Was Little Dragon Girl misnamed?

I've always felt that the character Little Dragon Girl, Siu Lung Lui or Xiaolongnui, (RETURN OF THE CONDOR HEROES) was misnamed. The word "dragon" ("lung") conveys an aura of ferocity and strength. Consider the Hong Lung 18 Palms (Dragon Subduing 18 Palms) wielded by such fierce warriors as Kiu Fung, North Beggar Hung 7 Gung, and Gwok Jing. Additionally, the English idiom "dragon lady" refers to a woman who is known to be fierce and powerful, a description that might fit characters like Lee Mok Sau, Kau Cheen Chek, or Mit Jeut See Tai, but absolutely does not fit "Little Dragon Girl", who was delicate and dainty and the furthest thing from fierce.

Not really. Wei Xiao Bao was given the nickname 'Xiao Bai Long', little white dragon, for his supposed ability to swim well. Dragon doesn't necessarily convey an aura of ferocity and power; it's just that XL18Z and several of it's more famed practitioners did.

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Originally posted by Ken Cheng
I've always felt that the character Little Dragon Girl, Siu Lung Lui or Xiaolongnui, (RETURN OF THE CONDOR HEROES) was misnamed. The word "dragon" ("lung") conveys an aura of ferocity and strength. Consider the Hong Lung 18 Palms (Dragon Subduing 18 Palms) wielded by such fierce warriors as Kiu Fung, North Beggar Hung 7 Gung, and Gwok Jing. Additionally, the English idiom "dragon lady" refers to a woman who is known to be fierce and powerful, a description that might fit characters like Lee Mok Sau, Kau Cheen Chek, or Mit Jeut See Tai, but absolutely does not fit "Little Dragon Girl", who was delicate and dainty and the furthest thing from fierce.

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It's like you say, it's an English idiom. While I agree that both Eastern and Western Dragons are powerful, the Western Dragon is much fiercer.

According to some myths, the dragon king has a very beautiful daughter--the dragon princess.

Aren't maidens are sacrificed to dragons every so often?

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Originally posted by SunZi
According to some myths, the dragon king has a very beautiful daughter--the dragon princess.

Aren't maidens are sacrificed to dragons every so often?

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I think SunZi is actually on the right track. Considering how XLN was suppose to be this unearthly beauty (unmatched beauty too?), JY was implying how XLN was goddess-like? So her name is really meant for her beauty and not her fierceness.

I've got a question. In Mandarin, does the word "Lung" alone refer to "Dragon"? Is there a specific Mandarin word that refers to a female dragon? The reason being that I once had a friend whose one word of her name (according to her) translates into a female dragon, and it was not "Lung."

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Originally posted by rabadi
I've got a question. In Mandarin, does the word "Lung" alone refer to "Dragon"? Is there a specific Mandarin word that refers to a female dragon? The reason being that I once had a friend whose one word of her name (according to her) translates into a female dragon, and it was not "Lung."

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What was your friend's name? One small correction--Lung is canto and Long is mandarin.

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Originally posted by Suet Seung
What was your friend's name? One small correction--Lung is canto and Long is mandarin.

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Well, the name is in Hokkienese, not in Mandarin. The word female dragon in her name is "Ing". In Hokkienese, the word dragon is "Liong". So, I was wondering whether there is a Mandarin word for female dragon.

Is it possible that she was born in the Year of the Dragon and her sifu named her Siu Lung Lui(little Dragon girl), not knowing her real name, being an orphan.
Just my guess, never read the book, so do not ask me to prove it.

I thought it's because her surname was Long, and since nobody know what the rest of her name was, they all called her Xiao Long Nu?

I don't think 'dragon' denotes ferocity and strength in chinese. that's for 'tiger'. I always feel that 'dragon' denotes something high class or high status. Something valuable and revered.

About the female dragon thing (rabadi): might you be talking about "feng"? That's phoenix, the female version of the dragon (at least in oriental culture).

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Originally posted by kidd
I don't think 'dragon' denotes ferocity and strength in chinese. that's for 'tiger'. I always feel that 'dragon' denotes something high class or high status. Something valuable and revered.

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Yea. The royal family were considered to be incarnations of dragons (maybe not considered, but at least they were said to have the dragon instead of human flesh).

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Originally posted by immakiku
About the female dragon thing (rabadi): might you be talking about "feng"? That's phoenix, the female version of the dragon (at least in oriental culture).

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No, because it so happens that she has a sister, and her sister's name contains the word "Hong" (which is a Hokkienese word for Phoenix, which is "Feng" in Mandarin as you said) :D

it should be little rabbit girl

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Originally posted by DuffMan oOo Yea
it should be little rabbit girl

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Little rabbit donkey!

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Originally posted by kidd
I don't think 'dragon' denotes ferocity and strength in chinese. that's for 'tiger'. I always feel that 'dragon' denotes something high class or high status. Something valuable and revered.

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Yup. Agree 100%.

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Do any of you remember cartoons about a little dragon (say, dragon junior) who likes to extinguish fires (he actually wants to join the fire brigade). His father, Dragon Senior, a fire-spitting dragon (as normal, well-behaved dragons should be) is totally devastated and ashamed having a deranged son like that.