Silent Narration: Namely "hammer" Speech Skills By Zen For Not Bringing Daily Language Logic

Communicative behavior is classified as verbal behavior and nonverbal behavior. They interact with each other and constitute the complete system of human communication. Nonverbal sign, separate from verbal behavior, is usually applied to assist verbal communication and it expresses the meanings beyond the capacity of language. Some information, such as emotional information, experiencing information and intuitional information etc. can only be conveyed by nonverbal means. Therefore, in certain circumstances, nonverbal expression can be more significant than verbal expression.As an important component of nonverbal expression, the phenomenon of "silence" has been an area lacking deep exploration in different studies. In the early stage of research, it was specially explored as an important topic in psychology and sociology. However, the study of "silence" in linguistics was late and had long been neglected. At present, the study of "silence language" can be divided into broad sense and narrow sense. From broad sense,"silence language" is actually a non-verbal communication; from narrow sense, it refers to the silence and pause between utterances. The study of "silence" in Zen Buddhism belongs to general linguistics.This field lacks popularity in Zen language study. Linguists usually tend to see "silence" in Zen language as the absence in communication. In fact, there is deep meaning implied by this "silence", which can not be expressed through verbal communication, or has been covered by language. The neglect of the indicated information will inevitably bring forth communication barriers. The nonverbal behavior based on "silence" of Zen Buddhism has not caught enough attention among Chinese scholars, so this thesis attempts to explore the vacancy in this field.This thesis will explore the "silence" in Zen language communication from form of manifestation, reason of formation, essential feature and function of expression. Firstly, this thesis explores the affiliation and classification of "silence", affirming that it belongs to nonverbal communication of general linguistics and classifying it as silence language, expression language and action language. Furthermore, the forming conditions of "silence" is analyzed from internal and external factors, and the writer holds that internally the formation of "silence" are closely related to the Zen principles of "non-literature","anti-intellectualism", and "transmission from mind to mind", and externally it’s influenced by the Zen principal of "treating things with a playful attitude" etc. Finally, the essence of "silence"(a symbolic expression) is discussed and its logic of "reversal expression" and its function of inspiring action have been discovered through the research.In regard to research methodology, this thesis mainly adopts historical criticism to reinterpret the phenomenon of "silence" in Zen language. This research method, different from the conventional way of comparing historical documents and influenced by some post-modern theories, tend to study Zen language from narration, utterance and rhetoric etc. and deconstruct the simplicity deeply embedded in it. This thesis has used Barthes’s "signifying system theory" to analyze the implied meaning beyond the symbolic expression of "silence", which subverts the oversimplified understanding of "silence" as absence and explores the complicated meanings implied by it. This thesis has also broken through the grammar and semantics of Zen language study, analyzing the "silence" in Zen language communication from the perspective of pragmatics. By adopting Wittgenstein’s "theory of language games" and Austen’s "speech act theory" this thesis explores the pragmatic function of "silence" and concludes that Zen "silence", which is not simply a representational sign, focuses on inspiration and guidance and it has become a pragmatic act signal that has powerful expressional force in communication.