The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in <i>China Daily</i>

Gefei Dong; Xuejiao Ding

doi:doi:10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21

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The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily

Gefei Dong, Xuejiao Ding^*

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 13, Issue 5)

Received: 10 September 2025 Accepted: 9 October 2025 Published: 22 October 2025

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Abstract

Metaphor is not only a rhetorical device, but also pervades our ordinary conceptual system. Due to the abstract and complex nature of climate change issues, metaphors can be found everywhere in such reports. Since the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing the abstract in terms of the concrete, analyzing metaphors is to deepen the understanding of the concepts and ideologies behind climate discourse. Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA), this paper adopts a combined approach of corpus and Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) to analyze the metaphors in China Daily’s climate change discourse and the images of China constructed by these metaphors. On the one hand, it is found that there are eight types of metaphors in total, among which four types: the struggle metaphor, the journey metaphor, the competition metaphor and the war metaphor dominate. One the other hand, these metaphors shape the national image of China as a fighter, a leader and a collaborator in the combat against climate change. By exploring the national images of China constructed through metaphors in climate discourse in China Daily, this paper aims to expand the areas of application of Critical Metaphor Analysis, while providing new perspectives and methods for the study of national image construction.

Published in	Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 13, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21
Page(s)	410-418
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Critical Metaphor Analysis, Climate Change, Corpus, The Construction of Images of China

1. Introduction

In Metaphors We Live By, Lakoff and Johnson first proposed the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, and the study of metaphor thus entered the era of cognitive science. Charteris-Black proposed a framework for Critical Metaphor Analysis, which aims at explaining why people choose metaphor rather than other modes of expression in a particular type of discourse

[1]

. In diplomatic contexts, politicians often use metaphors to express their positions and opinions, to stimulate emotional responses and make value judgement

[2]

, and to shape the national images. Therefore, the study of national images constructed by metaphor can provide a strong reference for the study of national diplomacy

[3]

. Recently, as the climate issue has become increasingly serious, climate diplomacy has become an important stage for political games and the construction of national image of countries around the world

[4]

. In view of this, this paper starts from the perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis and takes the climate change reports in China Daily as the corpus to explore China’s image of climate diplomacy in terms of the types of metaphors used and the strategies of using them.

2. Literature Review

National image is an important embodiment of national soft power

[3]

. As the international status of China improves, many scholars have compared and analyzed China’s image in Chinese and foreign media discourse based on Critical Metaphor Analysis. For example, Chen Qin

[5]

, Wang Hui and Xin Bin

[6]

, Zhao Yonghua and Lu Junyu

[7]

, Chen Hui and Lu Weizhong

[8]

, etc. Although the above studies construct the national image from the perspectives of “self-shaping” and “other-shaping” respectively, most of them focus on politics, economy or COVID-19, and the research on climate change discourse is slightly insufficient. In addition, the existing studies on climate change discourse from the perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis focus more on the communicative meaning of metaphors or the ideological and ecological orientations behind them, such as Asplund

[9]

, Atanasova and Koteyko

[10]

, Wen Shanshan and Wang Mei

[11]

, and Jin Shengxi and Yu Linlin

[12]

, etc. In contrast, the excavation of the national image behind the metaphors in climate change discourse is still not enough. Therefore, using climate change reports in China Daily as the corpus, this paper employs the framework of Critical Metaphor Analysis and explores the metaphorically constructed images of China on climate change.

3. Theoretical Framework

3.1. Conceptual Metaphor Theory

The essence of metaphor is to understand and experience one thing in terms of another, and its cognitive mechanism can be described as a systematic correspondence between two conceptual domains, i.e., the mapping from a familiar and concrete source domain to a relatively unfamiliar and abstract target domain

[12]

. According to Lakoff and Johnson, metaphors are not only rhetoric device, but also conceptual tools for constructing, reorganising and creating reality

[13]

. When the media communicate political policies, the appropriate use of metaphors can effectively help audiences understand, accept and communicate ambiguous ideas

[14]

3.2. Critical Metaphor Analysis Framework

Charteris-Black integrates the relevant theories of cognitive linguistics, critical discourse analysis, and pragmatics to reveal and explain social reality through metaphors, and then clarify the relationship between language, society and cognition behind the discourse

[15]

. He proposes three steps, namely, metaphor identification at the textual level, metaphor interpretation at the discourse level, and metaphor explanation at the social level, which effectively fills the gap of traditional metaphor analysis by only focusing on its cognitive features

