo Hongtao, Li Mingxin, Li Dongfeng, Zhu Baofeng, Yang Guoqi, and Chang Jianruo. I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my friends for their kind help. They are my brothers forever. Last bust not least, hearty thanks should be conveyed to all the authors from whom I have cited in this thesis.My heartfelt thanks also go to my parents for their great love and earnest concern for me. AbstractThere are many cultural differences between East and West, and the dragon cultural differences are one of them. Eastern people think that the dragon is holy and mascot, but Western people think that the dragon is evil or not good creature, so the differences views often make our communication in the state of tension if we do not know something about them. In this thesis I will talk about the East dragon and the West dragon. At last I will contrast the differences about it. I will quote some age-old legende to talk the dragon how to come into being people s mind, and affect peoples action. We cannot deny any of the cultures. Every nation has its own characteristics and its mainly through its culture that we first begin to know the nation and its characteristics. So we cannot say that this culture or custom is right and that is wrong. Equal respect should be attached to every culture in the world, even to those that are not in existence any more. We should get to learn how to coordinate the different cultures. We say the world is becoming smaller and smaller. More foreigners come and go everyday. When it is in the same country, the same city, the same neighborhood, the cultural collision is expected to be more serious. So we should try to avoid this happening. One important thing is to get some basic knowledge about the other cultures so as not to misunderstand some actions or habits of the foreigners. Key words: dragon; Beolwulf; The Bible; rian; Chinese new year; imperial authority. 中西方龙的文化差异摘要东方和西方国家存在着很多文化的差异，然而龙的文化差异只是其中的一种差异，东方人认为龙是神圣不可亵渎的，然而在西方的文化中龙却又扮演着另外一个角色，西方有的人认为龙是不好的是邪恶的，是有魔法的，如果我们不清楚这种文化差异，在我们同西方的客人交谈之中会产生各种各样的问题。在本文当中我涉及到了东西方龙的文化知识并进行了对比，同时引用一些古老的传说来说明文化在人们大脑中是如何形成的，如何来影响人们的行为。我们不能去否认任何文化，每一种文化都有自己的特点，文化本身没有对错好坏之分，我们能做的就是尊重彼此之间的文化。我们应该学习如何合作面对不同的文化差异，我们说现在世界越来越小了，许多外国人来往穿梭于每一天。当我们生活在同一个国家，同一个城市，甚至邻居，文化冲突就是一个很严重的问题了。唯一的办法就是我们要学习一些其他文化的知识，这样不至于造成误解和不理解外国人的行为和习惯。关键词：龙；贝奥武甫；圣经；雨水；中国新年；皇权。1 IntroductionThe C-shaped jade dragon of Hongshan Culture is considered the prototype of Chinese dragon.The origin of Chinese dragon is not certain, but many scholars agree that it originated from totems of different tribes in China. Some have suggested that it comes from a stylized depiction of existing animals, such as snakes, fish, or crocodiles. For example, the Banpo site of the Yangshao culture in Shanxi featured an elongated, snake-like fish motif. to be the location of the Dragon Gate. This legend is used as an allegory for the drive and effort needed to overcome obstacles and achieve success. Jade-carved dragon garment ornament from the Warring States period (403 BC-221 BC).An alternative view, advocated by He Xin, is that the early dragon depicted a species of crocodile. Specifically, Crocodylus porosus, an ancient, giant crocodile. The crocodile is known to be able to accurately sense changes in air pressure, and be able to sense coming rain. This may have been the origin of the dragons mythical attributes in controlling the weather, especially the rain. In addition, there is evidence of crocodile worship in ancient Babylonian, Indian, and Mayan civilizations. The association with the crocodile is also supported by the view in ancient times that large crocodiles are a variety of dragon. For example, in the Story of Zhou Chu, about the life of a Jin Dynasty warrior, he is said to have killed a “dragon” that infested the waters of his home village, which appears to have been a crocodile.Others have proposed that its shape is the merger of totems of various tribes as the result of the merger of tribes. The coiled snake or dragon form played an important role in early Chinese culture. Legendary figures like Nwa , Fuxi are picted as having snake bodies. Some scholars report that the first legendary Emperor of China Huang Di (Yellow Emperor) used a snake for his coat of arms. Every time he conquered another tribe, he incorporated his defeated enemys emblem into his own. That explains why the dragon appears to have features of various animals.“Coiled dragon” forms have been attributed to the Hongshan culture. Why the Hongshan peoples “coiled” their dragon motifs while other cultures did not? Possibly the sleeping dinosaur fossil may offer a suggestion, because it was discovered within the same province, Liaoning. Perhaps Hongshan peoples found additional “sleeping dinosaur” fossils.There is no direct connection between the East dragon and the Western dragon.In European folklore, a dragon is a serpentine legendary creature. The Latin word draco, as in constellation Draco, comes directly from Greek , (drákn, gazer). The word for dragon in Germanic mythology and its descendants is worm (Old English: wyrm, Old High German: wurm, Old Norse: ormr), meaning snake or serpent. In Old English wyrm means “serpent”, draca means “dragon”red. Finnish lohikäärme means directly “salmon-snake”, but the word lohi- was originally louhi- meaning crags or rocks, a “mountain snake”. Though a winged creature, the dragon is generally to be found in its underground lair, a cave that identifies it as an ancient creature of earth. Likely, the dragons of European and Mid Eastern mythology stem from the cult of snakes found in religions throughout the world. In the obove books they introduce a lot of things about the dragon cultures between the East and West, but they dont contrast the differences culture each other and not to introduce the reasons how to produce the differences, and how to face the cultural differences between East and West. I will introduce about these things in the thesis.There are many cultural differences between East and West, and the cultural differences on dragon is one of them. Chinese people think that the dragon is holy and mascot, but western people think that the dragon is belial and wick, so the different views often make our communication in the state of tension if we do not know something about them. If we want to have a good communication between East and West，We have