A nationalist effort to rebrand the Chinese dragon

The year of the dragon, one of the 12 creatures in the Chinese zodiac, began on February 10th. But some Chinese state media have been calling it the year of the loong in their English reports. Loong (pronounced like the English word “long”) sounds like the Mandarin term for dragon. It is more appropriate, says the state-run Beijing Daily, because Western dragons are evil monsters, whereas Chinese ones are noble and benevolent. The latter are said to bring good luck.

Dragons have a special place in Chinese culture. They were once the symbol of the emperor. Some Chinese people—including the country’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping—call themselves “descendants of the dragon”. But in both China and other countries, dragons come in all shapes and sizes. There are good dragons in Western mythology and culture. One is on the Welsh flag, for instance. Another called Puff, made famous by the musical group Peter, Paul and Mary, seems nice enough. Meanwhile, there are Chinese tales of loong who eat children and conjure up devastating floods.