Why is the movie named
"crouching tiger hidden dragon"?
This is mainly a question about present and past participle.
Why can't it be "crouching tiger hiding dragon"? Since the dragon must've been hiding voluntarily, instead of being hidden by others, I think "hiding"is more appropriate.
As the first answer presents, dragons, meaning talent people, don't take a deliberate action to hide, so "hidden" is more proper; However, tigers here are also indicating talent people, so why would they deliberately hide/crouch? (though it may have something to do with "crouch" being intransitive)
As the second answer points out, Why not "crouched tiger, hidden dragon" then?
Another question, which is asked by a user under the second answer, is isn't "crouched" the same formation as "hidden", while "crouching" is the same formation as "hiding". I also think they have -ing and -ed each has the same formation, but they would mean different things when one verb takes the -ing form while the other takes the -ed form?
Best Answer
Something that is hiding is taking some deliberate action to hide. Something that is hidden is just not in view (literally or figuratively), possibly due to outside factors.
The book/film title derives from a Chinese idiom:
So "hidden" is better here because the dragon is said to be overlooked rather than attempting to hide.