[1]

. In the initial phase of metaphor recognition, potential metaphors are identified in accordance with contextual factors. The target and source domains of metaphors are subsequently determined; metaphor interpretation involves interpersonal meaning, focusing on interpreting the cognitive and pragmatic connotations of metaphors at the discourse level; metaphor explanation involves discourse meaning, which refers to the examination of metaphors in social contexts, so as to grasp the ideology and social relations behind the metaphors

[1]

. Based on the above theories and frameworks, this paper builds a small corpus, identifies and classifies the metaphors in it, and then analyses the image of China’s climate constructed by the metaphors.

4. Research Design

4.1. Research Questions

1. What types of metaphors are used in China Daily’s climate change reporting?

2. What kind of images of China are constructed by the metaphor?

4.2. Source of Corpus

This study comprehensively measures the influence, authority, circulation and other factors of news media

[16]

, and eventually selects the international version of China Daily (http://www.Chinadaily.com.cn) as the source of corpus. China Daily is the only national English-language daily newspaper in China, with an average daily circulation of more than 200,000 and a circulation area covering more than 150 countries and regions around the world. It shoulders the important responsibility of foreign climate communication and constructing China’s ecological image

[17]

. In this study, we used the function of advanced search on the webpage to search for news containing the keywords “China” and “climate change” in the headlines from 1^stJanuary, 2024 to 31^stDecember, 2024, and obtained a total of 71 related reports. Then 14 picture reports and video reports were removed to obtain a total of 57 text reports. To ensure the richness of the corpus and the validity of the analyses, 6 news reports with less than 100 words were excluded from the corpus. Finally, a total of 51 reports were selected to build a small corpus, with a total of 30,138 characters and an average length of about 591 words.

4.3. Research Methodology

In this study, a combination of corpus and manual approach is used to identify the text-level metaphors, interpret the discourse-level metaphors and explain the social-level metaphors in the self-built corpus. In the stage of metaphor recognition, with the help of Wmatrix5 (https://ucrel-matrix.lancaster.ac.uk), an online corpus analysis tool developed by Paul Rayson, a target domain-driven recognition approach was adopted to identify metaphor-bearing words and determine the source domain

[18]

. The steps are as follows: (1) Determine the target domain. Remove the date and other unnecessary information in the text, convert the text into txt. format and upload it to the Wmatrix5 website. Select BNC Sampler Written as the reference corpus, and employ its embedded USAS (UCREL Semantic Annotation System) system to annotate the text

[19]

. Finally, a total of 165 key semantic domains is generated, part of which are shown as below:

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 1. Part of the key domains generated by Wmatrix5.

In Figure 1, the semantic domain of W4 “Weather” dominates, which indicates that the corpus is highly related to weather and climate, and thus the semantic domain of W4 “Weather” is set as the target domain. (2) Identifying metaphor vehicle. Searching for “W4” in the generated list of semantic domains, 22 types of climate change related metaphors were obtained. Part is shown in Figure 2:

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 2. Part of the metaphor types in W4 domain.

Then carefully read the sentences in the index line where the climate change metaphor-related class symbols are located in the above figure to identify the metaphor vehicle. For the scientificity of metaphor identification, this paper adopts the manual metaphor identification method MIP (Metaphor Identification Procedure) proposed by Pragglejaz Group: if the word climate occurs a total of 503 times in the corpus, then the sentences in the index line where the word is located are read-through

[20]

. Taking the expression “combat climate change” as an example, the word “combat” originally refers to the fight between people or armies. However, in the climate change context, it is means “trying to cope with something”. In this way, combat is labeled as a metaphoric word. (3) Determination of the source domain. Determine whether metaphorical mapping has occurred according to the semantic domain to which the metaphor bearer belongs: the semantic assignment of the word combat is G3 [Warfare, defence and the army; weapons], which indicates that the mapping from the semantic domain of war to the semantic domain of climate change has occurred, and action to combat climate change has been metaphorised as a war. However, when reading the text, it is found that the list of key domains generated by Wmatrix5 could not cover all metaphors. Therefore, this study further leverages the corpus analysis tool Antconc4.0 to adopt a source domain-driven identification approach, presenting the retrieval results in the form of “Keywords in Context (KWIC)” to retrieve and categorise the possible metaphors in a more comprehensive way. For example, the semantic assignment of the corpus using Wmatrix5 reveals that the source domain G3 war semantic domain contains forces, treaties, gun, etc. in addition to the metaphor bearer combat. Taking the word forces as an example, the word was entered into the search box of Antconc4.0, and a total of three results were obtained (as shown in Figure 3). Subsequently, the index line where forces is located is read through and the context is taken into account to determine whether metaphorical mapping occurs. By repeating the above steps over and over again, the metaphors in the self-built corpus were identified one by one. On this basis, the word frequency statistics function of Antconc 4.0 is used to count the total number of identified metaphor-bearing words and the number of occurrences of metaphors, and the product of the two is calculated to obtain the resonance, which is an important parameter for predicting the high or low usage rate of a certain type of metaphors in a certain type of discourse

