A study for Comparison between Chinese and Western culture based on the Connotation of “Dragon” and

Abstract
There are a large number of animal words in English and Chinese. As the influence of different histories, flexible cultures, and varies economies, these animal words have different cultural connotations in the development of language, and even these connotations have changed totally in a long time. Although these animal words have contributed to the development of language diversity, there are also misunderstandings existing in the translation of Chinese and English texts. Therefore, this paper takes "dragon", "dog" in Chinese and English as examples to explore the different cultural meanings of the two animals under different backgrounds in China and the Western countries. At the same time, the paper will seek the hidden reasons from the development of these animal words in order to make contributions to the communication between Chinese and Western cultures.

Keywords: dragon; dog; cultural significance; cultural backgrounds

摘要
在英汉两种语言中存在着大量的动物词，但是由于不同的历史、复杂的文化和多样的经济因素等影响，语言中动物字词在发展中有了不同的文化内涵，甚至这些内涵还发生了转变。虽然这些动物字词为语言的多样式发展做出了贡献，但在进行中西方文本互译时，也会产生误解。因此，本文以中文的“龙”、“狗”和英文的“Dragon”和“Dog”为例，探讨这二者在中西方不同背景下产生并发展出来的不同的文化意义。同时，将从这些动物字词的发展过程中寻求背后隐藏的原因，以期可以为中西方文化沟通中做出贡献。

关键词:龙；狗;文化意义;文化背景

IntroductionThe relationships between the human and animal world can be traced back to ancient times. At the beginning of human history, animals are the objects of people hunting. And human based on preys to maintain survival and developments. Since human beings began to domesticate and raise animals, the relationship between animals and humans has become closer. As some animals are closely related to human life. There are animal words in daily life and communication. And
language can also record the change in the relationship between animals and people. At the same time, language can be seen as the carrier of culture. In different languages and cultural backgrounds, every word has not only literal meaning but also rich cultural connotation. Influenced by various cultural factors such as customs, history, way of thinking and religious belief, Chinese and English give many animal words their own specific cultural connotations. This phenomenon reflects the differences in cultural development respectively.

Among them, the differences between dragon and dog in language and culture are particularly striking. As a legendary creature, the dragon can play an important role in both Chinese and Western culture, which is very noteworthy. As early as 1299, the Chinese “long”was translated into “dragon”in The Travels of Marco Polo written in ancient French. However, comparing the image in Chinese and Western cultures, it can be found that the dragon in the two cultures is quite different, so there has been a discussion on how to translate "dragon" in the history of translation. Different from the legendary animals, dogs, as animals in daily life, express more complex meanings in the development of eastern and Western languages and cultures. There are profound and complex reasons for this phenomenon. Therefore, this paper takes "dragon", "dog" in Chinese and English as examples to explore the different cultural meanings of the two animals under different backgrounds in China and the Western countries. The whole paper is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the significance of dragon and dog in Chinese and English culture. The second part concentrates on the causes of the different performance of the dragon and dog in Chinese and English culture.

Significance of dragon and dog in Chinese and English culture

Generally speaking, the cultural differences between Chinese and English are caused by the differences in people's national psychology, thinking habits and traditional accumulation. This kind of cultural difference often misleads the acquisition of information, which makes the information acquired by both parties in the process of communication vague or even wrong. That leads to communication obstacles. The typical case is the different attitudes towards "dragon" and "dog" in Chinese and English culture. （Ding；Xu，2001）

2.1 Connotation of the dragon in Chinese and English
In order to better analyze the differences of the connotation of dragon between Chinese and Western cultures, the following lists the connotations of the word in the two cultures.

