摘 要

孝文化作为一种意识形态，在中国传统文化中占有重要的地位。本文对中国经典诗词中出现的常见的隐喻意象进行了初步探讨，这些隐喻意象在文中被分为以下三类：动物类意象，植物类意象，以及其他意象。本文对古诗词中出现的典型意象进行分析，探讨了诗人在使用这些隐喻意象来表达对父母孝顺时所使用的方式及其原因。“孝”文化的表现形式是多种多样的，这些“孝”文化古诗词中的隐喻意象蕴含了对父母的感激之情，对父母的担忧之思，对父母的思念之感，对父母的尊敬之意，以及对父母的悼念之痛。在这些古典诗词中使用隐喻意象，能使原本抽象难懂的“孝”文化更加得生动形象、明确具体、简单易懂。除此之外，这些隐喻意象也能够营造出诗歌写作的氛围，使读者能感受到诗人之感受，体验到诗人之经历，并能反映出诗人所处时代的文化特征。

当前对于中国经典诗词隐喻意象的研究多停留在翻译技巧的层面，关于文化层面，尤其是“孝”文化层面的研究较少。笔者希望通过此次研究，可以找寻到中国古典诗词中隐喻意象使用的有益之处，明确隐喻意象的作用与效果，并强调“孝”文化在中国的重要意义。此外，本文可能会帮助人们了解到隐喻意象的重要性，从一个新视角来了解孝文化，从而推动孝文化的传播与发展。

关键词：中国古典诗词；孝文化；隐喻意象

Abstract

As an ideology of China, filial piety culture occupies an important part in the Chinese traditional culture. This paper discusses the different metaphorical images commonly appearing in the Chinese classical poetry in three parts, i.e. animal images, plant images and other images. The typical images in the classical poetry are analyzed to study the way and reason in expressing the filial piety to parents. The realizations of filial piety culture are various such as the appreciation of the parents, the worry of the parents, the missing of the parents, the respect of the parents and the condolence of the parents, all embodying in the metaphorical images of the Chinese classical poetry. By using the metaphorical images in the poetry, the abstract matter “filial piety culture” become much more vivid, concrete and easy-understanding. Besides, the utilization of the metaphorical images also contributes to the atmosphere creating in the poetry writing, providing readers the chances to feel what poets feel, and to experience what poets experience. The cultural in the poets’ times can be reflected in the use of the metaphorical images.

Previous studies on metaphorical images in Chinese classical poetry mostly focus on the translation techniques while few of them center on the culture, especially on the filial piety culture. By doing this study, the author hopes to find out the benefits of the metaphorical images using in the Chinese classical poetry, to clarify the effects of the metaphorical images and to stress the importance of the filial piety culture in China. Besides, this paper may help people to know the significance of metaphorical images, and to recognize the filial piety culture from a new perspective, promoting the spread and development of the filial piety culture.

Key Words: Chinese classical poetry; filial piety culture; metaphorical image

Contents

1 Introduction

1.1 Background and Significance of the Paper

1.2 Organization of the Paper

2 Literature Review

2.1 Metaphorical Images in Poetry

2.2 Previous Studies on Filial Piety Culture

3 Different Metaphorical Images

3.1 Animal Images

3.2 Plant Images

3.3 Other Images

4 Effects of Metaphorical Images

4.1 Modification of Language

4.2 Creation of Atmosphere

4.3 Reflection of Cultural

5 Conclusion

5.1 Summary

5.2 Limitations and suggestions

Reference

Acknowledgements

Preliminary Study on the Metaphorical Images in the Filial Piety Culture of Chinese Classical Poetry

1 Introduction

This chapter introduces the research background and significance as well as the structure of the paper. In the first part, this paper introduces the current studies on metaphor and Chinese classical poetry as well as elaborates the significance. In the second part, the organization of the paper is listed to clarify the main content of each chapter.

1.1 Background and Significance of the Paper

Studies on metaphor can be traced back to Aristotle. In his classical Rhetoric and Poetics, Aristotle elaborated on the function of metaphor and the importance of mastering metaphor (1954). Metaphorical studies before the 1980s generally followed the steps of Aristotle and basically treated metaphors as a rhetorical device and as a kind of extraordinary language used for embellishment (Yin, 2017). The research on the Chinese classical poetry based on the metaphoric artistic conception as a relatively new perspective has got some achievements. Yu Xiuhong discussed the forms of metaphor in the classical poetry, and discovered the systematic problems of metaphor in literary expression (2016). She divided the forms as three parts, the metaphor of language expression forms, the metaphor of ancient poetry’s genres and structure as well as the metaphor of image. Yin Zichong studied the conceptual metaphors in The Book of Songs from a Cognitive Approach, finding the metaphorical expressions and the conceptual metaphors behind in the three components of The Book of Songs, i.e. Feng, Ya, and Song (2017).

The researches on the classical poetry based on metaphorical artistic conception are mostly from the angle of translation strategies or metaphorical expressions, while the study from the perspective of filial piety culture is rare. This paper aims to study the Chinese classical poetry from such a perspective and it may provide a new direction of the further study of other scholars.

