Subtle and Dangerous

The Crossbow Trigger Metaphor in Early China

Dados Bibliográficos

ID20380408
AutoresBoqun Zhou (King Center, autor correspondente)
Ano2021
Volume44
Páginas465-492
Data de publicação2021-09-01
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEarly China (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0362-5028 • E-ISSN: 2325-2324
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/eac.2021.5
OpenAlexW3203780324
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas11

The crossbow trigger was a powerful device in early Chinese warfare that had a profound impact on military tactics. Against such a background, the word for “trigger,” namely ji , became a pregnant metaphor in ancient texts from the Warring States onwards. It refers to the correlation between a “subtle” initial state and a “dangerous” and far-reaching consequence, because the small movement of pulling the trigger may kill a person at a great distance. Borrowing insights from Hans Blumenberg's metaphorology, I offer a new theory of the original meaning of ji and argue that the trigger mechanism inspires a complex metaphorical scheme that consists of three levels of ambiguities and a web of associated images. It provides a linguistic and cognitive pattern for organizing a wide range of heterogeneous life-world situations, from the moral precariousness of human speech to the vulnerability of an outnumbered army in battle

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Battle · China · Cognition · Epistemology · Linguistics · Literature · Metaphor · Computer Science · History · Humanities and Social Sciences · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Psychology

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