The meaning of the dragon in Chinese: (1) Emperors (2) talented and handsome people (3) dragon-shaped things (4) steeds (5) ferocious (6) star names (7) surnames (8) symbolizing auspiciousness and happiness (9) one of the twelve zodiac animals. (Li, 2011)

The meaning of the dragon in English: (1) Ferocious people are watchful guardians (2) despotic forces and evil forces (3) flying lizards (4) Satan demons (5) armoured tractors (6) Tian long constellation (7) dragon-riding and spears (8) soldiers with dragon riding guns on their waists

According to the above meanings, it can be found that the main differences of the dragon can be divided into three parts, including origins, images and symbolic meanings. So, the following section will study these differences in details.

Different origins of dragons in Chinese and English

Among many views on the origin of the dragon, snake archetype theory is the first one that was put forward and widely spread in the academic circle. As early as in the Western Han Dynasty, Chu Shaosun, a famous historian, put forward the view that "snakes turn into dragons, and their writings will not change". But Wen Yiduo was the first to explore the origin of the dragon from an academic perspective. In his book Fu Xi Kao, he used totem theory and the analysis of ancient literature and came to the conclusion that the origin of the dragon was based on a snake. In his opinion, there was a strong clan with a snake as a totem in the early period of Thailand. The clan merged many other tribes through war, intermarriage and other ways. Therefore, a part of the totem of each group is integrated into the totem based on the snake, thus forming the image of the Chinese dragon. So far, Wen Yiduo's argument that snake is the main prototype of the dragon, and the earliest comprehensive totem of the dragon still occupies a dominant position in the study of the origin of the dragon. (Liu Wei, 2018)

Dragon in English is the representative of evil. Many western myths and legends also depict the ferocious nature of "dragon". In the legend, Cernunus, the God of wealth, is often accompanied by a Horned Dragon. The dragon is in charge of guarding treasures, collecting heaps of coins, gems and magic goods. It is very greedy. In ancient Greek mythology, there is a dragon that asks a beautiful girl from a nearby city every month; In golden wool legend, there is a fire dragon that tries to eat a warrior. In the Classic Bible of Western Christian culture, the dragon is the incarnation of demons. The Old Testament also mentions the Dragon many times, which is described as a "big sea monster".

Different images of dragons in Chinese and English

As for the image of a dragon, whether it is a Chinese dragon or western "dragon", its features have some similarities but also obvious differences. This section is a systematic comparison of the similarities and differences between the images of Chinese and Western dragon. After a series of evolution, the Chinese dragon is usually considered as a totem of different species. The Chinese dragon is slender, generally wingless, with a short tail. The boundary between the body and the tail is not obvious, which is mainly golden yellow. It has four legs. Western dragons are large and have bat-like wings. The tail is very long, and the boundary between body and tail is obvious. The
whole body is mainly black. It has two legs.

The similarities between Chinese and western dragons are that they are like snakes with scales and sharp teeth. Both of them have legs. At the same time, they can fly. Whether the Chinese dragon or western dragon, its biggest common characteristic is that the shapes of them were related to the snake. In China and the western country, "the snake is the prototype of the dragon" is almost a commonly accepted point of view. So it can be seen that the original relationship between the dragon and the snake is recognized in both Chinese and Western society.

Different symbolic meanings of the dragon in Chinese and English

In Chinese traditional culture, the dragon basically symbolizes positive power. Shi Chuanlong and Jiadejiang (2007) argue that it is generally believed that the dragon is inviolable and has great authority. Dragon is regarded as the totem of the nation in the history of our country. It symbolizes auspiciousness, power and nobility. In the myth and legend of our country, the dragon is a kind of magical animal that can make clouds and rain, which is good for ancient cultivation. In the whole feudal society, successive emperors were called "true Dragon Emperor". Therefore, the dragon is supreme in the hearts of the Chinese people. They like to call themselves as the legend of the dragon. So, the animal has become a symbol of the Chinese nation. At the same time, many idioms related to "dragon" have positive meanings with auspicious and happy. For example, "looking forward to your son becoming a dragon" means that people hopes his or her son has a bright future; "flying dragon and dancing Phoenix" means elegant handwriting; "living dragon and living tiger" means somebody is full of energy; "Leaping dragon and leaping tiger" describes the vigorous and powerful movement in running and jumping.

