为迎接新年,China Daily特别推出了一期关于龙年工艺美术展的报道。这个工艺美术展的英文标题引起了我们的注意:
Welcoming the Loong Year!
按照我们过去翻译属相年的习惯,“龙年”一般会被翻译成:
the year of the Chinese dragon或Dragon Year或Year of the Dragon
这里为什么用Loong呢?
Loong,也可以写作Long,是“中国龙”的英文翻译。
早在清朝末期,在美华人就将“中国龙”译作Loong,以和西方的dragon区别开来。新加坡总理李显龙的英文名也翻译成Lee Hsien Loong。
在我国古代传说中,龙角似鹿,头似驼、眼似兔、项似蛇、腹似蜃、鳞似鱼、爪似鹰、掌似虎、耳似牛,是一种能行云布雨的神异动物,封建时期是皇帝的专属象征。
而西方的dragon被描述为“a large aggressive animal with wings and a long tail that can breathe out fire(一种具有攻击性的大型动物,长着翅膀和长尾巴,可以喷火)”。与我们代表祥瑞安和的龙截然不同。
所以,为了表现出我们地地道道的中国文化,“龙年”翻译成Loong Year!
接下来,我们再来了解一些关于Loong的小知识吧!
1. The Loong is not a real animal, but a created one with the features of 9 other different animals.
龙不是真实的动物,而是一个创造出来的动物,具有其他9种不同动物的特征。
2. The Loong is widely accepted as the totem of China.
龙被广泛认为是中国的图腾。
3. The culture of the Loongs is deeply rooted in the minds of Chinese people. We, including overseas Chinese, all claim to be the descendants of the Loongs.
龙文化深深植根于中国人的心中。我们,包括海外华人,都自称自己是龙的传人。
4. The Loong is one of the “Four Auspicious Spirit Animals” together with Pheonix(Fenghuang), Kylin (Qilin) and Turtle (Gui). It is also one of the “Four Divine Beasts” (Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise and Rosefinch).
龙是“四大灵兽”之一,与凤凰、麒麟和龟并列。龙也是“四大神兽”之一(青龙、白虎、玄武和朱雀)。
5. The Loong ranks the fifth place in the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.
中国龙在十二生肖中排名第五。
6. As a mythical animal, Chinese Loongs are all masculine. There is no female Loong. When we talk about Yin and Yang, then the Loong is on the Yang side, while the Pheonix is on the Yin side.
中国龙作为神兽,都是男性化的,没有雌性龙。当人们谈论阴阳,那么龙是阳,而凤代表阴。
7. Up to now, there are still some Dragon King Temples all over the country, which were always built by the rivers, lakes and seas in the hope of keeping away the floods or other disasters and letting the locals stay safe.
到现在为止,全国各地仍有龙王庙,一般建在江河、湖泊和海洋边,用以保佑当地人平安,远离洪水或其他灾害。
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