A Study Of Laozi 's Antonyms And Laozi' S Philosophy Of Language

Lao-tzu is the most significant Chinese philosopher in the Spring&AutumnPeriod and the Warring States. Tao Te Ching as a cultural heritage is the only book,which is capable enough to be on a par with the Analects of Confucius. From all thesage masters and its classic books throughout Chinese history, the topics of Lao-tzuand his Tao Te Ching are unmatched by the others. You could almost say that Lao-tzuand his mysterious5000-word Tao Te Ching itself is a great legend.Because his living time is so far away, plus those previous annotations about TaoTe Ching hardly keeping pace with the times, we almost hear nothing either fromhimself or his inscrutable Tao Te Ching, leaving nothing but an infinite discoursespace. Because of these, if we try to understand his teachings and words, it isnecessary to analyses the vocabulary of Tao Te Ching, and to study his philosophyexpressions coming from the regularly used vocabulary. The philosophy expressionsin Tao Te Ching holding special meanings which are quite different from that of theterms usually used now. As we know, there is a huge number of antonyms in Tao TeChing. It always talks a couple of examples with opposite meaning, so using plenty ofantonyms is a famous characteristic of Tao Te Ching. In view of it, the plenty ofantonyms in Tao Te Ching is just the key to discover all those profound expressionsand unique vocabulary.The author expects to catch the knowledge of contemporary youth. The paper isequipped with Lao-tzu-centered background. On the shoulders of a giant may seefarther than a giant. So from the introduction, author shows researches related to thistopic. The first chapter, on the basic of antonym, introduces the theory of his languagephilosophy and the cultural value of the dialectics thought of his philosophy. In thesecond chapter, the paper makes both semantic analysis and descriptioncomprehensively so that it is conducive to understand the sememe of antonym. In thethird chapter, combining the theory of cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychologyI try to give an interpretation of antonyms in Tao Te Ching from a new perspective. Inlast chapter, setting the antonyms as examples with the sense category-based schema Isystematically analyze the system of metaphor which is building by antonyms in TaoTe Ching.At last, I hope that this paper would make both Lao-tzu and Tao Te Ching moreaccessible.