China's most revered culture of dragon, or loong by its Chinese
pronunciation, needs to be thoroughly explored, said a political
advisor on Sunday.
Dragon, an imaginary animal based on a 7,000-year-old Chinese
legend, is a combination of a horse's head, snake's body and
chook's claws. It has long been regarded as the totem and ancestor
of the Chinese nation.
"Though all the people of the Chinese origin in the world regard
themselves as descendants of the dragon, we need to further our
research to convince the nation and even the whole world on the
root of the dragon culture and what it embodies," said Zhou Yixing,
at the ongoing full session of the National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC).
More research should be conducted on exploring the root of the
dragon culture, since it is the origin of the research on the
Chinese civilization, said Zhou at the third plenary meeting of the
CPPCC National Committee's annual session.
Zhou said that the culture-based history research which focuses
on the folk legend and intangible cultural heritage will better
preserve the liveliness of Chinese cultural relics.
Last year, a Shanghai scholar suggested a new English name
"loong" for dragon to help separate the evil image of the western
dragon amid a nationwide controversy against the idea to find
another icon for the country.
(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2007)