Quote:
Originally Posted by Pattywack
The tag reads "blue dragon lion child" is this different than "blue dragon backbone lion" ? Call it what you want, I'm loving it! Here is a pic.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MattWoelfsen
"Blue Dragon Backbone Lion" is what I understand Serujishi means. At one time I wanted to know what the Japanese name meant, but as I acquired more Furan, I felt the English interpretation was irrelevant. You cannot buy Neofinetia falcata "Blue Dragon Backbone Lion"! Unless, of course, you go to someplace like Al's.
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Seiryujishi, 青龍獅子, would perhaps most simply be translated as "Blue Dragon, Lion" but I think perhaps "Guardian Lion of the Azure Dragon" might be more accurate taking into consideration the various connotations of the name.
青, Sei, is a color anywhere from Blue to Cyan to Green. It is a strange word to westerners because of its merger of colors that many westerners see as completely different. Linguists often refer to it as "grue"
龍, Ryu, means Dragon
青龍, Seiryu, when combined implies specifically the Azure Dragon referenced in chinese mythology and mysticism.
獅子, Shishi or Jishi, is originally the mythical creature that westerners often refer to as a "Fu Dog". This mythical creature was originally based on the appearance of a male African lion.
There's no indication in the name for the word "backbone", and while 子, by itself, can mean "child" in this case it's part of the idiomatic expression 獅子.
As Matt says though, English translations of these Japanese names are often irrelevant because they are so many different ways to translate each Japanese name. Many western growers completely butcher the translations too.
For me, insisting on calling Neos by their names translated into English (and some people do) is the equivalent of calling various cities around the world by its translated meaning. No one would understand what you're talking about if you went around calling Tokyo "The Eastern Capital" or Shanghai "Upon the Sea"
That said, once you really dive deep into the world of collecting Neos, I think it's always fun to know what the name means, not as a translation, but as an interpretation of the name which encodes its history, genealogy, poetry/metaphor and characteristics. Neo names will carry any combination of those four things, and knowing the interpretive meaning of the name sometimes lets you guess at the plant's characteristics sight unseen.
Seiryujishi was probably given that name because of poetry and as a description of physical characteristics. The growth habit in its twisting form probably reminded the one who named it of a dragon twisting and turning in the sky. He combined that with the green color of the plant, and thus the Azure Dragon.
The term Shishi, while it has its connotations in the mythical creature and African Lions, is a commonly used suffix in neo names to indicate that the plant has a twisting and turning growth habit and produces compact clumps. The term was probably originally used as a visual comparison of the plant to the manes on the Shishi statues that were commonly used as the left-hand gate guardian in Japan, and pretty much any Neo you find with Shishi/Jishi in the name will have a similar growth habit.
And both halves of the name carry the connotation of majesty and grace, of emperors and kings, of education and wealth. To the growers of this variety, back when it was named some 300 years ago, the name would have carried a feeling of great reverence.
Now all that said, Pattywack, congratulations on acquiring a beautiful plant
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