Research On The Rhetorical Questions In Xunzi

Which we called a rhetorical question is those Chinese sentences looks like aquestion but we can not find any doubt meaning in it. Rhetorical question is a kind ofsentence pattern frequently used in our daily communication. We take the idea ofcombining monographic study and a special book study as the guiding ideology,consult the research achievement about rhetorical questions of the pre-Qin period, aimat the free space of rhetorical research in pre-Qin period, using three methods(combining quantitative statistics and qualitative analysis, combining synchronicstudy and diachronic research, combining description and interpretation), analyze andconclude the rhetorical questions of Xunzi systemically and deeply from three aspects:the syntactic form, semantic logic relation and response types the question based, thepurpose is through the synchronic research about a special book to expand the spaceof grammatical research in Xunzi, and reveal the role of this book in the developmentof ancient Chinese rhetorical system, thereby helping the ancient Chinese teachingand the inheritance of classic Chinese language and culture.On the form characteristics, the negative function and rhetorical tone in Xunzishould owes to the main form tag including interrogative pronoun or adverbs, modalparticles etc., and the auxiliary form tag including other adverbs, auxiliary verbs,particles of speech etc.. At the same time, the orientation choosing of modal particlewas taken as an important means of expression.On semantic logic relationship, according to the number and structure of asentence, the rhetorical questions in Xunzi rhetorical question can be divided intothree kinds: the simple rhetorical questions, the composite rhetorical questions and thecombined rhetorical questions. The composite rhetorical questions and the combinedrhetorical questions have quite obvious differences on semantic logic relations:between the clauses of composite rhetorical questions, the main relationship arehypothesis, concession, transition and progressive; between the clauses of combinedrhetorical questions, the main relationship is juxtaposition including equal andcontrast, the auxiliary relationship is successive relation, and has occasionalhypothesis. The combined rhetorical questions with a juxtaposition have filled up theblank of types of semantic logic relationship of composite rhetorical questions, andalso reflects the representativeness of Xunzi to be an object of semantic logicrelationship study about rhetorical questions.On trigger type and pragmatic function, according to the tone of the trigger,rhetorical questions in Xunzi can be divided into two categories: the question with adeclarative trigger and the question with a interrogative trigger. Among them,questions with a declarative trigger can be divided into two kinds: questions with abehavioral premise and questions with an intellective promise; questions with aninterrogative trigger not the masses, but covered full range, and it can be divided intothree kinds, including questions with a behavioral promise, questions with anintellective promise and questions with a verbal promise. As a trigger belongs to threedifferent types of domain, the emphasis of counter-question’s pragmatic functions arealso different: the purpose of questions with a behavioral promise is to express a judgment about one behavioral pattern or state subjectively or objectively, this kind ofquestion reason things out bases on facts; could enrich the theory, and strengthen theargument; the purpose of questions with an intellective promise is convince people byreasoning, that is draw forth a deeper principle by state and analyze one reason, thiskind of question with a bright motivation and a distinct thinks debates; the purpose ofquestions with a verbal promise is draw forth the view that the author or speaker wantto endorse extremely by responding the necessity of one statement, there is a distinctpertinence among the whole process, and it is also a resurgence of the hierarchy aboutthought.To depict systematically and explain duly the rhetorical questions in Xunzi on thethree respects mentioned above, not only combined monographic study and studyabout a special book, but also provide some necessary reference material for the studyof rhetorical questions in the whole pre-Qin dynasty.