“The Metamorphosis of the Chinese Dragon: From the Proto-Long to the National Totem”

In Benedetti and Meccarelli's contribution the need to protect cultural diversity emerges, taking contemporary China and its relationship with the past and present as a research field. Through studies on the figure of the Chinese dragon (long), the meeting-clash between globalization, intercultural communications and the need to preserve the country's intellectual heritage emerges, encouraging Chinese scholars to look back at the past and explore the potential of archaeological materials, of the inscriptions, myths and legends of ancient times to constitute a contemporary identity discourse.