This paper is of certain theoretical and practical significance. Firstly, cultural confidence is stressed by President Xi in the nineteenth CPC National Congress. Chinese traditional culture is an important part in the process of establishing the confidence. President Xi repeatedly stresses the importance of the history and influence of traditional Chinese culture, and gives it new meanings. Undoubtedly, Chinese traditional culture still plays an important role in today’s life, guiding the behaviors as well as nourishing the minds. The study on Chinese classical poetry can provide a new idea to promote traditional culture.

Secondly, to express the piety, metaphor is a mean frequently used in the poems. In Chinese traditional culture, the classical poetry is a shining pear, in which the piety culture cannot be ignored. As an important part of traditional virtues, filial piety culture can be the cultural heritage in the river of the traditional culture. This metaphorical study on Chinese filial piety culture provides a new perspective on the further study in Chinese culture as well as in classical poetry of China.

Thirdly, images have a significant influence on conveying the connotation of the filial piety culture. By using the images, the meaning of the verse becomes more vivid rather than abstract. The images can describe an abstract matter as a concrete living thing, i.e. in the poems, it can change a large tree into a small piece of leaf, or can transfer a thick wall into a piece of transparent glass. Images provide a chance to convey the filial piety culture more clearly as well as plant a seed of Chinese culture into the soil of Chinese people’s hearts.

1.2 Organization of the Paper

Filial piety remains an essential part in Chinese traditional culture, and it lies in different Chinese literary forms, especially in Chinese classical poems. This paper will analyze the relevant texts of Chinese classical poems to reveal the metaphorical images in the filial piety. This paper is comprised of five chapters altogether. Chapter One gives a brief introduction to the research background and significance of the study. Chapter Two is the literature review. In this chapter, the definition of images in poetry, especially the metaphorical images, as well as the previous studies on filial piety culture will be introduced. Chapter Three describes the different metaphorical images in the filial piety culture of Chinese classical poetry. The different metaphorical images will be discussed in three parts, i.e. animal images, plant images and other images. In this chapter, the source domain and target domain of metaphor will be analyzed to reveal the different aspects of the filial piety. For example, the mourning of the parents, the missing of the parents, the worry of the parents and the respect and obedience of the parents, etc. This paper will also discuss the effects of metaphorical images in Chinese classical poems in Chapter Four. Chapter Five concludes the whole paper by summarizing the major findings as well as limitations and suggestions of the study.

2 Literature Review

This chapter introduces metaphorical images as well as the previous studies on filial piety culture. In the first part, different definitions of metaphorical images are listed to clarify the concept. The second part is about the studies on filial piety culture, and aims to find out the perspective of this paper.

2.1 Metaphorical Images in Poetry

Images embodies the inner soul of the poetry, concentrating on the inner beauty of the poetry (Liu, 2005). Pound believes that “an image is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time” (Eliot, 1935, p3), while Cuddon holds the view that images are experiences representing the matter, behavior, emotion, idea, thought, psychological states as well as sensory or extrasensory perception (1979). In fact, images are media connecting the known objectives with unknown concepts or ideas. Images are objects with subjective emotion, not the copy of the people or matter, but the production of the poets’ aesthetic feelings (Zhuo, 2002). In the poetry, when some typical images have been adopted successfully, other poets will use them repeatedly like a convention to give the common images the special meaning (Li, 2016).

Poetry reflects the abstract outside world in a visualized way to express the varied inner feeling and grasp the instant experience. The metaphorical images are the way to connect the unknown and known thing as well as to comprehend the object in the past or future through the current thing (Zhao, 2013). In Chinese classical poetry, the metaphorical images usually have relationships with Chinese cultural traditional customs or life styles. For example, green leaves represent the vitality; red leaves are on behalf of the pure love; the plum blossom embodies the noble morality (Li, 2016). In the poetry of filial piety culture, different metaphorical images ,such as “萱草”, “燕子”, etc., also stand for different classification of filial culture to reflect the obedience, the appreciation, the lament or the missing of the parents.

2.2 Previous Studies on Filial Piety Culture

Being the foundation and the core of the Chinese traditional culture, the filial culture of China has a long history. Fniednich Hegel in his The Philosophy of History says that China is purely established on the combination of morality, and the trait of this country is the objective “family obedience” (1957). Xiao Qunzhong studies the different relationships of children and parents between China and western countries, believing that there are three reasons: the differences between the ideas of family-based and individual-based, the intergenerational integration and intergenerational fracture, as well as the seniors first and juveniles first (2001). Li Jinquan claims that the filial piety culture of ancient China has not only the positive effects but also the negative effects (2004). The encouragement of filial piety culture can secure the unity of the family and the peace of the country as well as consolidate the domination of the emperor. But on the other hand, it would destroy the social atmosphere by taking advantage of good reputation. Li Xiang (2010) believes that the filial piety culture in China can be divided into two parts: the living matter and the death matter. Wang Cheng discusses the origin, the evolution and the development of the Chinese filial piety culture (2012). He proposes that the principle of filial piety requires children to respect and obey their parents, as well as take their responsibilities to love their parents, or they would be claimed to make the most serious mistake (Wang, 2012).