从中西“龙”文化发展差异浅谈如何英译龙Comparisons on different cultural developments of dragon in China and western country-To discuss how to translate “dragon” into EnglishContentsI. Introduction.7II. Different cultural and historical developments of dragon in China and western countries.10 2.1 The cultural and historical development of Chinese “Long”.10 2.1.1 In ancient times.10 2.1.2 In the middle-age.11 2.1.3 In Contemporary Time.13 2.2 The cultural and historical development of western dragon.132.2.1 In ancient time.132.2.2 In medieval times.142.2.3 In neoteric times.16I.II.III. The cultural symbol and content of dragon in China and western country.16 3.1 The cultural symbol and content of dragon in China.17 3.2 The cultural symbol and content of dragon in western countries.17IV. English Translation of Dragon and its respective problem.19 4.1 Metaphase.19 4.2 Transliteration.20 4.3 Free Translation.22 4.4 Transformation.23V. Conclusion.26Bibliography.28AbstractThis paper is firstly designed to make a comparison between China and western countries on the cultural and historical development of dragon into three stages, then a conclusion has been drawn that although dragon is an imaginary creature both in China and western culture, the Chinese “Long” is not exactly equal to western “dragon”, this is mainly because each one has its own cultural origins, images, posts in ancient myths, as well as their symbols. Thus, due to the important roles dragon play in Chinese and western social culture and great consequences it has for ethnic and cultural promotion. It is a critical point to discuss how to translate dragon into English in complex cultural contexts so that intercultural communication can be processed effectively. And this kind of English translation version should be our ultimate goal of whole papers thesis.Key words: dragon, development, culture, symbol, translation摘 要本文首先通过比较龙分别在中国与西方国家的文化与历史发展，接着得出结论：尽管龙都是想象虚拟的产物，但它们之间并不对等，不仅文化渊源不同，形象不同，神话中的职守各异，象征意义也大相径庭。因此，正因为龙在中西方所占的重要地位与其在民族精神与文化生活中的不同影响，如何对龙给出一个合理的英译版本，以便对其进行正确的英译，以达到准确的中西文化交流与传播的目的，这是本文探讨与研究的重点。关键词：龙，发展，文化，象征，翻译1, Introduction Language and culture, intrinsically dependent on each other, have evolved together through the history. Their mutual inter interdependence can find proof in the rise of civilization, the development of writing and human communication. Much of the recent work has revealed that language is related to cognition, and cognition in turn is related to the cultural setting. Then translation, as an important means of cultural communication among human beings, has been exerting a profound influence not only on transforming between two kinds of languages, but also on interacting and combining two different cultures. For instance, understanding toward dragon from people with various cultural backgrounds varies to a great extent. On one hand, if we are asked to name some national emblems of China, dragon is prone to be one of famous images that pop into our minds. We Chinese often view ourselves as “the descendants of the dragon”. It is not unfamiliar to us that Chinese parents eagerly hope their offspring may become the “dragon”. As a mythical creature, the Chinese “long” has deeply rooted in Chinese culture, traditionally, dragon in China is considered to govern rainfall. They have the power to decide where and when the rain falls. In addition, dragon in China stands for the imperial power. The emperors thought that they were real dragons and sons of the “God”. On the other hand, while Chinese believe that dragon can bring prosperity and good fortune, this mythical is regarded quite differently in western countries. In the Bible, dragon represents the devil and it tends to tricks the world. “Westerners usually see dragon as cold-blooded reptiles, just resembles snakes”, quoted from a copy editor for the teens. “They are cruel killers, breathing out fire and capturing women”, he also adds that people think of dragon as being dishonest because of their forked tongues. More of than not, dragon in western literature is witho