China News Service, Beijing, March 15th: What are the similarities and differences between dragons in Eastern and Western literary works?
——Exclusive interview with Tan Jia, director of the Comparative Literature Research Office of the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
China News Service reporter Sun Zifa
2024 is the Year of the Dragon in Jiachen, and attention and discussion about dragons have been continuing.
How does the image of the dragon appear in Chinese and world literature?
What developments have occurred since ancient times?
How are the descriptions of dragons similar and different from east to west?
Researcher Tan Jia, director of the Comparative Literature Research Office of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and chief expert of the National Social Science Foundation's major project "Research on the Origin of Chinese Literature and the Gene Formation of Chinese Civilization", recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's "East-West Question" in Beijing. The representative dragons in Chinese and foreign literary works are sorted out and interpreted.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
Reporter from China News Service: We often talk about the history and culture of Chinese dragons, including archeology, customs, art, etc. Is there anything special about the literary topic of dragons compared to these fields?
Tan Jia:
The presentation of dragons in Chinese literature is an integral part of the development of Chinese dragon culture. It participates in and embodies the basic outline of the development of dragon culture: local formation, the development after the spread of Buddhism to the East and the rise of Taoism, and the rise of modern media. Diverse integration.
The evolution of the Chinese character "dragon".
The picture above shows the turquoise dragon-shaped vessel and bronze bell excavated at the Erlitou site.
Photo provided by interviewee
At the same time, dragon literature has its own tension and characteristics, making it unique among dragon cultures.
Compared with other fields, the dragon in Chinese literature highly embodies the spirit of Chinese literature and art and the spiritual world of literati—their ideals and ambitions, character and sentiment, imagination, and the three immortal values of "morality, meritorious service, and speech."
In summary, Chinese dragons in literary works have "perfect" characteristics: first, they are the oldest and most future; second, they are capable of realism and romanticism; third, they are the most fantastic and popular; fourth, they are both sacred and secular, and capable of Heaven can enter the abyss; fifth, it can be female or male, yin or yang; sixth, it is the most popular and has the most "friends" (such as forming fixed literary images such as the spirit of dragon and horse, dragon and tiger leaping, dragon and phoenix auspiciousness, etc.); seventh, it has the most uniting power and cohesion; eight is the most cross-cultural and comparable; nine is the most communicable and resonant; ten is the dragon. As the only fictional animal among the twelve zodiac animals, it is regarded as the totem of the ancestors of the Chinese nation.
Fire dragon steel flower performance.
Photo by Tong Yu
China News Service reporter: What are the earliest literary works in the East and West in which dragons appear? What kind of dragon image do each of them describe?
Tan Jia:
From the perspective of literature in a narrow sense, the earliest relevant literary works in the East and West that we can capture are the "Book of Songs" and the "Homeric Epic" consisting of "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad".
The use of dragons in both represents the different cultural temperaments of ancient China and ancient Greece.
"Dragon" in "The Book of Songs" often equals "favor". For example, "Shang Song·Long Hair" has "What kind of dragon is there, show its courage"; "Zheng Jian" has "Dragon, as a favor, favor, honor" "The name is called"; "Zhou Song·Zhuo" has "I am a dragon who accepts it, and it is the creation of King Qiaoqiu"; "Xiaoya·Liaoxiao" has "when I see a gentleman, I am a dragon and a light" and so on.
Although these "dragons" are borrowed as "pets", we can still see their original sacredness and moral meaning.
In addition, there are also depictions of dragon flags and dragon patterns in The Book of Songs, such as "Dragon Flag Yang Yang" in "Zhou Song·Zijian", "Dragon Flag Yangyang" in "Shang Song·Xuanniao", "Ten Vehicles of Dragon Flag" in "Lu Song·Zhen Gong" ""Dragon Flag Carrying Sacrifice" and so on.
Researcher Tan Jia participated in the "'Talking about Dragons in the Year of the Dragon: Cultural Interpretation of Chinese Dragons' Social Science Youth Thoughts Meeting" and introduced "Chinese Dragons in Literature".
Photo provided by interviewee
In ancient Greek, "dragon" and "serpent" are the same word, so most of the dragon images in "Homer's epic" are also huge snakes.
As mentioned in the second volume of "The Iliad", "A long snake with blood-red scales on its back was sent into the sun by the god Olympus and rushed out from under the altar... The birds cried pitifully and were swallowed up one by one by the snakes. ", and used the giant snake to foretell that the Trojan War would last for ten years; the third volume of "The Iliad" mentioned, "It is like a person meeting a python in the middle of the valley."
These snakes or dragons in "Homer's Epic" obviously have magical and protective functions, making them feared and awe-inspiring.
Although the dragon in the Book of Songs has a hint of divine power, the literary style strives to be neutral, respectable but not intimidating.
