When many people in the west think of China, the animal
that they think of is the dragon. For them, the dragon is an
aggressive monster that breathes fire. Many popular legends tell
of how dragons killed brave knights and ate beautiful maidens.
For Chinese people however, the dragon is not an evil
monster. It's a cultural and spiritual symbol for prosperity and
good luck. The dragon’s main task is to create harmony and bring rain.
Dragons are celebrated in art and architecture, and of course the dragon
dance is a very popular ritual. Millions of Chinese have the word ‘long’,
meaning dragon, as part of their name.
China isn't the only country to have the dragon as its
symbol. Wales, one of the four countries in the UK, has a red dragon
proudly displayed on its flag. The only other country in the world
with a dragon on its flag is Bhutan, the tiny country between China and
India.
Almost all countries in the world have an
animal symbol to represent their country, and it is particularly obvious during
sports. The English see lions as brave, proud animals and the England
football team have three lions on the front of their football shirts.
Australia is famous for kangaroos, of course. The
national rugby team is more commonly know as the Wallabies, a kind of
small kangaroo. Similarly, the South African team are known as the Springboks, a
type of African antelope, and the New Zealanders, whether playing sports
or not, are commonly known as Kiwis. A kiwi is a native New Zealand bird
that can't fly.
All countries are proud of their symbols, which they feel
reflect national characteristics or the beauty and variety of their
natural environments. Recently, a Shanghai professor claimed that using the
dragon as a national symbol could make western countries have a negative view of
China. But in an internet survey 90% of Chinese people wanted to keep the
dragon, and as we are all familiar with that Chinese symbol, people in the west
would no doubt want China to keep the dragon too.
legends
