An Analysis of Ancient Chinese Poems in Perspective of Conceptual Metaphors

刘媛

Abstract：This paper mainly deals with ancient Chinese poems and gives them a systematic analysis in perspective of conceptual metaphor raised by George Lakoff in his Metaphors We Live By. By using exemplification， illustration and synthesis， metaphors in ancient Chinese poems are studied in three aspects， i.e. Entity and substance metaphor， container metaphor and personification. By doing so， the paper intends to spread a comparatively complete map of the use of conceptual metaphor in the poems.

Key Words：Ancient Chinese poems； Entity and substance metaphor； Container metaphor； Personification

Classical Chinese poems have a great influence on our culture， and language， and it has always been regarded as a indispensable heritage of our civilization. Thus， there are so many researches about Chinese poems but they are often been studied through linguistic field or their translation as well as their cultural influence. Meanwhile， metaphor， since it has been raised， has also gone through a series of development. From Aristotle to the 1930s， it was studied under rhetorical approach and the second stage from the 1930s to 1970s showed an interest in semantic approach. The third stage starts form 1970s up till now sees a multidisciplinary view of metaphor（束定芳 1996：9）. But researches rarely link them together and study the classical Chinese poems through a metaphorically perspective. This paper aims at providing a more comprehensive and efficient study and understanding of metaphors in classical Chinese poems.

1 Classification of Metaphors

According to Lakoff， conceptual metaphors can be classified as structural， orientational， and ontological metaphor based on its cognitive function. Structural metaphor is the metaphor in which the structure of the source domain maps onto the structure of the target domain. By doing this， it not only helps people to understand one domain in terms of another， but also to build the meaning of the target concept. In this kind of metaphor， the source domain formulates and transfers a relatively rich and well-build structure into the target concept（于潇 2013：7）. Orientational metaphors are closely related to our spatial up-down sensation. The cognitive function of this kind of metaphor is to make a set of target concepts coherent in our conceptual system structured and reflected by our physical world， ex： “上司、上尉，升值、下属、下等、下人”in Chinese. It is a metaphor in which something concrete is projected onto something abstract. Emotion， feeling， thoughts and states etc. are all abstract， but by ontological metaphor， we are quantifying them and give them a better identification. And ontological metaphors are further divided as entity and substance metaphors， container metaphors and personification. When things are not clear discrete or bounded， we still categorize them， group them and quantify them， thus we viewing events， activities， emotions， ideas as entities and substances（Lakoff and Johnson 1980：26）， such as， we may say “my mind broke down today”， in which we consider the mind as a machine and then we say the mind broke down. When we impose our physical in-out orientation to our natural environment， then everything has surfaces and we view it as a container. For example， people say， “he acted very well in the race”. Then the most obvious ontological metaphors are those where lifeless objects are viewed as being a person and thus we can comprehend them with human motivations， characteristics and activities （Lakoff and Johnson 1980：34）， for which we say “inflation robbed all my savings”. And in ancient Chinese poems， the poets usually implied these three kinds of metaphors to better express their feelings or thoughts.

2 Structural Metaphors in Ancient Chinese Poems

Chinese poets tend to use the wintersweet to represent their lofty morality and character， and thus the wintersweet becomes a structural metaphor of a gracious spirit.

冰雪林中著此身，不同桃李混芳尘。

忽然一夜清香发，散作乾坤万里春。

——《白梅》王冕

闻道梅花坼晓风，雪堆遍满四山中。

何方可化身千亿，一树梅花一放翁？

——《梅花绝句之一》陆游

晨起开门雪满山，雪睛云淡日光寒。

檐流未滴梅花冻，一种清孤不等闲。

——《山中雪后》郑燮

墙角数枝梅，凌寒独自开。

遥知不是雪，为有暗香来。

——《梅花》王安石

These five poems about wintersweet are all famous not only for their linguistic excellence but also symbolize the poets intention of representing their spiritual purity and pride. Thus， here we have a structural metaphor： pure spirit is the wintersweet. Then， whatever tries to destroy the beauty or fragrance of the wintersweet becomes also the obstacle the poets meet during their spiritual progress. Moreover， a high and strong soul could only be more manifested by contrast of difficulties and impediment. Therefore， the snow， the cold as well as wind become correspondent metaphors of the enemy to the spirit. We can see from the previous poems， wintersweets are grown in “冰雪林中” ，“雪堆遍满四山中” and “层冰积雪时”. But just as the poets have believed that their integrity will survive and win at last， the wintersweets fragrance will floating all around regardless the frost and cold wind. It is shown in the poems as “乾坤万里春” and “暗香来”.

