龙年纪念邮票:这是条怎样的中国龙?

What Does a New Dragon Stamp Say About China?

龙年纪念邮票：这是条怎样的中国龙？

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.

许多中国人在周四排起长队，购买将于1月23日开始的中国农历新年龙年的纪念邮票。但是邮票上的龙显得邪恶凶残，引起了网上的争议和批评。龙是中国生肖中唯一存在于神话传说中的形象。

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.

对于许多人来说，这只尖牙利爪的龙显得太好斗了。邮票设计师陈绍华回应说，龙威严刚猛的形象代表着自信和崛起的中国。

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.

在其个人博客上，他将自己的设计同之前两次发行的龙票设计进行了比较。他说，1988年的设计是传统的中国剪纸龙，因为当时正值改革攻坚，刻意回避龙的威严感。上一个龙年2000年国家提出韬光养晦，所以设计透出的更多是飘逸和灵性。

For the year of 2012, he wrote, "As one of the most influential major states in the world, China is rebuilding its national confidence."

他写道，第三轮生肖龙票时值2012年……作为世界上有主要影响力的大国，中国正迎来民族自信的重建。

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.

不过，许多人持不同意见。易凯资本有限公司CEO王冉在他的新浪微博上将邮票上的龙比作在中国声名狼藉的城管队员。他的一条微博写道：“城管上邮票了。” 城管队员殴打街头小贩的画面常常被人用相机记录下来。

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.

作家章诒和在微博中说，她被这个邮票“吓死了”。学者吴稼祥用中国成语“张牙舞爪”来形容这条龙的形象。他说动物张牙舞爪是是因为恐惧，受惊，不自觉地作出自卫反应。在另一条微博中，他为龙票配上了中国国家主席胡锦涛敦促中国警惕西方对中国文化和意识形态的威胁的文字。

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."

然而作家熊培云说，这个龙可以有其他的理解，“一是把统治者关进笼子，二是将权力挡在户外”。