On Discourse Metaphors In Confucian Classics From The Perspective Of Cognitive Construal

Cognitive construal theory is powerful in explaining the metaphorical phenomenon that occurs in language.As it is,metaphor is an important feature ascribed to human language and exists at all levels of language.In the past,metaphor study has been mostly conducted at the lexical and sentence levels,while metaphor study at the discourse level has not received enough scholarly attention.Confucian classics contain a large number of philosophical metaphors,which play an instrumental part in building the themes and main ideas of the texts.Current studies on Confucian classics have largely centered on philosophical,cultural,educational,and linguistic aspects,yet research on the discourse metaphors in Confucian classics from a cognitive perspective needs to be further explored in depth.Set within the theoretical framework of cognitive construal,the present study builds a closed corpus of Confucian classics,namely,The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean.By employing a mixed methodology,namely,qualitative and quantitative research methods,it is committed to exploiting in depth the cognitive mechanisms underlying the discourse metaphors in Confucian classics.It first examines the types of metaphors in the Confucian texts,followed by an analysis of their distribution and characteristics,and then the patterns in which the metaphors are organized in the discourse based on their types are investigated.Finally,the cognitive mechanisms hidden behind the discourse metaphors of various types are explored from the perspective of cognitive construal.The research findings are listed as follows:(1)based on the 418 items in the self-built corpus of Confucian classics,there are nine categories of metaphors in the discourse according to the key philosophical ideas,namely,Junzi(29.2%),Dao(24.7%),De(15.7%),Cheng(12.3%),Zhongyong(4.3%),Xin(3.0%),Shen(3.0%),Family(3.0%),and Government(3.0%).(2)There are nine types of basic metaphors in Confucian texts,including abstract concept,journey,path,human,animal,space and location,container,plant,and entity.And these nine different basic types are distributed differently in different categories of discourse metaphors.For example,the metaphors in Junzi discourse are mainly composed of abstract concept metaphors(25.6%),space and location metaphors(21.9%),and journey and path metaphors(17.1%).Dao discourse metaphors are mainly constituted by abstract concept metaphors(41.8%),journey and path metaphor(22.3%),and human metaphor(19.4%).(3)The corresponding types of discourse metaphors based on the above types of sub-metaphors are organized in four main patterns:single-extensive discourse metaphors,parallel discourse metaphors,complementary discourse metaphors,and combinational discourse metaphors.(4)The cognitive mechanisms of the discourse metaphors in Confucian classics can be explored through two-dimensional construal,three-dimensional construal,and four-dimensional construal.Specifically,two-dimensional construal involves the co-occurrence of two dimensions,i.e.,focusing and specificity in construal,and is largely involved in the conceptualization of the single-extensive discourse metaphors.Three-dimensional construal involves the interplay of three dimensions,i.e.,focusing,specificity,and prominence,or the interaction of prominence,specificity,and perspective,and mainly participates in the conceptualization of the parallel discourse metaphor and the complementary discourse metaphor.Four-dimensional construal,involving the collaboration of four dimensions,i.e.,focusing,specificity,prominence,and perspective,takes an active part in the conceptualization of combine-typed discourse metaphors.This research,on the one hand,can heighten the explanatory power and the localized application of cognitive construal theory and also can serve as a reference for conceptual metaphor study at the level of discourse,especially at the level of philosophical discourse such as Confucian classics;on the other hand,it is conducive to enhancing the readability and increasing intriguing facets of Confucian classics as well as providing beneficial references for constructing the cultural models of metaphors at the discourse level in philosophical classic discourses.