A Cognitive Linguistics Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors in Li Bai’s Landscape Poetry

Abstract

The landscape poetry of Li Bai (701–762), China’s revered “Poet Immortal,” is not only a cornerstone of classical Chinese literature but also a profound manifestation of his romanticism and unique cognitive worldview. While previous scholarship has predominantly analyzed his poetic imagery from rhetorical or literary appreciation perspectives, systematic investigations using cognitive linguistics remain scarce. This study applies Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), as proposed by Lakoff and Johnson, to analyze metaphorical constructions within Li Bai’s landscape poetry. A corpus of 20 classic landscape poems was selected, and the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP), supplemented by manual verification, was employed to identify and categorize the underlying conceptual metaphors. The analysis identified 72 distinct conceptual metaphors, which were classified into three primary types: ontological metaphors (n=28, including entity, container, and personification metaphors), structural metaphors (n=39), and orientational metaphors (n=5). Among these, personification, container metaphors, and structural metaphors are frequently employed to represent the grandeur of the natural landscape. Conversely, entity and substance metaphors, as well as orientational metaphors, are predominantly utilized to express Li Bai’s abstract aspirations and emotional states. This study not only offers a new cognitive linguistic lens for interpreting Li Bai’s work but also uncovers the profound cognitive mechanisms that underpin his enduring artistic genius, laying a foundation for future research in cross-cultural translation and communication.