to know something about the cultural differences. It will help us to understand western peoples action. The cutural differences come from the age-old legend. The differences old-legend create differences entironment and made the people s mind . In this thesis I will talk about the Eastern dragon and the Western dragon. At last I will contrast the differences about them. I will quote some age-old legendes to talk the process that the dragon come into being to peoples mind, and affect peoples action. It would make our communication easily.Through introduce the differences cultural on dragon between East and West , we can find that there are many differences between the East and West. So when we communicate with the foreigners we must know about the cultural differences, the drgon in the China is good and has the high position in social, but in the West country they have different views to the dragon, somebody even think that the dragon is evil. So we cannot say that this culture or custom is right and that is wrong. Equal respect should be attached to every culture in the world, even to those that are not in existence any more. The structure of the thesis:The first part is introducing the base information and study on dragon about demostic and abroad.The second part is introduing the culture on dragon in the East and in the West.The third part is introduing the differences between East and West on dragon.The four part is introduing the reasons of produing the differences beween East and West.The methololgy of the thesis: contrast, quote, survey, particularize, narrate.2 The Culture in the East and West on the Dragon2.1 The Cultures in the East on Dragon 2.1.1 Chinese DragonThe Chinese dragon is depicted as a long, scaled, snake-like creature with five claws. In contrast to the European dragon which stands on four legs and which is usually portrayed as evil, the Chinese dragon has long been a potent symbol of auspicious power in Chinese folklore and art. The Chinese dragon is traditionally also the embodiment of the concept of yang (male) and associated with the weather as the bringer of rain and water in an agriculturally water-driven nation. Its female counterpart is the Fenghuang. The Chinese dragon is the derivation of other Oriental dragons（Yan Tie, 2006: 102）.“Nine Dragons” handscroll section, by Chen Rong, 1244 AD, Song Dynasty, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.An ancient seal script form of the character for “dragon” that is now written 龙 and pronounced lng in Mandarin Chinese.The dragon is sometimes used in the West as a national emblem of China. However, this usage within both the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan is rare.Firstly, the dragon was historically the symbol of the Emperor of China. Starting with the Yuan Dynasty, regular citizens were forbidden to associate themselves with the symbol. The dragon re-emerged during the Qing Dynasty and appeared on national flags.Secondly, in European-influenced cultures, the dragon has aggressive, warlike connotations that the Chinese government wishes to avoid. It is for these reasons that the giant panda is far more often used within China as a national emblem than the dragon. In Hong Kong, however, the dragon is part of the design of Brand Hong Kong, a symbol used to promote Hong Kong as an international brand name.Many Chinese people often use the term “Descendants of the Dragon” as a sign of ethnic identity, as part of a trend started in the 1970s when different Asian nationalities were looking for animal symbols for representations. The wolf was used among the Mongols, the monkey among Tibetans(Luo Erhu, 1990: 265).In Chinese culture today, it is mostly used for decorative purposes. It is a taboo to disfigure a depiction of a dragon; for example, an advertisement campaign commissioned by Nike, which featured the American basketball player LeBron James slaying a dragon (as well as beating up an old Kung Fu master), was immediately censored by the Chinese government after public outcry over disrespect.A number of Chinese proverbs and idioms also feature references to the dragon, for example: “Hoping ones son will become a dragon” ( i.e. be as successful and powerful as a dragon).2.1.2 Chinese Dragons in Popular CultureAs a part of traditional folklore, dragons appear in a variety of mythological fiction. In the classical story Journey to the West, the son of the Dragon King of the West was condemned to serve as a horse for the travellers because of his indiscretions at a party in the heavenly court (Xa Yu, 2004: 100). The Monkey Kings cudgel R Y Bng was stolen from the Eastern (Donghai) Dragon King o gung. In Fengshen Yanyi and other stories, Nezha, the boy hero, defeats the Dragon Kings and tames the seas. Chinese dragons also appear in innumerable Japanese anime movies and TV shows, manga, and in Western political cartoons as a personification of the Peoples Republic of China. In the Kamen Rider series, a Chinese dragon is used as Kamen Rider Agito. Temeraire, the lead character in the series of books of the same name by Naomi Novik is a celestial Chinese dragon.Dragons are deeply rooted in the Chinese culture. The Chinese often consider themselves are “the descendants of the dragon”. Nobody really knows where the dragon comes from. The dragon looks like a combination of many animals. For the Chinese people, Dragons were described visually as a composite of parts from nine animals: The horns of a deer; the head of a camel; the eyes of a devil; the neck of a snake; the abdomen of a large cockle; the scales of a carp; the claws of an eagle; the paws of a tiger; and the ears of an ox. The Chinese word for Dragon is spelled out in roman characters as either lung or long（Su Xuelin, 2007: 106）. In China, the Dragon was credited with having great powers that allowed them to make rain and to control floods (by striking the river with its tail, causing it to open and thus divert the floodwaters) also Dragons are credited for transportation of humans to the celestial realms after death. Also, in China, Dragons are symbols of the natural world, adaptability, and transformation. When two dragons are placed together but turned away, they symbolize eternity via the famous Yin-Yang. Chinese emperors think they are the real dragons and the sons of heaven. Thus the beds they sleep on ar