[1]

. (4) Finally, in conjunction with the corpus, identified metaphors are placed in social contexts to be examination, so as to analyse the images of China constructed by them.

Download: Download full-size image

Figure 3. The searching results of “forces”.

5. Types of Metaphor in China Daily’s Climate Change Reports

Statistically analysed, the different metaphor types, resonance and the percentage of occurrences in the self-constructed corpus are as follows:

Table 1. Different types of metaphor and their resonance and percentage.

Types	Resonance	Percentage
struggle metaphor	33*205=6765	39.34%
journey Metaphor	43*137=5891	34.26%
competition metaphor	25*76=1900	11.05%
war metaphor	27*70=1890	10.99%
architectural metaphor	10*45=450	2.62%
illness metaphor	12*16=192	1.12%
container metaphor	6*9=54	0.31%
botanical metaphor	4*7=28	0.16%

As is shown in Table 1, a total of eight types of metaphors has been identified in the self-constructed corpus. Among them, struggle metaphors appear most frequently, accounting for 39.34%; journey metaphors rank the second, accounting for 34.26%, but they have the richest number of metaphor vehicles; competition metaphors and war metaphors are close to each other, accounting for 11.05% and 10.99% respectively; and botanical metaphors have the smallest proportion, accounting for 0.16%. Due to space limitation, this paper will combine the corpus to analyse the four most dominant types of metaphors, so as to further explain the national image constructed by them.

5.1. Struggle Metaphor

In “combating climate change is a struggle”, the source domain “struggle” includes “persistence”, “efforts”, “progress”, “breakthroughs” as well as the “targets” achieved. In China Daily, some of the characteristics of the source domain “struggle” are mapped to the target domain “climate change”, as shown in Table 2:

Table 2. Keywords and frequencies of struggle metaphor.

Type of metaphor	Keywords (frequency)
struggle metaphor	effort/ efforts (45); achieve/ achieved/ achievement/ achievements/ unachievable (32); progress/ progresses (29); plan/ plans/ planned (20); target/ targets/ targeted (18); resilience/ resilient (14); cope with (11); aim to/ aims to (9); endeavour/ endeavors (5); adhere to/ adhered to (5); struggle (3); strive (3); ramp up (3); attempt/ attempts (3); breakthrough/ breakthroughs (3).

In example 1, the representatives of China and the United States expect to reach a consensus that the process of combating climate change is a “struggle”. Therefore, as the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, China and the United States should work together to “endeavour” to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the course of the “struggle”. In Example 2, the Chinese NPC deputies emphasise the urgency of legislation, as this initiative will help China “realise the target of this struggle”. In example 3, China has implemented a series of initiatives in its “struggle” to promote the use of clean energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and has continued to “make progress” in this regard.

Example 1 Kerry is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua and discuss with him about “climate cooperation”, as well as Kerry is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua and discuss with him about “climate cooperation”, as well as collaborative efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Example 2 The legislation and the establishment of a legal system for reducing carbon emissions are an urgent necessity for the country to achieve its climate targets.

Example 3 Chinese authorities have introduced a raft of measures to boost the use of renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions, making remarkable progress in that direction.

In climate change reports, the struggle metaphor helps to build a sense of collective identity by emphasising that combating climate change is a common endeavour that requires “efforts” on the part of all societies, and indeed all of humanity. The source domain of struggle also helps to focus people on targets and emphasises that they can be achieved through effort and perseverance. This provides the public with confidence and motivation to address climate change. Finally, the struggle metaphor highlights China’s perseverance and determination in confronting this issue, and it also and brings China’s “efforts” to life.

