A Cognitive Analysis of Poems in A Dream of Red Mansions from the Perspective of Image Schema

Abstract

This paper adopts a cognitive perspective in the analysis of various image schemas in the novel A Dream of Red Mansions, one of the most influential classical masterpieces in Chinese literature. Two poems from the novel are interpreted from the perspective of link schema, container schema, up-down schema, part-whole schema, and source-path-goal schema, to reveal the personalities, values and life philosophies of the two female protagonists. The contrast between the pessimism and melancholy of Daiyu and the optimism and aspiration of Baochai demonstrates the author’s understanding of that time and society, especially the status and fate of females. The analysis illustrates that image schemas, which involves bodily experience and metaphorical projection from concrete to abstract domains, can surpass language boundaries, reveal emotions and themes, and shed light on cross-cultural studies of literature.