Is it time to slay the dragon?

Is the dragon too aggressive a symbol for China? The issue is suddenly flaring up into a hot public debate.

A scholar at Shanghai International Studies University, Wu Youfu, told a local newspaper that the dragon is seen in the Western world as a serpent-like monster, therefore it is no longer suitable as a symbol for China. After all, he said China should promote a symbol that resonates with its strategy of a non-threatening “peaceful rise.”

The dragon contributes to the perception of China as a threat, he added.

“The Chinese see themselves as the descendants of the dragon, but this meaning might not be shared by the West. It might be twisted by someone with intentions to hurt the Chinese," Wu told the Shanghai paper.

Wu’s comments have sparked a fiery debate. A fellow Shanghai scholar, Huang Jie of East China Normal University, called Wu’s proposal “ridiculous” Huang said the Chinese word “long” is not accurately translated simply as dragon.

I’m no linguist when it comes to Chinese characters. But what is true is that many Chinese associate the dragon with auspiciousness, wealth and luck, while in the West it is seen as a fiercesome, clawed creature.

While the dragon is perhaps too menacing a symbol, the panda may be too cuddly for a nation on the rise. The Middle Kingdom may need something in the middle to match the Russian bear and the U.S. bald eagle.