A Cognitive Approach To The Conceptual Metaphors In Shih-shuo Hsin-y�

Conceptual Metaphor Theory(CMT)is one of the core theories of cognitive linguistics.It upholds that metaphor is not merely a linguistic phenomenon,but a fundamental cognitive device to construe the world.Serving as an interlink between language and culture,metaphor is the crux to inquire into the cultural gist of a particular cultural community.Over the past few decades,there have been a large number of applications of CMT in a variety of genres of discourse,ranging from politics to news media,law,advertisement,religion,literature and,in recent years,Chinese cultural classics as a new extension.Following this line,this study takes the Chinese classic Shih-shuo Hsin-yu as the focus of textual analysis to explore the cultural models of Wei Jin Period through the framework of CMT.Shih-shuo Hsin-yu stands as the encyclopedia of Wei Jin culture in miniature,depicting a collective image of the intelligentsia from the end of Eastern Han Dynasty to the early Liu Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties.It is acclaimed as "a textbook of Wei Jin literati"(Lu 2014:281),"a complete set of Qing-Tan(??)"(Chen 2001:216-217),and "an objective portrayal of the world"(Mather 2002:xiii-xxxv).It is from Shih-shuo Hsin-yu that Wei Jin Spirit as a collective intellectual aura emerges,Integrating Conceptual Metaphor Theory along with its recent developments,this study proposes the Contemporary Theory of Metaphor adapted for studies of Chinese classics in general and the study of Shih-shuo Hsin-yu in particular.Adopting this theoretical framework,we analyze comprehensively the metaphorical expressions and simile expressions in Shih-shuo Hsin-yu,investigate the underlying conceptual metaphors and the cultural models which characterize Wei Jin Spirit.In doing so,the interrelationships between language,cognition and culture are explored.Based on the three-step research paradigm of Critical Metaphor Analysis(CMA)and incorporating Metaphor Identification Procedure(MIP)and the five-step metaphor analysis of Steen(2007,2009),we construct our own three-step methodological framework for data identification and analysis of Shih-shuo Hsin-yu.There are altogether 1754 metaphorical expressions and 109 simile expressions identified,which could be mainly categorized into three concepts,SHI(?,the literati),QING-TAN(??,pure conversation)and SHI-JIE(??,world).These three concepts capture the main themes of the book,i.e.the unique Wei Jin intelligentsia,their unique intellectual and aesthetic undertakings,and their philosophical thinking and social pursuits,which together construct the so-called Wei Jin Spirit.The study intends to answer the following questions:(1)How is SHI metaphorically constructed in Shih-shuo Hsin-yu?What characteristics of SHI are highlighted in this process?(2)How is QING-TAN metaphorically constructed in Shih-shuo Hsin-yu?What are the unique features of Wei Jin QING-TAN?(3)How is SHI-JIE metaphorically constructed in Shih-shuo Hsin-yu?What attributes of SHI-JIE are made prominent therein?(4)Accordingly,what is the Wei Jin Spirit underlying these concepts?What features does it sh ow?We find that SHI in Shih-shuo Hsin-yu is mainly conceptualized via the Great Chain of Being Metaphors.The Extended Great Chain in Shih-shuo Hsin-yu is NATURE?SHEN?HUMAN?ANIMAL?PLANT?ENTITY.The conceptual metaphors captured accordingly are SHI IS TIAN,SHI IS A NATURAL PHENOMENON,SHI IS SHEN,SHI IS AN ANIMAL,SHI IS A PLANT and SHI IS AN ENTITY,via which Shi's multifaceted traits(e.g.appearance,demeanor,talent,virtue,social class)are construed and comprehended.A unique cultural model of QING-TAN can be detected in Shih-shuo Hsin-yu,which is built around a six-stage scenario:proposition?opposition?rebuttal?impasse/submission?winning?satisfaction of all the audience.The three metaphors to structure and concretize this model are QING-TAN IS A JOURNEY,QING-TAN IS A SHOW and QING-TAN IS WAR.Cohering with the QING-TAN model,these three metaphors highlight Shi's pursuit for truth,beauty and victory in QING-TAN via JOURNEY,SHOW and WAR.A clear demarcation between SOCIAL WORLD and IDEAL WORLD can be observed in the analysis of SHI-JIE,with the former defined by spatial and temporal constraints and the latter breaking free from these constraints.Specifically,the SOCIAL WORLD is mainly conceptualized via SPACE and TIME,while the IDEAL WORLD is mainly construed as being above,remote from or outside the SOCIAL WORLD and specifically realized as RECLUSIVE WORLD,DRUG WORLD and WINE WORLD.Based upon the above findings,we summarize Wei Jin Spirit as Wei Jin literati's self-awareness,self-fashioning and self-transcendence.Self-awarenss refers to Wei Jin literati's knowledge and understanding of themselves,especially their cultivations of both Metaphysics and Confucianism.Self-fashioning highlights Wei Jin literati as a particular group of intelligentsia of independence,autonomy and creativity.Self-transcendence emphasizes Wei Jin literati's philosophical view of the unity of Tian and human and their pursuit of sageliness within and kingliness without.This study contributes to conceptual metaphor research in the following ways.Along the theoretical dimension,based upon the classical theory of CMT and its recent developments,we proposed our Contemporary Theory of Metaphor adapted for studies of Chinese classics,which hopefully offers an applicable framework for comprehensive analysis of metaphors at linguistic,conceptual,cultural,communicative and literary levels for Chinese classics.Along the methodological dimension,based upon CMA,MIP and the five-step metaphor analysis of Steen(2007,2009),we put forward Critical Metaphor Analysis adapted for studies of Chinese classics,which provides more refined procedures of metaphor identification and interpretation in the Chinese context.Through this creative application of CMT and CMA,this study provides a comprehensive investigation of the three key concepts of Shih-shuo Hsin-yu,SHI,QING-TAN and SHI-JIE,which enables us to get the gist of Wei Jin Spirit as Wei Jin literati's self-awareness,self-fashioning and self-transcendence.In addition,this study,being both corpus-based and corpus-driven,has established a closed,tagged corpus of Shih-shuo Hsin-yu,in which linguistic metaphors are identified manually and exhaustively,annotated carefully and categorized systematically.The construction and annotation of Shih-shuo Hsin-yu corpus may provide reference for future researchers of other traditional Chinese classics.Last but not last,this study also has implications for the interrelationships between language,metaphor and culture.It confirms the reciprocality between metaphor and culture,i.e.metaphor constitutes and shapes cultures and builds social realities while culture serves as a filter for constructing and interpreting metaphor.It further sheds light on the necessity and effectiveness of a cross-sectional,in-depth and exhaustive metaphorical exploration of a magnum opus to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of a specific ethnic group and culture.