Subtle and Dangerous
The Crossbow Trigger Metaphor in Early China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20380408 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Boqun Zhou (King Center, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Pages | 465-492 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Early China (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0362-5028 • E-ISSN: 2325-2324 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/eac.2021.5 |
| OpenAlex | W3203780324 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 11 |
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
| Citations per year | 1.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |