Five Conceptual Metaphor Research Based On Cognitive Psychology Of Language

The five elements theory-wood, fire, water, metal and earth-is one of the philosophical foundationsfor Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).Ancient Chinese medical philosophers usedthe five elements to draw analogies with the five internal organs, the five colors, or the five flavors, but they did not probe the psychological and linguistic implications behind the five elements. By reviewing the related literature, it is found that the cognitive study ofthe conceptual metaphors on the five elementsin TCMis very few.Therefore, it becomes indispensable to examine the theory from the scientific perspective. Cognitive linguistics is used to explain how Chinese physicians apply the five elements theory, in which the five internal organs correspondto the five elements and the generating and overcoming relationships between the five elements mirror those between the five internal organs.Through the questionnaires based onprototype theoryincognitive psychology, further investigation into thefive elementstheory inTCMis conducted out from the metaphorical cognitive perspective. Its purpose is to elucidate how the five elements theory is formed and to help comprehend the scientific significance of disease.Interdisciplinarity is a new field of scientific development. Cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychology are important disciplines of cognitive science. Cognitive linguisticsemphasizes that metaphors are pervasive in everyday life, seen not only as a rhetorical figure of speech but, more importantly, as a conceptual cognition. Therefore, human conceptual system is built on the basis of metaphors. Cognitive psychology is the scientific investigation of human cognition, based on conceptual information processing. An image schema is considered an embodied prelinguistic structure of experience that motivates conceptual metaphor mappings. Therefore, image schemas have also become a cognitive psychological basis of metaphors. Similar theoriesarethe cornerstone of conceptual metaphors. Modern cognitive psychology proposes prototype theory, which still has its dominant position in similar theories. According to cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychology, metaphorsare basically viewed as a human cognitive mode and as a powerful tool to understand and express abstract concepts.The paper is divided into three parts.The first part is a brief summary of the ancient and modern five elementstheory. The concept of the five elements first appeared in the early Xia and Shang dynasties before Western Zhou.Thegenerating relationship between the five elements was completely recorded in the literature at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period while the overcoming relationship between the five elements was in the Warring States period.The conceptof the five elements first appeared in the five elements theory and was followed by the overcoming relationship between the five elements. The origin of the five elements is different from that of the generating and overcoming relationships between the five elements. Generally speaking, the five elements theory reached maturity in the Warring States period,and has reached the peakin the Han Dynasty.In addition, it also reviewed the basic and clinical research into the five elements in TCM, as well as some related studies in the background of different disciplines in recent10years. The past and presentdiscussions about the five elements in TCM are summarized.The second part of the paper focuses on the preliminary cognitive study of conceptual metaphors of the five elements in TCM. It consists of four sections. The first section briefly discusses the application of the theory in the paper, the historical development of cognitive psychology and metaphor theory in cognitive linguistics, contemporary theory of metaphors, and the functions and types of conceptual metaphors. The second section centers its discussion on how the theoretical basis of the five elements in TCM is constructed. It is widely believed that conceptual metaphors of the five elements in TCMare not out of imagination, but out of the ancestors’observation in their daily lives and the ideas from the experience in the surroundings. The third section discusses the origin of conceptual metaphors from the perspective ofcognitive linguistics and cognitive semantics--destination domain model and two main metaphor comprehension models. It illustrates the application of the five elements theory to the working mechanism of the conceptual metaphors the five elements. The fourth section elucidates the psychological basis of construction of conceptual metaphorsof the five elements in TCM with the image schema theory of cognitive psychology, types and characteristics of image schema, and metaphors. On the basis of image schema, the conceptual metaphorsof the five elements are formed through the conceptual integrated theory and cross-domain mapping. We will utilize prototype theoryand conceptual metaphor theory in cognitive psychology to devise a questionnaire. The conceptual metaphors of the five elements are formed through the analysis of questionnaires. The single conceptual metaphor of the five elements is analyzed through the concept combination in order to realize how the composite conceptual metaphor is created by its combination.The third part is the questionnaire aboutthe five elements based on prototype theory in cognitive science. Those who believe in modern science consider what cannot be proved to be wrong. Some hold the belief that Chinese medicine neither conformsto the norms of modern science nor is proven by modern science. Consequently, they have some misunderstanding about Chinese medicine.Through the questionnaire, we survey the people in Taiwan with different genders, ages, educational backgrounds, professions, and places of birth to determine their understanding of the fiveelements theory. Through the data collected from people with different understanding of the conceptual metaphors of the five elements,we transform the qualitative data into quantitative, scientific one. With the statistical analysis and by means of analysis of people with different backgrounds, the prototypes of the five elements are found.We also examine whether or not the people with different backgrounds have different understandings of the five elements theory. If there is any difference, the cause of such difference is located by way of cognitive difference. The questionnaire helps people understand more about the essence of the five elements theory and has a scientific significance for disease. It is because the cognitive scientific method, which includes cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychology, is applied, we create a whole new research method for the five elements theory in TCM. It makes TCM theory clearer.We conclude that the research on the five elements in TCM through cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychology proves the five elements theory is a kind of conceptual, metaphorical language. Human’s concepts and cognition are established by his or her own daily experience. The differences in concepts and cognition are also a result of different experiences among people. The results of this research not only support the main points (Embodied Philosophy) of cognitive psychology and cognitive linguistics, but areaccepted and understood among people with different cultures and languages. It helps bridge the difference between the five elements theory and modern cognitive science. Also, it elucidates the scientific significance of understanding of disease, which is only acceptable to and understandable for people with different cultural backgrounds.