A Study of Sun and Moon Metaphors in Eileen Chang’s Classic Novels

【Abstract】It has been over 2000 years since western scholars began to study metaphor. In traditional views， metaphor primarily has been regarded as a linguistic phenomenon or figure of speech. In fact， metaphor is not only a particular figure of speech， but also a cognitive device and thinking mode. Lakoff made much research of metaphor and put forward that the understanding of abstract concepts depended on metaphor by the projection between two similar things. And the metaphorical thinking modes have been regarded as an important way in the development of human cognition. This thesis analyzes the sun and moon metaphor sentences in Eileen Chang’s five classic novels-The Golden Cangue， Jasmine， Aloeswood Incense： The First Brazier， Steamed Osmanthus Flower Ah Xiao’s Unhappy Autumn and Great Felicity， highlights the important role of metaphor in the process of cognition and emotional convey.

【Key words】conceptual metaphor， metaphor and cognition， categorization， metaphorical expressions

Metaphor makes our thoughts more vivid and fills our communication with richer imagery. According to the conceptual metaphor theory （CMT） defined by Lakoff and Johnson （Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press， Chicago， 1980）， metaphor also plays an important structural role in the organization and processing of conceptual knowledge.

Besides making our thoughts more vivid and filling our communication with richer imagery， metaphors also play an important structural role in our cognition. Our present culture's construct for argument precludes at least some other expressions about it. Lakoff and Johnson（2003） argued that there were some relation between cognition and metaphorical expressions.

I.Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Conceptual metaphor refers to the understanding of one idea， or conceptual domain， in terms of another. For example， \"the prices are rising\".

Conceptual metaphors are seen in language in our everyday lives. Conceptual metaphors shape not just our communication， but also shape the way we think and act. In George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s work，Metaphors We Live By（2003）， we see how everyday language is filled with metaphors we may not always notice.

Conceptual metaphors are used very often to understand theories and models. A conceptual metaphor uses one idea and links it to another to better understand something. For example， the conceptual metaphor of viewing communication as a conduit is one large theory explained with a metaphor. So not only is our everyday communication shaped by the language of conceptual metaphors， but so is the very way we understand scholarly theories.

II.Relevance Theory

Relevance theory makes two general claims about the role of relevance in cognition and communication. According to the Cognitive Principle of Relevance， human cognition tends to be geared to the maximization of relevance. That is to say， people focus their attention on information that seems most relevant to them. According to the Communicative Principle of Relevance， every act of ostensive communication communicates the presumption of its own optimal relevance （ Sperber Wilson， 1995）. To be specific， the speaker produces an utterance which is expected to be relevant enough for it to be worth the hearer’s effort to process it. In accordance， the hearer will consider the utterance to be the most relevant one the speaker is able and willing to produce.

III.Categorization

Categorization is not a matter to be taken lightly. There is nothing more basic than categorization to our thought， perception， action， and speech. Every time we see something as a kind of thing， for example， a tree， we are categorizing. Whenever we reason about kinds of things--chairs， nations， illnesses， emotions， any kind of thing at all-we are employing categories. Whenever we intentionally perform any kind of action， say something as mundane as writing with a pencil， hammering with a hammer， or ironing clothes， we are using categories. The particular action we perform on that occasion is a kind of motor activity （e.g.， writing， hammering， ironing）， that is， it is in a particular category of motor actions.

IV. The Cognitive Analysis of Sun and Moon

Metaphors in Eileen Chang’s five classic novels

1. The Sun Metaphor

Sun metaphor is an important device in the description of sun by Eileen Chang. Instead of sun as a symbol of hope， Chang described a strange and bleak sun as prediction of devouring lives.

In The Golden Cangue， there are some sentences using the sun metaphor. In the first sentence “With the sun shining brightly she was all the more conscious of her swollen eyelids and could hardly lift her eyes.”， the sun is the target domain， the source domain “her swollen eyelids and could hardly lift her eyes” project into the target domain “the sun”. So the sun makes people hardly lift their eyes.

The second one is the sentence“It was almost dawn. The flat waning moon got lower， lower and larger， and by the time it sank， it was like a red gold basin. The sky was a cold bleak crab-shell blue. The houses were only a couple of stories high， pitch-dark under the sky， so it was possible to see far. At the horizon the morning colors were a layer of green， a layer of yellow， and a layer of red like a watermelon cut open-the sun was coming up.” We have known that people always regards the rising of the sun as the beginning of a day and the falling of the sun as the end of a day. So the cycle of sun and moon is like the cycle of lives. In the sentence， Chang used the sun as the exchange of one emotion to the other emotion. In The Golden Cangue， Chi Chiao was forced to marry a disabled childe. She was of humble parentage and had a disabled husband， so people hated and despised her. “the sky was a cold bleak crab-shell blue”， in Chi Chiao’s view， the house was as gloomy and cold as the sky. However， she had hope because she was young after all. “the sun was coming up” here symbolized her positive hope.

