TY - CHAP
T1 - Metaphors in the Laozi
AU - Fech, Andrej
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
PY - 2026/5/3
Y1 - 2026/5/3
N2 - In this paper, I demonstrate how the analysis of metaphorical expressions in the Laozi 老子 can facilitate our understanding of this enigmatic text. First, I introduce the notion of metaphor and why their study is nowadays considered a suitable tool to elucidate the meaning of an ancient text—the product of a temporally distant intellectual discourse which relies on fundamentally different cultural assumptions. Following that, I discuss the state of the field, introducing the most notable academic works on figurative speech in theLaozi. Subsequently, I introduce my own classification of the main metaphors of the text and investigate them in the context of its central philosophical notions (which are, themselves, metaphors). Here, I also attempt to show how metaphors were instrumental for the formulation of the Laozi’s distinct worldview and its characteristic paradoxes.
AB - In this paper, I demonstrate how the analysis of metaphorical expressions in the Laozi 老子 can facilitate our understanding of this enigmatic text. First, I introduce the notion of metaphor and why their study is nowadays considered a suitable tool to elucidate the meaning of an ancient text—the product of a temporally distant intellectual discourse which relies on fundamentally different cultural assumptions. Following that, I discuss the state of the field, introducing the most notable academic works on figurative speech in theLaozi. Subsequently, I introduce my own classification of the main metaphors of the text and investigate them in the context of its central philosophical notions (which are, themselves, metaphors). Here, I also attempt to show how metaphors were instrumental for the formulation of the Laozi’s distinct worldview and its characteristic paradoxes.
KW - Cognitive linguistics
KW - Figurative speech
KW - Metaphor
UR - https://link.springer.com/book/9783032001054
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105039105185
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-032-00106-1_29
DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-00106-1_29
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9783032001054
SN - 9783032001085
T3 - Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy
SP - 617
EP - 636
BT - Dao Companion to the Philosophy of the Daodejing
A2 - Liu, Xiaogan
A2 - Yuan, Ai
PB - Springer Cham
ER -