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Abstract

This research examines the philosophical foundations of the and its cultural model of . Under the framework of the multilevel view of conceptual metaphor and cultural cognition, this paper analyses the hierarchically structured conceptual metaphors of in the text. Four conceptual metaphors of , including (1) ; (2) ; (3) and (4) are identified. Together, those four conceptual metaphors form a cultural model of , along with the comparison between and reveal the close relationship between Daoist beliefs and the advocacy of -centered philosophy in the .

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/content/journals/10.1075/rcl.00229.zha
2025-09-05
2026-07-12
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: Daodejing ; conceptual metaphor ; yin-centered philosophy ; dao ; cultural model
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