5.2. Journey Metaphor

Using journey metaphor, China has constructed the concept of “addressing climate change is a long journey”. Many of the characteristics of the origin domain “journey” are mapped onto the target domain “climate change”, namely, mitigating the impacts of climate change is the “destination”, and countries around the world are the “travelers”. Though sometimes encountering some obstacles and sometimes losing their way, under China’s leadership, the world is constantly “accelerating” on the right “route” and “moving forward”. The keywords and frequency related to journey metaphor are shown in Table 3:

Table 3. Keywords and frequencies of struggle metaphor.

Type of metaphor	Keywords (frequency)
journey metaphor	goal/ goals (31); reach/ reached/ reaching (23); accelerate/ accelerated (10); path (8); move/ moves (8); direction/ directions (8); barriers (4). schedule (4); way (4); track (3); course (3).

In Example 4, China has been following the right “route” in its “journey” to address climate change. Through continuous efforts, China is expected to achieve the “final goal” of 2030 for the share of renewable energy in energy production by 2025, ahead of schedule. In Examples 5 and 6, China is following the right “roadmap”, the right “direction”, “accelerating” in artificial intelligence, international cooperation, etc., And it is also expected to reach the “destination” of its journey.

Example 4 According to the International Energy Agency, China is on track to reach in 2025 its goals for 2030 in terms of the share of renewables in the production of energy.

Example 5 In the context of climate change, sector-specific AI models can be used to accelerate progress on climate action...

Example 6.... the two countries cannot go back to the old zero-sum game between major powers, but instead should move forward in the direction of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation of the two countries cannot go back to the old zero-sum game between major powers, but instead should move forward in the direction of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

The journey metaphor conceptualises the climate governance process as a journey along a road, indicating the complexity and lengthy nature of climate governance and that it is a long way to go

[12]

. However, the metaphor of the journey itself usually implies hope and opportunity, so the use of the journey metaphor also reflects China’s positive and optimistic attitude when facing this challenge. At the same time, the length of the journey also indicates that China has formulated a long-term and coherent policy to deal with the climate issue, which demonstrates China’s image as a far-sighted and responsible great power. Finally, the journey has a certain degree of storytelling and attraction, and the use of the metaphor of the journey increases the readability of the text, makes it easier for the public to understand abstract policies and ideas, and improves the efficiency of information dissemination.

5.3. Competition Metaphor

In the master metaphor list, a metaphor instance Library of Lakoff and other scholars, the mapping of “competition” metaphor is competing for the desired goal

[7]

. The source domain “competition” contains many concepts, such as competitors, rivalry, either you or me, etc. When these characteristics are mapped to the climate change domain, mitigation of climate change becomes the embodiment of national strength. After analysis, the metaphorical words and frequencies of competition metaphors in the self-built corpus are shown in Table 4:

Table 4. Keywords and frequencies of struggle metaphor.

Type of metaphor

Keywords (frequency)

competition metaphor

lead/ leads/ led/ leading/ leader/ leadership (29); challenge (12); dominate/ dominated (8); win-win (6).

competition/ competitive/ competitiveness (5); rules (3); tensions (3); compete/ unite/ union (3).

Although competition is often associated with concepts such as “fierce” and “victory”, it is found that competition metaphor of in China Daily’s climate change reports is more often presented through positive and objective metaphor vehicles. Although Example 7 uses “leadership” to highlight China’s leading position in the competition to develop new energy sources. Actually, China has not been shy about sharing its achievements and progress in combating climate change with other countries for the benefit of all mankind. Examples 8 and 9 also show that China emphasises that all countries in the world should be “comrades in arms” rather than “competitors”.

Example 7 Over the past few decades, China has risen to become the leading manufacture and deployer of most of the key clean energy technologies that the world needs for the low carbon transition...

Example 8.... humanity can come together and tackle the most dramatic challenges-if we unite, act and deliver.

Example 9.... together with all parties, we week to promote a fair, equitable and win-win global climate governance system.

The competition metaphor can stimulate a sense of competition among all parties, prompting countries around the world to innovate and forge ahead, thereby increasing the speed and efficiency of the response to climate change. In addition, like the war metaphor, the competition metaphor can highlight the seriousness of the climate change problem and increase the public’s sense of urgency. However, in this competition, China emphasises the “strategy” of “cooperation in competition”: the “contestants” all share the same goal, and no country is the ultimate “winner”, but the ultimate “victory” belongs to all mankind. Co-operation in competition is more conducive to the countries of the world complementing each other’s strengths and drawing on each other’s experience, so as to jointly address the challenges posed by climate change.

