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gs and phenomena for the metaphorical comprehension and creation of their conceptual universe (Kvasses, 2002: 187). China has a special geographical environment to be half-isolated from the outside world. It has ocean to its east, desert to its northwest, Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, which is the highest one in the world to its southwest. In ancient times, these geographical features prevented China from alien intrusions. The state of being half-isolated also made the Chinese tends to identify them with nature. In this case, China makes agriculture indispensable to life in society, even in the expressions of love, while to the British who live in an island country; their lives are closely connected with the sea. They cannot have the same association.
Focus on agriculture helps develop a strong preference for agricultural products inching. In this case, the noblest feeling of people -love, corresponds to products in agriculture. So we have the metaphor concept:LOVE IS AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS in Chinese.
First lets take silk for example. China took the lead in silkworm raising and silk production. It was as early as in the New Stone Age about 4000 to 5000 years ago that the Chinese ancestors began to raise silkworm and produce silk. From the spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) to the Qin Dynasty, silk production was increasing all over China. During the Western Han Dynasty, fine silk products were transported to the countries in Southwest Asia and Europe through the well-known "Silk Road". Therefore, love is conceptualized as "silk", "silkworm" and "mulberry leaf in both ancient and modem works.
春蚕到死丝方尽，蜡炬成灰泪始干。
妾似春蚕抽缕。
春蚕不应老，昼夜常怀丝;何惜微驱尽，缠绵自有时。
他们约会在桑间淮上。
桑中之约，不可长久。
Anther unique case is the LOVE IS FOOD metaphor in Chinese. Food is indispensable to the survival of human beings. Cuisine is an important part of Chinese culture. It is a widely- known fact that Chinese people are greatly fond of food and attach great importance to eating. Therefore, in the Chinese language, the action of eating is given many kinds of names, and expressions related to food and eating are endowed with all kinds of metaphorical meanings (Li, 2002). Thus come the Chinese expressions:
有情饮水饱，无情食饭饥。
糟糠夫妻
Moreover, in Chinese cuisine culture, vinegar is an important seasoning. Chinese often conceive of jealousy of love as vinegar. Thus there exists LOVE IS VINEGAR metaphor concept. In Chinese, we often hear people say:
听了这话，他有一些醋意。
你又吃醋了。
他正在醋海里翻波呢。
真是个醋篓子。
人家是醋罐，他是酷缸、酷瓮!
In contrast, vinegar in English doesnt involve such meanings. Although its adjective form "vinegary" means "bad-tempered and always ready to say unkind things", it is quite different from Chinese. Taken as a whole, the Chinese who lived in the north temperate zone of the fertile East-Asian continent seemed to be favored by nature. They were less threatened by nature and were content to live in a harmonious ecological environment. The semi-closed geographical conditions and natural agricultural economy cultivated an outlook of being one with nature. While in western culture, people hold the view that man should be divided from the nature, they are encouraged to fight against and conquer the nature. So under the influence of this cultural background, western people rarely connect love with agriculture. The concept metaphor "本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。