A Study Of Conceptual Metaphor In Ancient Chinese Fables

Fables are short,concise stories that show or suggest ideas,and allow the reader to grasp their meaning.Fables are both compressed fiction and extended metaphors.As a way of thinking and cognition of human beings,metaphor is used to understand another event through familiar events.The expression mode formed by allegory is based on metaphor.There is a metaphorical relationship between speech and meaning in allegory.Speech does not express meaning directly,but allows readers to explore deep meaning through superficial speech through metaphor.In fables,characters and stories transcend themselves,and only through thinking about metaphorical relations can we truly understand the profound meaning contained in fables.Based on the theoretical support of conceptual metaphor and the research materials of Ancient Chinese Fables,this thesis analyzes the conceptual metaphor in fables and the cognitive mechanism of conceptual metaphor in fables,so as to explore the concrete expression of conceptual metaphor in Ancient Chinese fables.Through analysis,we find that the conceptual metaphors in fables involve animal metaphors,plant metaphors,human metaphors,instrumental metaphors and other metaphors.Most of them are animal metaphor,followed by plant metaphor and tool metaphor.In the analysis of formal structure,the four-dimensional structure of metaphor and plot image schema are also involved.In the analysis of semantic structure,fables include cognitive mapping and emotional mapping.Like conventional metaphors,the content of fables mapping includes elements,attributes,relationships and knowledge.In the aspect of emotional mapping,negative emotions are more than positive ones,which are the process of readers’ empathy.Finally,from the perspective of conceptual metaphor,this thesis also puts forward some teaching suggestions for the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language,hoping to have some enlightenment significance for future teaching.Fables,to a certain extent,show the moral values and outlook on life of the Chinese nation,as well as the way of thinking and habits of the Chinese people.In teaching Chinese as a foreign language,the teaching of fables mainly focuses on the teaching and research of idiom stories.As teaching materials for discourse teaching,teachers pay more attention to the training of basic knowledge,emphasizing the vocabularies and grammars.It is easy to overlook the profound truth conveyed by fables and the importance of cultural teaching.Through this research result,it can provide new ideas for future fables teaching and has certain reference significance.