中国龙文化1：我们为何称自己为“龙的传人”？

【注】本系列文章选译自：www.chinahighlights.com。此外，关于“龙”的英译说法不一，常见的有Chinese dragon和loong两种。虽然目前更为普遍的说法还是Chinese dragon，但是越来越多的人开始偏好loong的说法。不过，从实际使用时来看，loong的说法目前从语法角度来看，还没有出现具体的量的表达，比如“一条龙”和“三条龙”，是one loong和three loongs，还是one loong和three loong？为此，在本系列文章的选译时，我还是保留了Chinese dragons的说法，只是增加了loong的备注。至于loong的说法是否该成为主流用法，则留给时间去沉淀吧。

Quick Facts About Chinese Dragons

中国龙文化速览

Chinese dragons don't exist factually - there is no evidence to prove that they are real creatures.

中国的龙并不真实存在——没有证据证明它们是真实存在的生物。

The Dragon is one of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs.

龙是中国十二生肖之一。

Emperors in ancient China were identified as the sons of dragons. And, at that time, ordinary people were not allowed to have items with pictures of dragons on them.

中国古代的皇帝被认为是龙的儿子。而且，在那个时候，普通人不允许拥有含有龙图样的物品。

Chinese dragons are symbolic of being lucky, propitious, powerful, and noble; not as monsters as they are portrayed in Western stories.

中国的龙象征着幸运、吉祥、力量和高贵，不像西方故事中描绘的那样是怪物。

Most Chinese dragons' pictures have long bodies like snakes and sharp claws like hawks - less like dinosaurs than Western dragons.

大多数中国龙的图片都有像蛇一样的长身体和像鹰一样的利爪——不像西方龙那样像恐龙。

Chinese dragons live at the bottom of seas, rivers, lakes, or anywhere with water.

中国龙生活在海底、河流、湖泊或任何有水的地方。

It was said that thousands of years ago, Yandi (a legendary tribal leader) was born through his mother's telepathic interaction with a mighty dragon. With the help of the dragon and allied with Huangdi (a legendary tribal leader and, by some accounts, the grandson of a dragon), they opened the prelude to Chinese civilization. So, "emperors" Yandi and Huangdi were the ancestors of the Chinese people. It is said that the two emperors were immortalized as dragons before they ascended to heaven. As time went by, Chinese people began to refer to themselves as 'the descendants of Yandi and Huangdi', as well as 'descendants of dragons'.

传说数千年前，炎帝（传说中的部落首领）是通过其母亲与一条巨龙的心灵感应而出生的。在龙的帮助下，他们与黄帝（传说中的部落首领，也有人说是龙的孙子）结盟，拉开了中华文明的序幕。所以，炎帝和黄帝是中国人的祖先。据说这两位皇帝在升天之前就被尊为龙。随着时间的推移，中国人开始称自己为“炎黄子孙”，以及“龙的传人”。