Reporter from China News Service: As a representative of Chinese civilization, the dragon totem is one of the important genes of Chinese culture. How is it inherited and developed in ancient Chinese mythology, literature and art? What are the important changes during the development process and what are the distinctive features?
Tan Jia:
Chinese dragons in literature can generally be divided into three stages of development.
The first stage is the local formation, that is, the images of dragons before the Eastern Han Dynasty were mostly mythical beasts that could ascend to heaven and enter the earth.
In addition, dragons also appeared in early written narratives as astronomical images. For example, the "Book of Changes" mentions "may jump in the abyss", "flying dragon in the sky", "overpowering dragon has regrets", etc. It can be seen that the characteristics of the Shang and Zhou dynasties The relationship between astronomy and dragon imagery is also an important feature of dragons in Chinese literature.
By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, vivid plots such as people raising dragons, dragons killing (biting) people, and dragon slayings began to appear in "Zuo Zhuan", "Zhuangzi", and "Han Feizi".
A great influence on the literary style is "The Songs of Chu". The dragon has become an important element of the magnificent imagination. Qu Yuan used the dragon to ascend to the sky to symbolize his noble ambition.
Qinglong tile in Han Dynasty.
Photo by Chen Shuo
After the unification of the Qin and Han dynasties, dragons in literature have further enriched with the development of the times, and have become political, philosophical, mythical and monstrous.
Politicalization is reflected in setting off the sacredness of the emperor. For example, in "Historical Records" and Han Fu, a large number of dragons are used to praise the king's power; in terms of philosophy, "Ye Gong loves dragons" in Liu Xiang's "New Preface·Miscellaneous Things Five" of the Western Han Dynasty is a typical example; in the tradition of gods and monsters In terms of formation, "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" and "Huainanzi" record many mythical beasts related to dragons, which have distinctive characteristics of the times and cultural functions.
The "Mountains and Seas" exhibition at Songzhuang Zhenshu Art Museum in Tongzhou, Beijing, presents a large number of works of fish, dragons and phoenixes, originating from the legend about the transformation of fish and dragons in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas".
Photo by Ren Haixia
The 2024 Shanghai Yuyuan "Mountains and Seas Wonders of Yu" Year of the Dragon Lantern Festival in the Book of Seas will be based on the "Book of Mountains and Seas" to present a wonderland where the Chinese zodiac dragon is intertwined with marine animals and plants.
Photo by Chen Yuyu
The second stage is the dragon literature after the spread of Buddhism to the east and the rise of Taoism. The dragon developed from a divine object to possessing rich personality characteristics.
During the Sui, Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties, dragons became more abundant in literary narratives and became increasingly popular. For example, wonderful descriptions of dragon girls, dragon sons, dragon palaces, dragon beds, etc. often appeared; the "power" of the dragon clan also included wells, rivers, and rivers. The difference in size between the world and the sea, together with the palace of heaven and the underworld, forms a hierarchical world that can correspond to the human world. "Journey to the West" is a typical representative.
The dragon as a poetic image has also become more mature.
For example, the various dragon images in Li Bai's poems are the inner expression of his two feelings of helping the world and bringing peace to the people, and reclusiveness.
In works such as Han Yu's "The Legend of the Dragon" and Liu Zongyuan's "The Legend of Banishing the Dragon", the tradition of using dragons as metaphors has been passed down.
Pu Songling's "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" not only contains the chapter "Dragon", but "Rakshasa Sea Market" also describes two opposite kingdoms, the Rakshasa Kingdom and the Dragon Kingdom. In the kingdom of dragons, everything is beautiful. The author This is used to express ridicule and criticism of reality.
Researcher Tan Jia participated in the "'Talking about Dragons in the Year of the Dragon: Cultural Interpretation of Chinese Dragons' Social Science Youth Thoughts Meeting" and introduced "Chinese Dragons in Literature".
Photo provided by interviewee
Researcher Tan Jia participated in the "'Talking about Dragons in the Year of the Dragon: Cultural Interpretation of Chinese Dragons' Social Science Youth Thoughts Meeting" and introduced "Chinese Dragons in Literature".
Photo provided by interviewee
The third stage is the diversified integration of dragon images after the rise of modern media.
With the transformation of Chinese culture in modern times, influenced by Western culture, the Chinese dragon in literature not only has traditional cultural symbolic images, but also retains its Buddhist and Taoist meanings, and is constantly integrated into the "dragon slaying" theme of Western literature, constantly moving towards popularization and genres. Transformation, such as Jin Yong's martial arts novels "The Legend of Heaven and Dragon Sword" and "The Eight Parts of Heavenly Dragon" etc.
Nowadays, dragons appear in fairy tales, fantasy, time travel, and science fiction novels. Many online literary works with dragon themes have emerged in China, some of which have been translated and introduced overseas, playing a very good role in cultural exchange and dissemination.
In addition, research around dragon myths has become a reflection of intellectuals’ literary pursuits and feelings about their family and country, which is also a major feature of Chinese dragon literature.
