A Fear-Inspiring Image? New Chinese Dragon Stamp Sending Wrong Message, Many Say
- Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:01am by
Dave Urbanski
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Is this newly-designed stamp for China’s upcoming Year of the Dragon meant to inspire fear?
For many, most significantly Chinese citizens, that’s the first reaction. And the fang-and-claw-bearing image on the stamp, which went on sale yesterday, has them wondering what message the Chinese government is attempting to send with it.
Some are saying it should be adopted as the motto of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, recently accused of bullying China’s neighbors and intimidating the wider international community, according to the Telegraph.
“Will the Foreign Ministry be sending this stamp on its gifts to its old friends or to old rivals? Does the dragon stamp suggest a peaceful 2012?” asked Hong Kong TV presenter, Chen Yang.
“This shocking creature on the stamp could well be the emblem of the Foreign Ministry,” posted antiques collector, Wu Yue on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
Peking University student Huang Song agreed, posting, “I suggest we use this dragon stamp as the Foreign Ministry’s mascot.”
Wang Ran, chief executive of boutique investment bank China eCapital Corp., compared the dragon to China’s city inspectors, who are sometimes caught on camera beating up street vendors. The Wall Street Journal reports that Ran tweeted, “City inspectors are now on a stamp.”
Zhang Yihe, a renowned Chinese writer, wrote on her Sina Weibo microblog that she was “scared to death” when she first saw the red and yellow creature with scales and claws, according to the AP.
But the artist who created the ferocious dragon is defending the image, as well as the message he says it sends. “The dragon is one of the 12 animals that make up the Chinese Zodiac and is used to exorcise evil spirits and offer blessings, so we needed a tough image,” said Chen Shaohua, who also designed the bid emblem for Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Games.
Chen said he had received criticism, abuse, and support for the stamp, brought out ahead of the Chinese New Year, which is Jan. 23. The artist added that the dragon should be interpreted as a symbol of China’s rising confidence, the AP said:
“As a large country which has major influence in the world, China is ushering in the restoration of national confidence,” Chen wrote on his blog. “From sternness and divinity, to a representation of China’s self-confidence, a dragon which is tough, powerful, stern and confident is an appropriate choice.”
The president of the Chinese Philatelic Research Society, Zhou Zhihua, said the Chinese are used to seeing “milder animals” on their annual New Zodiac Year postage stamps.
Indeed, the new dragon stamp is quite the fearsome contrast to last year’s rabbit stamp:
“Their reaction to the Dragon stamp is understandable,” Zhou said.
Dragon-designer Chen added some historical perspective on his blog regarding previous dragon designs, according to the Wall Street Journal. He said the design for 1988′s Year of the Dragon 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’s 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 dragon.
A popular myth claiming the Chinese people are descendants of the legendary creature endures, the Telegraph said, and many still believe the dragon symbolizes power despite strong government discouragement of superstition.
In fact, said the Telegraph, the Chinese government prefers the docile, cuddly panda as the national insignia and uses the iconic endangered species as highly successful soft power diplomatic gifts, with the most recent pair sent to Edinburgh Zoo.
Despite the controversy, dragon stamp is already ushering in significant profit, as crowds clamor for the new design, the AP said. One stamp merchant was reportedly selling a set of 20 for 178 yuan ($28) — much higher than the 24 yuan ($4) face value.
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’s notorious city inspectors, who are sometimes caught on camera beating up street vendors. “City inspectors are now on a stamp,” he tweeted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comments (58)
gweilo
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:57amOhhhhhhhh it is so cute
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:51amReassures me about Chinese artists after that Martin Luther King sculpture.
So the year of the dragon comes around once every 12 years, and people are questioning whether or not a postage stamp dragon should have the right to look like a dragon….
Report Post »What about those razor sharp sabers on that green flag? Nobody seems to be questioning the symbolism there– if you can call it symbolism.
G.W. Dobbs
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 8:20am2012 is the year of THE BLACK DRAGON which occurs ONCE EVERY SIXTY YEARS.
Report Post »This is said to be a Good Year, the BEST as it is usually only once in a Life Time. Expect
more births than usual this year.
Andy Cooper
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:50amWe should issue a new stamp featuring Saint George.
Report Post »*
China is a dragon, a paper dragon. They are going to fail in their bid for top dog. They eat dog. They will eat themselves up with their socialism.
*
Saint George is also known as “The Dragon Slayer.” Keep on keepin’ on America, and get ready to dine on dragon flesh.
gweilo
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:56amIt’s so cute
Report Post »absolutely
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:44amSecond thought, a picture of OBS on a stamp with 2013 below it scares the crap out of me. Absolutely
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:51amSo that explains why my snail mail takes so long to get to next door. It’s routed through the China branch of the USPS.
Report Post »Randyrocker
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:39amIt won‘t be long before it ends up on some Hollywood Starlet’s Rump.
Report Post »cloudsofwar
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:37amI want one to put on my gun safe. I like it. Now how can i get one? and don’t tell me to move to China. I can’t stand commies including Obama. scary stamp please, you have nothing to fear but fear itself (FDR).
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:35amFDR said that so that people would stop being afraid of what he was doing to this nation. He was our worst President ever. Was being the pertinent word of the last sentence.