3 Orientational metaphors in Ancient Chinese poems

Unlike the structural metaphor， the orientational metaphor “does not structure one concept in terms of another but instead organizes a whole system of concepts with respect to one another （Lakoff and Johnson， 1980： 14）.” Concerned with spatial orientation， the orientational metaphors originate from peoples physical and cultural experience. They manifest the conventional usages of words in certain culture（张倩 2001：37）. Chen Ziang， one of four most talented poets in Early Tang Dynasty， once wrote his masterpiece when he commanded the troop to fight a battle against Khitan.

前不见古人，后不见来者。

念天地之悠悠，独怆然而涕下。

——陈子昂《登幽州台歌》

Lakoff has concluded that “happy is up；sad is down”Drooping posture typically goes along with sadness and depression， erect posture with a positive emotional state，（Lakoff and Johnson 1980：16） which corresponds to “涕下”.

秋心如海复如潮，但有秋魄不可报。

漠漠郁金香在臂，亭亭古玉佩当腰。

气寒西北何人剑，声满东南几处箫？

斗大明星烂无数，长天一月坠林梢。

——龚自珍《秋心》

“High status is up； low status is down（Lakoff and Johnson 1980：16）.” So in this poem， “长天一月” falls down to “林梢” is an orientational metaphor that symbolizes the poets status was demoted corresponding to his contemporary condition when he failed the Keju exam again. We Chinese also say “升迁” and “埋没” to indicate the positive or negative change of ones status.

4 Ontological metaphors in Ancient Chinese Poems

4.1 Entity and Substance Metaphors

Understanding our experiences in terms of objects and substances allows us to pick out parts of our experience and treat them as discrete entities or substances of a uniform kind. Once we can identify our experiences as entities or substances， we can refer to them， categorize them， group them， and quantify them—and， by this means， reason about them（Lakoff and Johnson 1980：26）. Chinese poets are also likely to express their “invisible” feelings， but in order to make them “visible”， they may apply entity or substance metaphors， in spite of unconsciously.

亦知合被才名折，二十三年折太多。

——白居易《醉赠刘二十八使君》

In this poem， both “才” and “名” are abstract and untouchable， we may say “talent” and “fame” as their counterparts in English. In this former part， the poet considered the addressee should have been burdened by his talent and fame but actually he was not. So， he cannot help but exclaiming that his friend had been deprived too much of his deserved talent and fame during the past twenty three years. Since the talent and fame can be a burden and even they can be deprived， they are thus viewed as entity or substance.

桃花潭水深千尺，不及汪伦送我情。

——李白《赠汪伦》

This poem is more obvious in its entity and substance metaphor. The poet first pointed out that the Taohua Lake was thousands of depth， then his comparison of Wang Luns friendship for him was even deeper than the lake. There is a natural connection between the deep water and deep affection， making something intangible more concrete.

Moreover， according to Chen Fangze and Zhang Jiwen， the concept of “心” in ancient Chinese poems can be entitized when together used with a verb（陈访译，张继文2010：49）.

弃我去者昨日之日不可留，

乱我心者今日之日多烦忧。

——李白《宣州谢·楼饯别校书叔云》

我寄愁心与明月， 随风直到夜郎西。

——李白《闻王昌龄左迁龙标遥有此寄》

In the first poem， “乱我心” means make my heart a chaos. However， only concrete and tangible things could be make mess or tidy. Also， in the second one， since “愁心” can be posted， then it must be compared to an entity.

4.2 Personification

The most easily recognizable ontological metaphor may be personification.

秋风不相待，先至洛阳城。

——张说《蜀道后期》

And here is an English version translated by Xu Yuanchong.

The autumn wind wont wait for me；

It arrives there where I would be（许渊冲1994：5）.

In Xus transcription， the inanimate notions are written in terms of physical concepts. The blowing of the autumn wind is compared to an animate and subjective entity. It does not wait for the poet and arrives where the poet would be. The ontological metaphors in the above poem are from humans angle， explaining the nonpersonal experiences with embodied experiences.

老骥伏枥，志在千里。

——曹操《龟虽寿》

In the poem， the old steed is personalized. It seems to be portrayed as a hardworking and ambitious veteran， hoping to gallop a thousand li which means making a great contribution on the battlefield.

Here are another two poems in which personification is shown.

城阙辅三秦，风烟望五津。

——王勃《送杜少府之任蜀州》

江春不肯留归客，草色青青送马蹄。

——刘长卿《送李判官之润州行营》

Personification is usually represented by a verb which often applied to human， but here “辅”， “望”， “留”， “送” are all describing objects.

Conclusion

By applying Lakoffs metaphor definition and classification， this paper looks the ancient Chinese poems from a new perspective. The conceptual metaphors are prevalent in Chinese ancient poetry. The understanding of the conceptual metaphor has to do with peoples physical experience which plays an essential role in making and comprehending metaphors. But as ontological metaphor is cognitively based on our experience in physical world and it subtly influences peoples mind， the poets usually cannot notice their existence. Just as the title of Lakoffs book suggests that we live by metaphors， so does our language as well as literary works.

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