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ShareAs tension between India and China boiled over, and reports of alleged Chinese incursions across the disputed border gained traction, both the print and electronic media rejoiced in an orgy of 'dragon' metaphors to encapsulate the idea of Chinese aggression. And being equal-opportunity assigners of animal characteristics to countries, they portrayed India as, variously, an elephant or a tiger.
Numerous too-clever variations on Ang Lee's masterly film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or that eternal Bruce Lee classic Enter the Dragon were bandied about. It's easy to see why this temptation proved hard to resist.
The dragon, as perceived in Western mythology (which we've assimilated unthinkingly), serves adequately as a visual metaphor for a country that -- in the popular perception -- "breathes fire" and is seen to be intimidating. For illustrators and headline writers looking for a way to convey the big picture snappily, the 'dragon' is a heaven-sent entity.
But this representation is flawed or open to criticism at several levels. Apart from the fact that it is very unoriginal and even borderline clichéd, the 'dragon-as-a-threat' metaphor, as applied to China, is fundamentally flawed for one reason: the Chinese mythological dragon, unlike the 'Western' dragon, isn't a fire-breathing, flame-throwing destructive force for evil. On the contrary, it is a benevolent, genial being associated with spiritual power, wisdom and culture, which watches over and brings good luck and prosperity to the people.
In China, many people and companies have the character 'long' (dragon) as part of their name, and no festival or public event is complete without an auspicious and high-decibel dragon dance.
A couple of years ago, Chinese intellectuals initiated a debate on the merits and demerits of retaining the Chinese dragon as a national emblem, given that it is frequently misinterpreted in Western understanding as a symbol of unvarnished belligerence.
But the preponderance of public opinion -- as reflected in online polls -- was in favour of retaining the dragon as a Chinese icon, given that it represented prosperity and good luck.
This benign representation of the dragon applies all across East Asia, where countries share a cultural heritage, including Japan, Korea and Vietnam. In fact, the dragon symbol is one of three elements that make up the official Brand Hong Kong Signature; as far as is known, no one has ever had reason to be intimidated by Hong Kong.
At another level, media representations of countries by animal emblems -- even if they are rooted in their local cultures -- border on the ridiculous. We don't, for instance, refer to the US as 'the bald eagle' every time, although that indeed is the national emblem of that country.
Likewise, we don't invoke the markhor, a species of goat-antelope found in the western Himalayas, whenever we refer to the country whose national animal it is: Pakistan. (This is despite the fact that the markhor, which has a long, flowing beard, actually bears a passing resemblance to some Taliban leaders on a bad hair day!)
Another problem with the 'dragon' metaphor as applied to China is that it projects that country in monochromatic colours, which does little justice to its many dimensions. As China rises economically and geopolitically, some aspects of its ascendance do admittedly cause disquiet -- and not just in India either.
But beyond a few military minds, hard-line strategic analysts and editorial writers in official newspapers, large masses of Chinese people don't wake up thinking of ways to dismember India or seize territory in Arunachal Pradesh -- or even spray-paint red Chinese characters on rocks in Indian territory.
An excessive preoccupation on our part with the 'China threat' perception to the exclusion of all other aspects would constitute a missed opportunity to engage with it at other levels. Ironically, such a broad-based engagement could actually have the effect of 'normalising' China -- or should one say, of extinguishing its fire-breathing potential.
What we perhaps need is an alternative visual metaphor for China -- one that does greater justice to the complex, fast-changing and many-layered nature of Chinese civil society, economy and polity today. And, yes, one that encapsulates China's identity as a force that's capable of goodness but which simultaneously intimidates. (Think Transformers!) But until then, we could perhaps do with fewer Dragon-Elephant-Tiger -- or even 'Slothful Panda, Preening Peacock' -- menagerie metaphors...
The writer is DNA's East Asia correspondent
