龍年紀念郵票:這是條怎樣的中國龍?
What Does a New Dragon Stamp Say About China?
龍年紀念郵票：這是條怎樣的中國龍？
Many Chinese lined up on Thursday to buy a stamp commemorating China Year of the Dragon, which begins Jan. 23. But the image of the only fictional Chinese Zodiac animal has caused controversy and criticism online for appearing evil and ferocious.
許多中國人在週四排起長隊，購買將於1月23日開始的中國農曆新年龍年的紀念郵票。但是郵票上的龍顯得邪惡兇殘，引起了網上的爭議和批評。龍是中國生肖中唯一存在於神話傳說中的形象。
For many, the image of a fang-baring, paw-brandishing dragon is too belligerent. In response, stamp designer Chen Shaohua said that the authoritative and powerful image of the dragon was meant to demonstrate a confident and rising China.
對於許多人來說，這隻尖牙利爪的龍顯得太好鬥了。郵票設計師陳紹華迴應說，龍威嚴剛猛的形象代表着自信和崛起的中國。
On his personal blog , he compared his design to the previous two dragon stamps. He said the one for 1988 was a traditional Chinese paper-cut dragon because China was in a difficult time of reform then, and the design intentionally played down the dragon stateliness. In 2000, the last Year of the Dragon, the government was promoting a policy of keeping a low international profile, so the design depicted an elegant and sagacious dragon.
在其個人博客上，他將自己的設計同之前兩次發行的龍票設計進行了比較。他說，1988年的設計是傳統的中國剪紙龍，因爲當時正值改革攻堅，刻意迴避龍的威嚴感。上一個龍年2000年國家提出韜光養晦，所以設計透出的更多是飄逸和靈性。
For the year of 2012, he wrote, "As one of the most influential major states in the world, China is rebuilding its national confidence."
他寫道，第三輪生肖龍票時值2012年……作爲世界上有主要影響力的大國，中國正迎來民族自信的重建。
But many disagree. On his microblogging Sina Weibo account, Wang Ran, chief executive of boutique investment bank China eCapital Corp., compared the dragon to China notorious city inspectors, who are sometimes caught on camera beating up street vendors. "City inspectors are now on a stamp," he tweeted.
不過，許多人持不同意見。易凱資本有限公司CEO王冉在他的新浪微博上將郵票上的龍比作在中國聲名狼藉的城管隊員。他的一條微博寫道：“城管上郵票了。” 城管隊員毆打街頭小販的畫面常常被人用相機記錄下來。
Writer Zhang Yihe wrote on her weibo she was "scared to death" by the stamp. Scholar Wu JiaXiang uses the Chinese expression , which literally means "baring fangs and brandish paws," to describe the image. He says animals make those gestures when they are scared or startled. In a separate post, he used to stamp image to accompany his tweet about Chinese President Hu Jintao newly published essay that urges the country to defend against the West assault on the country culture and ideology.
作家章詒和在微博中說，她被這個郵票“嚇死了”。學者吳稼祥用中國成語“張牙舞爪”來形容這條龍的形象。他說動物張牙舞爪是是因爲恐懼，受驚，不自覺地作出自衛反應。在另一條微博中，他爲龍票配上了中國國家主席胡錦濤敦促中國警惕西方對中國文化和意識形態的威脅的文字。
Yet writer Xiong Peiyun says the image can be interpreted in other ways, "One is locking the ruler in a cage, and the other is keeping the power outside."
然而作家熊培雲說，這個龍可以有其他的理解，“一是把統治者關進籠子，二是將權力擋在戶外”。
