摘 要

典故是语言的精华，是一个民族历史和文化的浓缩。文章或者讲话常常因为典故的恰当使用而增色。通常典故多用于正式的场合，借以间接表达某些不便直说的思想；有时，典故也会被用于增强讲话者言语的表达效果。在政治演讲中，典故的引用更是被发挥到了极致。古今中外不乏偏爱用典的外交家，习近平也特别青睐于用典，在他的作品中随处可见典故的使用。

本文分为五个部分：第一部分介绍选题背景；第二部分文学综述，介绍政治演讲和典故；第三部分从形式上和分类上介绍习近平于二零一五年九月二十四日在西雅图演讲所用的典故；第四部分，挖掘习近平西雅图演讲所用典故的含义和影响；最后一部分是总结。政治演讲的重要性不言而喻，我们对政治演讲所用手法的分析也不能浅尝辄止，深入挖掘其内涵才能更好地理解演讲想要表达的外交理念乃至治国方针。

关键词：习近平；西雅图演讲；典故

Abstract

Allusion is the soul of language, and it contains a nation’s history and culture. The expression effects of articles and speeches are often promoted by using allusions properly. Allusions are usually used in formal situations to convey ideas which are not convenient for the speaker to talk directly. Under some conditions allusions are also quoted to strengthen what the speaker wants to express. The quotation of allusions is frequently seen in political speeches. There are diplomats who have preference to allusions at all times and in all places. President Xi Jinping has a special favor towards allusions and they can be found easily in his works.

This paper includes five parts. In the first part, a brief introduction is given to show the background of choosing this topic. The second part is literature review, which introduces political speech and allusion. The third part analyzes the allusions applied in President Xi Jinping’s speech in Seattle on September 24^th, 2015 from the aspects of form and category. The forth part is going to discuss the meanings and effects of allusions in President Xi’s speech. And the fifth part is conclusion. The importance of political speeches is known by us all, so we should study and better understand these speeches rather than just read or talk about them. Only in this way can we know better about our leaders’ political standpoints and governing policies.

Key Words: Xi Jinping; Speech in Seattle; Allusion

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature Review 2

2.1 Political Speech 2

2.2 Allusion 3

3 Form and Category Analysis of Allusions in President Xi’s Speech 5

3.1 Form Analysis 5

3.2 Category Analysis 6

4 Meanings and Effects of Allusions in President Xi’s Speech in Seattle 8

4.1 Meanings of Allusions in President Xi’s Speech 8

4.2 Effects of Allusions in President Xi’s Speech 10

5 Conclusion 13

References 14

Acknowledgements 15

Study of Allusions in President Xi Jinping’s Speech in Seattle

1 Introduction

Since the beginning of reform and opening-up in 1978, China has set out on an extraordinary journey. After a development of more than three decades, China has edged into the world’s second largest economy. As a result, there are more and more exchanges among countries and our presidents travel to other countries for political visits and make political speeches more frequently. When talking about those political speeches made by our presidents, one thing we must admit is that the speeches are of great importance to the relations between China and the entire world. Those speeches are more than what they are. They usually express our country’s political positions, our country’s diplomacy principles and our country’s attitudes toward certain affairs. So the inner meanings of these speeches are worthy of our full-scale analysis.

It has been three years since Xi Jinping became the president of China on March 14th, 2013. And during this time he has made more than one hundred speeches, which became important indicative files of the governments’ development. And the researches on his speeches have never stopped.

The speech appeared in this paper is made by President Xi Jinping in Seattle on September 24th, 2015. And this paper aims to study the speech mainly from the aspect of allusion. The preference to allusions has existed for a long time. In ancient times the literati preferred to quote from somewhere to strengthen the inner essence of their works. Nowadays, most politicians are fond of using allusions to convey their meanings.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Political Speech

Speech, is a kind of formal talking method. In a speech communication, the speaker prepares a speech to an audience or one or more people who listen to the speech and have the freedom to accept or reject the speaker’s opinions. It is an activity which leads us to know new information and change our beliefs, attitudes or even values. From a practical point of view, speeches can be classified into political, economic, academic, moral, legal, religious, military speeches and so on according to their contents and function.

With the world’s globalization, the international communication activities are expanding in an unexpected way. Even though we just consider the traditional cross border interpersonal relationships without calculating the spread of all kinds of mass media and network, there are still five types of communication methods: diplomatic act, conference, travel, studying abroad and immigration. Among these, the most profound form of intercultural communication is immigration. And there is no doubt that diplomatic act is the most profound form of political communication.

Political speech is a typical symbol of diplomatic acts, which refers to the speeches made by state leaders or senior diplomats, aiming to elaborate or implement the foreign policy of the country and maintain or realize national interests in the development of foreign relations. Political speeches are firstly spread in the form of oral language, then communicate in the form of written words, or voices and videos.

It is widely accepted that there are three main features of political speeches. Firstly, political speeches are always with overwhelming power of logic. The speaker considers what he is going to say and how to make his speech persuasive carefully. Secondly, political speeches must be eloquent and precise. The background of proposing the issue, the material used to analyze it and the methods and steps for solving it are deeply considered to make it well organized. Lastly, the political viewpoint is quite firm and clear. When the political speaker publicizes political views of certain political parties, group or individuals, they always include vivid political views, a large amount of substantial contents and brilliant standpoints.

Political speech plays an important role in international political communication. First of all, it is a combination of official and personal. As the communication between subjects of international law, political speech is very formal and solemn; as for the leader’s personality, political speech is affected by the speaker’s personal talking style and expression ability. Secondly, political speech contains political nature and transmissibility, it not only belongs to political practice which reflects the rights and fights in international relations but also a typical communication activity which has the ability to transfer information from one country to another. Lastly, in terms of international communication, political speech not only reflects the interpersonal communication level of communication attributes, but also reflects the mass communication level of publicity.

2.2 Allusion

No matter in western countries or eastern countries, language plays an indispensable role in their culture. Language is also served as a cultural carrier and is regarded as the most important method of cross-culture communication. As the core part of language, Allusion is a shining pearl, and the usage of allusion makes literary works, to some extent, all sorts of articles, shine the brilliance of wisdom. In other words, allusions not only make the language richer, but also make the communication more vivid and interesting.