Episode Details

China is trying to tame the dragon—linguistically. In this episode, we explore why Chinese state media has begun replacing the English word dragon with loong in reports about the zodiac and beyond. The shift isn’t cosmetic; it’s strategic. For centuries, the dragon has been a benevolent symbol of imperial authority and good fortune in Chinese culture—yet in the West, dragons are fire-breathing monsters. As China rises on the global stage, officials worry that this Western imagery fuels suspicion and fear. We unpack how this language makeover fits into a broader pattern of political rebranding, from renaming Tibet as “Xizang” to refining English translations to shape global perception. Can a single word reshape how the world sees China?

https://www.economist.com/china/2024/02/22/a-nationalist-effort-to-rebrand-the-chinese-dragon