During the Anti-Japanese War, writer and critic Wen Yiduo used "dragon totem" to play a huge role in uniting and inspiring the people through his research on dragon myths.
In Taiwan, China, dragon elements are also very common in literature. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same culture and species and share the "dragon vein".
China Post issued special stamps for the "Jiachen Year" with the names of "Tianlong Xingjian" and "Chenlong Xianrui" respectively.
Photo by Yang Bo
Reporter from China News Service: What are the interactions and influences between dragons in Eastern and Western mythology and literary works? In the modern era, especially the Internet era, how will dragons in Eastern and Western literary works integrate and develop?
Tan Jia:
The influence between Eastern and Western dragon myths and dragon literature has both explicit and implicit aspects.
The concepts of explicitness such as the Dragon King of the Five Directions and the Dragon King of the Four Seas developed only after Buddhism spread eastward and became localized.
Implicit is the large amount of prehistoric cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
For example, from prehistory to the Bronze Age to the early Iron Age, various images of winged mythical beasts collectively known as "Griffins" were prevalent in the nomadic societies of the Eurasian grasslands. After being spread eastward to the Central Plains, they influenced Chinese literature from the Pre-Qin to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Mythological narratives have an impact.
The "Dragon King Tour" event was held in Liuzhou City, Guangxi, with a parade carrying a Dragon King statue along the Liujiang River.
Photo by Wei Guozheng
In terms of integration and development, the literary attributes of Western dragons are very distinctive and have a great influence on modern and contemporary dragon literature.
There are rich images of dragons in Western mythology. For example, Hesiod of ancient Greece described in "Theogony" that the dragon was born from the daughter of Gaia, the earth mother, and was a snake-bodied fairy.
With the huge influence of the Bible, especially in the Middle Ages, the rich dragons in myths and legends across Europe gradually unified into magical or evil dragon images, which appear in many Western literary and artistic works, and dragon slaying has become a classic theme.
Chivalric literature and adventure novels also particularly like to use dragon imagery, which helps to reflect the heroic image and extraordinary experiences of the protagonist.
As a result, the image of dragons in Western literature was gradually solidified: lizard-like claws and scales, winged monsters that breathed fire, guarded treasures, were greedy and ferocious, and could eat people and set fires.
Under this tradition, the strengthening of dragon magic and the continuous extension of the dragon-slaying theme are still the characteristics of today's Western fantasy novels, such as the dragon of Alda in the "Lord of the Rings" series and the fire dragon in the "Harry Potter" series. , dragons similar to the White Walkers in "A Song of Ice and Fire", etc. They are basically magical creatures in the magical world.
The dragon image in the American animated film "How to Train Your Dragon."
Photo by Wang Lei
At present, many time-travel novels and science fiction novels in China that focus on dragon slaying also regard dragons as gods, monsters or magical objects.
In terms of the structure and themes of literature and art, there is still much work to be done on how to better present the dragon characteristics of traditional Chinese literature.
Issues such as the spirit of heaven and earth, and the spiritual world of intellectuals carried by the dragon image and dragon theme in Chinese literature, and how to effectively inherit and develop them, are worthy of further exploration.
China News Service reporter: What is your assessment of the future development trend of dragon images in Eastern and Western literature? What to expect?
Tan Jia:
The future development trend of Eastern and Western dragon literature can be viewed in conjunction with the current cultural changes.
Today's culture is centered on online electronic media. Under the impact of the digital age and artificial intelligence (AI), human self-expression and communication methods are undergoing a leap. Paper media writing, online writing and even AI writing coexist.
Therefore, it is not difficult to judge that animation and film-based dragons will inevitably be popularized by the public more quickly; "connotation" dragons with cultural meanings coexist with "ordinary" dragons that exist as database writing materials; Dragons coexist with dragons created in the style of video games; sacred dragons coexist with cute dragons.
In short, non-central, non-national, diverse and cross-border dragon literature will develop in parallel with works that aim at grand narratives and have realist references.
In this regard, I personally advocate harmony without difference.
Literary creation should encourage deeper dialogue and enhance exchanges and mutual learning.
Interviewee profile:
Researcher Tan Jia, director of the Comparative Literature Research Office of the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Photo by Sun Zifa
Tan Jia, Master of Philosophy, Doctor of Literature, is a researcher at the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a university professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and a doctoral supervisor. He is engaged in research on early Chinese intellectual history, comparative mythology, and literary anthropology.
He is currently the director of the Comparative Literature Research Office and the Comparative Literature Research Center of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the chief expert of the National Social Science Fund major project "Research on the Origin of Chinese Literature and the Gene Formation of Chinese Civilization", and concurrently serves as the deputy director of the Literary Anthropology Council of the Chinese Comparative Literature Society. He has published 4 academic monographs, edited 1 book, and published more than 70 academic papers. Various works have been translated into English, Japanese, Korean and other languages and published overseas.