A Study Of Metaphors In Classical Chinese Poetry

As an important and universal language phenomenon, metaphor attracts more and more attention of experts in different fields. In traditional rhetoric, metaphor is considered as a linguistic phenomenon, a figure of speech. According to this view, metaphor is primarily decorative and ornamental in nature. So, metaphor study used to be confined mostly to literature and rhetoric.With the rising of the cognitive linguistics, the role and nature of metaphor has acquired a renewed recognition. In the newly rising cognitive linguistics, metaphor is not just a matter of language, but also an important cognitive tool, which helps us better understand this world.According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), the founders of cognitive linguistics, metaphor is pervasive and essential in language and thought. As a thinking mode, metaphor is of vital importance for human thought and cognition and it suffuses everyday language in a systematic way. Human conceptual systems are pervasively and inevitably structured by metaphor. Metaphor is so pervasive and important that it has become one of the important means we live by.Poetry is a sea of metaphors, which is, of course, the same for Classical Chinese Poetry. Classical Chinese Poetry, which contains abundant metaphors, is the gem of Chinese language and crystallization of its culture. With the development of globalization and the deepening of cross-cultural communication between China and the western countries, Classical Chinese Poetry has drawn more and more attention from people both at home and abroad. However, because of the great cultural differences between different countries, studies of the translation and transmission of Classical Chinese Poetry still have a long way to go.This thesis makes a study of metaphor in Classical Chinese Poetry from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, with the aim of supporting the contemporary cognitive theory of metaphor from the viewpoint of Chinese culture and of promoting the translation and transmission of Classical Chinese Poetry.Based on Lakoff and Johnson's conceptual metaphor theory, this thesis first makes a brief review of the research on Classical Chinese Poetry, and then analyzes the sources and characteristics of metaphor in Classical Chinese Poetry. At last, through a case study of "love" metaphor in Classical Chinese Poetry, this thesis further proves the pervasiveness of metaphor and the universality of conceptual metaphor theory. At the same time, it is found out via this study that metaphor in Classical Chinese Poetry also has its unique characteristics due to the traditional Chinese culture including the Yin-Yang theory and the teachings of Confucianism. The research done in this thesis offers some proofs for the contemporary metaphor theory from the perspective of Chinese and it also sheds light on the studies of Classical Chinese Poetry.