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 1:46pmYou could try eBay — you can pretty much find anything there! Seriously, I think it’s a cool looking stamp, but then I collect stamps…
Report Post »absolutely
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:31amI think we need a stamp with the picture of all the snipers on it from the post this morning as a response, or maybe a fully loaded stealth drone with one of those shark tooth grins like they used to do in WWII. Now that would be a stamp. Absolutely
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:28amStamp, stamp on your head!
I bet your frightened now, your new nemisis the Chineese are coming to get you!
Stamp, Stamp !
Oh bother, can’t we just pay attention the the good tyrant we have here please, really.
Report Post »Mock scenario”
Scene cut “FEMA GULAG 13”
Prisoner number 00000000001 ” what’s the last thing you did before your door got broken down?”
Prisoner number 99999999999 ” I was reading a story obout the new Chineese dragon stamp, and was posting a commen……………………………………………………. Interbred connection lost.
Regdunlop
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:01amYou really need to spell check before you start typing your paranoid rants. It just makes you seem a bit crazy with all the errors.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:27am.
Well I guess it was not P.C. of me when I said Obama was Raw-Dogging with a Dragon. But, I thought they were gonna allow Beastility in the Military now that DADT has been lifted……….
You P.C. White Guilt People need to learn how to Laugh a little, have some fun. C’mon you know you laughed……..
Report Post »NOBAMA201258
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 2:26pm@SPANK You know raw-dogging in china is probably a meal, not a sex act !
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:23amThe five toed dragon was often the symbol of the Chinese Emperor.
It looks like the Communist Party has usurped the Emperor’s dragon.
Report Post »Charybdis
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:21amThat will be the new presidential seal if Obama wins a second term.
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:34amMy wife and self was in a post office here in Oklahoma and was looking at new stamps coming out and on Jan. 22, I’m sure we saw a dragon stamp coming out in U.S. While driving home we commented that we didn’t like it and would pass. I think I have enough forever stamps to get by untill another .45 stamp comes out.
Report Post »crazyloon
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:18amLooks like a 10 horn dragon wearing a crown to me.
…..I supppose that it’s just my imagination.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:35amLol, well that particular dragon you refer to is an empire that breaks into ten parts, and has a little horn that rises up as well, but not before three of the ten fall before it ( Ostragoths , Huganoghts, Visagoths ). I could tell you what was born in 58 ad, after those three fell before it from the ten parts of the roman empire, but I won’t. But I will leave a tantalizing clue, whatever that blasphemous little horn power was in 58ad, is still with us today, in exactly the same form.
Report Post »Biddle
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:10pmIndeed the little horn still causes trouble! But not for much longer!
Report Post »Jayms
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:15amDoesn’t America have (non-fantasy) badass eagles on them? Why should we be afraid of a unicorn, Easter bunny, leprechaun, or dragon?
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:05amChinese Capitalist Post Office personnel are charging MORE than face value. Please don’t give our Postal Elite or the Thief in Chief any ideas.
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:58amSo now the Chinese public is supposedly going all PC on us?
It’s the year of the dragon, for Pete’s sake!
Dragons are supposed to inspire fear!
A docile dragon is like a “holiday tree.”
Report Post »WiredRight
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:56amThat wabbit scares the crap outta me!
Report Post »jespasinthru
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:55amAwesome! That dragon‘s so stylized and intricate that it’s positively inspirational. I guess it’s only scary if you live in the evil totalitarian anthill that is China, where intimidation is business as usual. And what’s that thing in the middle? Is that a comet, or what?
Report Post »NOBAMA201258
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:22am@JESPASINTHRU That thing in the middle is probably Earth and this stamp shows China’s intent on world domination,which are brainless leaders are being very helpful with
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:35amThe prophecy of the stamp is correct.
The Red Dragon that reveals itself at the coming of Christ won’t be smiling.
Report Post »dumbgrunt33
Posted on January 7, 2012 at 1:32amAgreed. Was wondering if someone else would catch it.
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:26amIt is magnificent! Very cool… what a dragon should be.
Report Post »The rabbit stamp was the “essence of rabbit.”
The dragon stamp is the “essence of dragon.”
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:22am.
Report Post »I think that’s the image Obama saw between his legs when he bent over for the Chinese…….
Stoic one
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:25amwhat he wished he saw.
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:27amTouchee.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:36amThat was no dragon he saw, it was a really small gecko.
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:03amSo he made a recess appointment….
Report Post »ninja97
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:20amI see ten horns…
Report Post »Ansetekh
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:47amWow really. That would be his beard. All traditional Chinese dragons have them.
Report Post »Talk about self fulfilling prophecies.
JLGunner
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:19amFear was not my first emotion.It was more like, “Hey, what a jazzy bit of penmanship”.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 11:03amAgree.Great drawing. I am not afraid of false-idols or images. Believers vs Unbelievers…no contest.
Report Post »randy
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:13amPeking University student Huang Song agreed, posting, “I suggest we use this dragon stamp as the Foreign Ministry’s mascot.”
Pack your bags Huang Song, I have a feeling you’ll be spending a few years away from your family and friends.
Report Post »Thors Hammer
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:08amPlease, it’s a stamp! Besides, dragons are not usually depicted as warm, cuddly animals like cats or bunnies. Exactly how should you draw a dragon? Don’t we have more important things to be concerned about?
Report Post »ozchambers
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:08amLMAO at the rabbit chicom stamp!
Report Post »Joisey
Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:06amIts a stamp. Stop over-reacting.
Report Post »