4 ms·

You might find Wikipedia a better source[0]. The etymology of the word dragon describes a giant serpent, very similar to what 龍 represents. Many different cultu

• justicezyx 5y ago
  Not convincing to me. Lots of mythical creatures share with same animal roots. That does not make them the same or equivalent.
  • Bayart 5y ago
    Westerners naturally identified the Chinese 龍 with dragons, and so did the Chinese in reverse. The people that were directly involved found them equivalent, which is what matters. Keep in mind the « Westerners » were mostly Italian, not English, and that the Dragon in question was that of Saint George's iconography [1], a serpent with wings and quite often hair. [1] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitale_da_bologna,_san_giorgio_libera_la_principessa,_1330-35_ca.,_01.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vitale_da_bologna,_s...
    • justicezyx 5y ago
      See, that's what serious discussion brings about. Now I am fully on board with the idea that dragon has a long cultural history and is appropriate to use on loong or 龙. The sad part is that the down voting is plainly distasteful. I hope people see the importance to maintain the right behavior pattern to enoucrage high quality discussion.
    • powerapple 5y ago
      It must be the first few explorers made the connection and everyone just followed. The same with many things named by Westerners. I found many things are not equivalent due to culture differences, but there is no way to translate if you don't approximate it to something in the other culture. I am just surprised that a correction has not been proposed by Chinese.