The third sentence in The Golden Cangue is“The worn sunlight pervaded the air like gold dust， slightly choking and dizzying when rubbed in the eyes. Far away in the street a peddler shook a rattle-drum whose sleepy beat， bu lung dung... bu lung dung， held the memory of many children now grown old.”Here the sun is the target domain and the source domain is gold dust. The chocking and dizzying property of the gold dust made the sun have a property that made people feel sick.

In Steamed Osmanthus Flower Ah Xiao’s Unhappy Autumn， there is also a sentence“By this time the sun had come out a little and shone into the room like a blue haze the shade of cigarette smoke.”， the sun is the target domain， and the source domain “a blue haze the shade of cigarette smoke” gave the sun a misty and subtle impression. Hence， we can see that Chang here described a sun with faint sunshine.

The sentence in Great Felicity， “in the heat of the noonday sun， the marriage was the strong yellow wine one drinks at Dragon Boat Festival”， noonday sun is an essential part of the marriage. We have known that people have painful and insufferable headache after they drank spirits. The hot sun gave the same feeling as people drank spirits. In other words， the hot sun highlighted the painful symptoms after drinking the strong yellow wine at Dragon Boat Festival and hid other properties.

In conclusion， sun was “gold dust” ， “a blue haze” ， and “the strong yellow wine”，. There was some common properties between sun and “gold dust” ， “a blue haze”， “the strong yellow wine”. These metaphorical expressions indicated that sun doesn’t give warmth and light to lives in the earth or symbolize hope any more. The sun in her novels has bleakness and desolation. And these properties of the sun depend on her novels’ themes.

2.The Moon Metaphor

The moon metaphor is the most frequent metaphor used by Eileen Chang in her novel metaphors. Chang used the moon metaphor to mould horrific and strange atmosphere ，different human characters and then emotions.

In Aloeswood Incense： The First Brazier， the sentence“By that time the sky was already dark. The moon had just risen； it was dark and yellow， like the scorch mark left on jade-green satin when a burning ash of incense falls into someone's needlework.”used the moon metaphor. Here the moon is the target domain， and the source domain “the scorch mark left on jade-green satin when a burning ash of incense falls into someone's needlework” projects into the moon to make an image of a yellow and dark moon. The novel description of moon indicated that the marriage of Weilong and Qiqiao involved pain and pity.

In The Golden Cangue， there are some sentences using the moon metaphor such the sentence as“Outside the windows the moon was barely visible behind dark clouds， a dab of black， a dab of white like a ferocious theatrical mask. Bit by bit it came out of the clouds and a ray of light shone disconcertingly from under a black strip of cloud， an eye under the mask. The sky was the dark blue of the bottomless pit.” In the sentence， the moon is the target domain； and the source domain “ an eye under the mask” described a moon that had shape and brightness of eyes. The sentence“Outside the windows there was still that abnormal moon that made one's body hairs stand on end all over-small white sun brilliant in the black sky.”， we can see that the moon is the target domain and the source domain “all over-small white sun brilliant in the black sky” makes the moon have the white， round and small properties. Chang makes an image of the actress Chi-chiao who confuses right and wrong， even cannot tell moon from sun.

There are also sentences using moonlight to set a horrific atmosphere. The sentence“In the moonlight her feet had no color of life at all-bluish， greenish， purplish， the tints of a corpse gone cold.”in The Golden Cangue used the moonlight to set a horrific atmosphere. Here the target domain is “her feet in the moonlight”. “in the moonlight” is an essential part in the projection， because the choice of the source target “all-bluish， greenish， purplish， the tints of a corpse gone cold” depended on it.

We can see from the paper that the metaphorical concept which combines cognition with categorization is systematic， and the language we use to talk about that aspect of the concept is systematic. The very systematicity that allows us to comprehend one aspect of a concept in terms of another （e.g.， comprehending an aspect of arguing in terms of battle） will necessarily hide other aspects of the concept. In allowing us to focus on one aspect of a concept （e.g.， the battling aspects of arguing）， a metaphorical concept can keep us from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor.

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