In the west, the dragon is the symbol of the devil. In the Bible, the devil against God, ASTAN, is called the great dragon. Therefore, in Christianity, the dragon always represents evil and is a symbol of abominable things. Especially in the middle ages, the dragon became the symbol of "sin". Therefore, in the sentence - “she is a real dragon, you’d better keep away from her”, the dragon is obviously a derogatory word here. (Hu, 2002)

Connotation of the dog in Chinese and English

Dogs have different connotations in Chinese and English culture. In Chinese culture, the proverbs about dogs are mostly derogatory. But in English culture, dogs are the closest, faithful and reliable friends of human beings. Therefore, people often use idioms with the image of dogs to describe daily human life. The dog is a commendatory colour in words. The following part will discuss the dog's performance in culture from two aspects, including the explanation of the dog in the languages and the emotional attitude of Chinese and Western to dogs.

Different meaning of dog in Chinese and English

Liao Guangrong (2000) thought mode of Han nationality is characterized by observing things and taking images. The concept of virtual is often expressed in the form of reality. Express abstract content with concrete image, pay attention to the horizontal connection and qualitative grasp. The thinking mode of the western nation is mechanical and microcosmic. Pay attention to longitudinal in-depth and quantitative analysis, associate the animal with its meat, oil, milk, fur shell, colour, and then associate with some of the manufactured products. Lijie (2013) has collected the whole meaning of the dog in Chinese and English in her paper. In order to better understand the differences in the meaning of dogs in the two cultures, this part will list the meaning collections in the following.

Chinese meaning of dog: (1)Mammal. (2) In ancient times, it was especially used for puppies without hair. (3) Misdirection or frustration. (4)It's a metaphor for bad people. (5) Flattery. (6) Extreme contempt. (7) One of the twelve zodiac signs. (8) The name of the star. Dogstar belongs to douxiu. (9)Cub name of the bear tiger. (10) Last name. (11) Modesty. (12)Contempt for people.

The meaning of English dog: (1) male dog, male animal, animal similar to a dog. (2) Dog race. (3) Constellation, Canis Major, Canis Minor. (4) Small red intestines; that means red intestines in sandwich rolls. (5) For dogs, for dogs. (6) Male, male. (7) An iron frame (in a furnace). (8) Clamp, handle and bracket of the rolling head (9). (10) Feet. (11) Insulting words。

2.2.2 Different emotions of the dog in Chinese and English
In Chinese culture, most of the words about dogs are negative, which often used to refer to negative emotions. For example, when describing a villain who bullies the poor by relying on the power of a senior official, people call him as "dogleg", or explain it as "dog supports people"; Theft is also known as "cockcrow and dog thief". Similarly, there are "the dog looks down on people", "the dog jumps over the wall", "the wolf's heart and the dog's lungs", "the dog's mouth can't spit out ivory". The situation is related to the traditional culture of our country. In the ancient feudal society, the hierarchy was strict. the rulers with great power didn't have good attitudes to the common people, and even their subordinates can bully the common people by relying on the power of the rulers. This leads to the dog being evil in Chinese culture, resulting in the denial of dog value. Chinese people have a deep feeling of contempt for dogs.
In traditional western culture, dogs are often regarded as the most loyal and reliable friends of human beings. They are called "the only loyalty that can be bought with money." People are full of affection for dogs, affectionately known as “he”. And western people often use the image of dogs to describe the good behaviour of people. Therefore, most words and proverbs with "dog" are commendatory. For example, work…like…a…dog，a…lucky…dog， every…dog…has…its…day. When translators translate the phrase …love…me，love…my…dog into Chinese, the right meaning is that if you love anyone, you will like all that belongs to him. Obviously, in the Western dog culture, people will use positive words to affirm the sincerity, reliability and friendliness of dogs, and think that dogs are human partners. (Wangjuan, 2018)

