Publications
Publication details [#12341]
Jia, Dongmei and Chun Lan. 2015. Conceptual Metonymies and Metaphors behind Mu in Five Phases of the Chinese Philosophy. Foreign Language and Translation 1 : 36–41. 6 pp.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
Chinese
Keywords
Abstract
This paper empirically explores and compares the conceptual metonymies and metaphors behind Mu (Wood) in ancient and modern Chinese. The findings are that in ancient Chinese, there are such conceptual metonymies as “Wood-for-Parts of a Tree” and “Wood-for-Things Made of Wood”, and the conceptual metaphor of “EXISTENCE HAVING THE FEATURE OF WOOD IS WOOD”, while in modern Chinese, there is the conceptual metonymy of “Wood-for-Things Made of Wood” and the conceptual metaphor of “EXISTENCE HAVING THE FEATURE OF WOOD IS WOOD”. It is argued that Mu in ancient Chinese is mapped into the three cognitive domains of nature, humans and society in which it becomes an element of nature, a part of human body, and a particular period of society, while in modern Chinese, Mu is only mapped to the domains nature and humans but not into society. Such a difference can be accounted for from the fact that the modern society has both inherited and abandoned certain ideas of the Five Phrases of the ancient Chinese philosophy.