A Study On President Xi’s Diplomatic Speeches Under The Initiative Of "One Belt One Road"

This paper adopts quantitative and qualitative methods to probe into President Xi’s diplomatic speeches which are highly related to “One Belt One Road” under the framework of Appraisal Theory and from the perspective of Positive Discourse Analysis.This paper aims to study distribution features,discourse features and functional features of appraisal resources in President Xi’s diplomatic speeches.The data are derived from twenty diplomatic speeches delivered by President Xi when President Xi visits foreign countries along the Belt and Road and attends diplomatic occasions from September 2013 to October 2016.The findings of this paper are as follows:Distribution features of appraisal resources: Positive appraisal resources(96.7%)in President Xi’s diplomatic speeches are far greater than negative appraisal resources(3.3%).In three subcategories of appraisal resources,attitude resources take up the largest proportion(56.8%),followed by graduation resources(27.7%)and engagement resources(15.5%)are the least.According to the frequency(from high to low),the distribution features of subsystems are as follows.1)Attitude resources: appreciation resources(64.5%)→judgment resources(21.8%)→affect resource(13.7%).Distribution features of appreciation resources: composition resources(49.3%)→ reaction resources(28.7%)→valuation resources(22%).Affect resources: inclination resources(34%)→security resources(26%)→happiness resources(22%)→satisfaction resources(18%).Judgment resources: social sanction resources(69%)→social esteem resources(31%).Social esteem resources: capacity resources(49.4%)→tenacity resources(25.7%)→normality resources(22.5%).Social sanction resources: veracity resources(70.4%)→propriety resources(29.6%).2)Graduation resources: force resources(62%)→focus resources(38%).Force resources,quantitative resources(67.3%)are greater than intensification resources(33.3%).Focus resources: sharpen resources(98.9%)→soften resources(1.1%).3)Engagement resources: expansion resources(56.1%)→contraction resources(43.9%).Expansion resources: entertain resources(67%)→attribute resources(33%).Contraction resources: disclaim resources(43.6%)→proclaim resources(56.4%).Discourse features of appraisal resources: the study demonstrates that appreciation resources take up the largest proportion of attitude resources.President Xi speaks highly of the host country,historical customs and cultural traditions which he visits to promote pragmatic cooperation.In judgment resources,President Xi gives high praise to the hard-working and courageous people for their achievement they have made to seek common prosperity.In affect resources,President Xi expresses joy for his visit and the prospects for “One Belt One Road” to construct harmonious atmosphere.In graduation resources,President Xi utilizes intensification resources and sharpen resources which emphasize positive significance to deepen mutual trust and strengthen multilateral relations.In engagement resources,President Xi uses deny resources and proclaim resources of contraction resources to clearly show China’s diplomatic stance.In expansion resources,President Xi is good at quoting a large amount of famous sayings and poetry both at home and abroad to reach cognitive unanimity.Functional features of appraisal resources: President Xi’s diplomatic speeches hold three functional features: cultural integration,social construction and ideological embodiment.Cultural integration: appraisal resources enrich cultural exchanges of all countries along “One Belt One Road” to instill vigorous vitality into “One Belt One Road”.Social construction: appraisal resources arouse emotional resonance of foreign audience and promote solidarity among all countries of “One Belt One Road”.Ideological embodiment: appraisal resources foster policy coordination of “One Belt One Road” and construct a favorable national image for China,which close the distance between foreign audience and President Xi.This study contributes to the development of telling Chinese stories,spreading the sound of Chinese voice and promoting mutual benefit and win-win situation between China and all countries along the Belt and Road.At the same time,this study is conducive to the development of Appraisal Theory and Positive Discourse Analysisand provides suggestions for future research,which has theoretical values and practical significance.However,the breadth and depth of this study is not enough.This paper hopes to inspire other researchers to do further researches.