The reasons for cultural differences of the dragon and dog in Chinese and English

Liao Guangrong (2002) believed that English and Chinese people have a common sense in choosing animal words. There are three kinds of animals are more likely to associate and give cultural meaning in the two cultures. The first is ferocious creatures. For a long time, human beings have complex psychology of curiosity, confusion and fear for raptors and beasts, which is one of the motivations for human beings to contact and understand them. The second is animals closely related to human production and life. For example, insects and poultry related to agricultural production. The third is mythical animals. It is profound and long-standing for any nation to be influenced by myths and legends. Comparatively speaking, Han nationality is greater influenced by legendary animals. This is related to the totem worship of the Han nationality，including unicorn, phoenix, tortoise and dragon. Based on the classification, the dragon can be seen the typical mythical animals. And a dog can be seen the animal that is associated with human production and life.

The reasons for cultural differences of the dragon in Chinese and English

This chapter focuses on the differences between eastern and Western cultures caused by which factors. The obstacles of cross-cultural communication are usually caused by social and cultural background, religious beliefs, customs and ways of thinking. Through reading the related documents about the culture of the dragon, there is two primary reasons that led to the obstacles of cross-cultural communication, including the origin of civilization and religious faith.

3.1.1 the origin of civilization
In feudal society, the main economic subject of China is the small-scale peasant economy. The most important economic income of people comes from agriculture. In ancient agricultural production, good weather is the decisive condition for a good harvest. If people suffer from long-term drought or long-term heavy rain, they will go to the dragon king’s temple to burn incense, as people think the Dragon King manages the rain. Because of this responsibility, the dragon is considered to be an auspicious beast. Dragon is to be in charge of rainfall, and they have the right to decide where and when the rain falls, which determines the symbolic significance of the dragon's power.

However, the west is not as dependent on agriculture as China. Naturally, they can't imagine that the dragon is the mascot of agriculture. In addition, the western dualism theory of human-centred holds that anything other than human is the opposite, and everything in the world is only recognized or conquered. In western culture, the power of the dragon becomes something of fear. The stronger the dragon, the more difficult it is for humans to control. Then the Dragon went to the opposite side of man, went to alienation, and was finally demonized into something evil. The Western civilization originated from the Greek civilization, and the marine civilization is characterized by the spirit of advocating individual heroism and daring to explore, which is reflected in the culture that hero slays the dragon. (Zhou Fang, 2017)

3.1.2 Religious faith
In a strict sense, the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in China are atheism or pantheism. As a result, Chinese people have no fixed religious faith. That is the reason why the dragon can become a symbolic totem for people to worship in China. At the same time, mainstream ideology is Confucianism in China. This theory stresses harmony between human being and nature, close social ties, individual body and mind coordination. Thus, Chinese love peace and do not overemphasize the evil side of things under the guidance of this theory. In addition, Chinese culture is more aesthetic and poetic, and people are more willing to appreciate everything in kindness. Naturally, the dragon is regarded as the embodiment of holiness and justice. （Xi Yu，2016）

However, western people generally believe in Christianity. They think there is only one God. According to the doctrine, they can't worship other gods. This makes it impossible for a dragon to become a spiritual totem. And western people have strong heroism. So the Bible has a lot of dragon-related monsters and demons. These demons will eventually be eradicated by great heroes. These stories have been spread to this day through gradual propaganda and rendering.

The reasons for cultural differences of the dog in Chinese and English

In recent years, with the continuous improvement of living standards, dogs are more and more popular. Usually, they appear in public as pet dogs. For western countries, the love of dogs is even more serious. Dogs have become a part of people's families. Although Chinese and Western attitudes toward dogs tend to be the same grade, there are still some differences in many aspects from ancient times to now. Therefore, the section will talk about the reason for causing differences from the perspective of history.

Agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization

In China's agricultural society, dogs play a relatively small role. Apart from watching the house, the meat of a dog is the primary food for people. In the early feudal society, the social hierarchy was strict. The emperor could kill cattle, sheep and pigs when sacrificing; the officers could kill sheep and pigs when sacrificing, while the common people could only kill dogs except for chickens. Therefore, in history, Fan Kuai was a butcher before he followed Liu Bang, the Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, to do the business of killing dogs and selling meat. The monk Jigong went out to steal meat, mostly dog meat. It can be seen that at that time, dogs were the main source of meat in people's life. Therefore, in ancient China, the status of dogs was not very high.

Generally speaking, western culture is mainly represented by European culture. In European civilization, fishing and hunting animal husbandry were the first cultures. This is mainly due to the local climate and environmental factors. In the background of fishing and hunting animal husbandry, cattle and sheep became the main meat suppliers, while dogs became important labour and production tools. That's the reason why a large number of hounds and sheepdogs are from the West. Now with the development of Western society, dogs are no longer the main means of production and transportation except in some countries, but they have become a part of people's life. People began to treat dogs as pets. In the United States and some other western countries, we often see a young couple, each holding a dog, running and keeping fit in the community. They love caring for dogs, just like treating their own children. （Wang zongyun；Wang wenjiao，2007）

Social values

Chinese love Taoist and Confucianism that both advocate the view of harmony and unity. Under this theory, people attach great importance to interpersonal harmony, especially the concept of family. For a long time, dogs just played the role of guarding the house. It was not enough to make him an integral part of the family. Nor do people seek security like dogs. However, in the western world, most of the people are indifferent to the concept of family. They pay more attention to individual competition and focus on emphasizing independence.

In modern society, there are two main types of core family and continuing family. The nuclear family refers to a couple plus children, and the extended family refers to three generations of same-family, four-generation family. According to the survey, Chinese families are mostly extended families, and family relationships are complementary. Western families are dominated by the core family, and family relations are prominent in the form of independence. Therefore, elderly people in east Asian are more willing to seek a sense of safety from their relatives. But, western people are more likely to seek comfort from pets, such as dogs and cats. the west's elderly, frustrated people are more likely to produce loneliness, cold feelings, habits tend to seek spiritual comfort to animals such as dogs, trust feelings. (Cai zhibin, 2013)

Conclusion

We can see the huge cultural differences between English and Chinese, which are determined by their different cultural origins, ways of thinking and aesthetic values. It is the differences between the two cultures that restrict the different connotations of animal words in English and Chinese. In this sense, only when people have a deep understanding of the different characteristics of English and Chinese culture, can they fully understand the Cultural Connotation Differences between English and Chinese animal vocabulary, and finally achieve the equivalent translation of the two languages, so as to build a bridge for the communication between the two languages and cultures. By revealing and studying the cultural meaning of animal words, we can avoid not only pragmatic failure in communication but also have certain theoretical and practical significance for the comparison and introduction of different cultures. By comparing, people can more clearly feel the historical and cultural differences left by English and Chinese culture in animal words, so as to help people smoothly and properly carry out cross-cultural communication.

Under the background of cross-cultural communication, this paper discusses the meaning of dragon and dog in Chinese and English culture from the aspects of the origin, image and symbolic meaning. At the same time, this paper also analyzes the reasons why the dragon and dog behave differently in Chinese and English culture. Dragon culture is due to the different geographical environment and religious beliefs of the origin of Chinese and Western civilization. And dog culture is due to different civilizations, concepts and ways of thinking. Due to the fact that the study of animal words in the context of cross-cultural communication focuses on Chinese texts, the limitation of this paper is the lack of western scholars' views. So, the paper pays more attention to the views of Chinese scholars.

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A study for Comparison between Chinese and Western culture based on the Connotation of “Dragon” and

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