dragon story

权争西陆蛮夷，功名华夏神州，英雄五霸闹春秋，说甚龙争虎斗。 Dragon-week3 A: Gary B: Torry A: Hello everyone, long time no see, welcome to this new semester’s first web programme, this is Gary. B: And this is Torry, it’s really a pleasure to see spring coming, with so many good films competing on the screen, which one catches your eyes best? A: It’s really hard to tell, but I think, ‘How to train your dragon’ fits my appetite. B: Oh me too, and so today, let’s begin our topic from dragons. A: This sounds we may get both myths and fun. B: Speaking of dragons, the very first image in our first thought is a creature with claws, covered with scales. There are difference between dragons’ impression in the Western culture and Chinese culture. A: In Chinese culture, Chinese dragons are holy and honorable, covered with golden scales and its ferocious face. These god beasts are the symbol of the crown and power, the emperors called themselves as the ‘True Dragon son’. And if you go to the forbidden city in Peking, you can see dragon image everywhere. B: But when it comes to the Western culture, dragons are evil creatures bring disasters and bad omens. In bible, they are described as the symbol of Satan. It was said Satan is a seven-head dragon with a crown on each head, his breath become flame, his wing brings storm, every time he speaks it becomes earthquake. Archangel Micheal fought him and sealed it in a bottomless hole. A: between mediaeval age, on the Scandinavian peninsula lived the Vikings, in their belief, dragons are their power, but they may sometime be evil, like Jormungand and Nidhogg. Vikings carve dragon on their langskib(维京战船), from the year 709 to 1066, Vikings sweep every European shore from Briton to France, even south to the Sicily. On the day March the 28th year 845, they even raided Paris. B: So it’s not a hard thing to associate Vikings with dragon image in the Medieval Epic. In the Nibelungenlied(尼伯龙根之歌), Siegfried slayed the Favner and become a hero. A more legendary story is about the St George. A: According the Legend, St George a Roman Centurion, saved a princess from been sacrificed to the dragon by killing it. Centuries later, at the same battlefield the British King, Charles I(查理一世) fought a battle against the Muslim during the third Crusade. During this battle the British army won a glorious victory. So Charles I use St. George’s flag as its banner and it becomes the British flag we know today. B: So it seems dragons are closely connected with the Western history, but in Chinese history, there are not very many and legendary thing about dragon, its more like a spiritual symbol and emotional support. A: When we are talking about the Chinese dragon, how can we forget ourselves as the ‘Dragon’s successor’. When it was first mentioned after May the fourth, 1919, by the students of the Peking university. B: Chinese Dragon from their distant relatives in the west, are more comfortable. As the symbol of the Crown, Chinese dragon are only used to describe famous people, like emperors and famous generals. During ancient times, dragon are also associated with rain and growth, the first rain of the year is considered as the ‘dragon’s blessing’, if the first rain is after the rain solar terms, this year will be considered as a drought year. A: Last, about the dragon Spirit, Chinese people often say that we have dragons’ blood in our body. Dragon in our mind is an emotion support, it means the quality and virtue of adventure, braveness and pride. B: Hope at this semester, we all have the spirit of the dragon and wish you guys a happy school year. This is the end of today’s web programme. A: Thank you for listening, see you next time. 文稿/播音：虞昊天 杨浩澜 导播：易小茜