5.4. War Metaphor

War, as a more familiar domain, is one of the basic ways of thinking about the world. Therefore, in China Daily’s reports on climate change, many features of the source domain “war” are mapped to the target domain “climate change”: climate change is a “war” without smoke, all countries in the world are “fighters”. In the face of the increasingly serious climate problem, all countries have to show their “weapons” and use various “combat techniques” to fight for climate change, to bravely “defend” the home on which we depend for survival. Although it is said that “victory and defeat are commonplace in military affairs”, countries around the world, especially China, have been fighting on the “front line” of climate change mitigation and have not retreated in this “war”. After analysing and categorizing, the keywords and frequency of war metaphor in the self-constructed corpus are shown in Table 5:

Table 5. Keywords and frequencies of war metaphor.

Type of metaphor

Keywords (frequency)

competition metaphor

lead/ leads/ led/ leading/ leader/ leadership (29); challenge (12); dominate/ dominated (8); win-win (6).

competition/ competitive/ competitiveness (5); rules (3); tensions (3); compete/ unite/ union (3).

In Example 10, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, under the leadership of the Chinese government, has successfully “won” in the “war” against desertification, setting an example for the world to follow in turning deserts into oases. In Example 11, in order to “win” in the “war”, China’s automobile industry has introduced new energy trams, which shows that China has always been on the “front line”, giving full play to the role of a great country as a model. In Example 12, in order to “win” in the war, the Chinese automobile industry launched a new-energy tram. In Example 12, in order to win the “battle” against climate change, China has formulated different “strategies” in different regions according to the actual situation, so as to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of its actions against climate change.

Example 10 Kubuqi is a model of the success of the fight against desertification. In fact, this seventh-largest desert has been turned into an agricultural paradise.

Example 11 China’s auto industry is expected to play a bigger role in combating climate change thanks to its leading position in electrification, said officials and experts.

Example 12 The report implies that tackling these issues necessitates focused initiatives aimed at enabling diverse rural communities to adopt strategies that are adaptive to the changing climate. that are adaptive to the changing climate.

By treating climate change as a war, China has highlighted its cruelty and severity, which creates a sense of crisis, arouses the public’s attention, and stimulates the public’s fighting spirit and determination. At the same time, despite the dangers in the war, China is still courageous to move forward and respond positively, which shows that China is not afraid of difficulties and dangers and dares to take the lead as a great power. In war, many parties need to unite as one and work together. The use of war metaphor can also appeal to all countries in the world to unite and jointly deal with crises and challenges.

6. The Images of China Constructed by Metaphor from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis

The world of politics is complex and full of values, both cognitively and perceptually far from people’s everyday experience

[21]

. Metaphor, on the other hand, as a basic cognitive modality, can help people understand abstract concepts in terms of familiar concepts. Metaphor in the critical metaphor perspective is a conscious discourse choice and an important means of identity construction

[5]

. After the above analysis of statistics, it is found that there are eight different metaphor types in the corpus. In the metaphor interpretation stage, this paper takes the social context into consideration and finds that through the use of metaphors, China Daily mainly constructs an image of positive climate diplomacy in which China is a fighter, a leader, and a co-operator in the fight against climate change.

6.1. A fighter in the Fight Against Climate Change

China is a decisive and resolute fighter in global climate change governance. As the largest developing country, China has taken fruitful initiatives to address climate change and protect the ecological environment, such as reducing carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions, promoting green transformation of industries and fostering green development. As an actor in climate governance, China has taken the initiative to assume international responsibility, continuously increase its efforts to address climate change, and actively respond to climate change issues

[22]

, an image that is mainly revealed through the metaphors of struggle and war. In many fields, China has always been “struggling” on the “front line” of addressing climate change, and has kept abreast of the times in terms of “combat techniques”, i.e., policies and regulations, self-regulation, no fear of setbacks, and courageous advancement. The use of metaphors makes China a “charging warrior” in the fight against climate change. The use of metaphors makes the image of China as an actor in the fight against climate change more tangible and vivid, and at the same time demonstrates to the public China’s firm attitude and stance in the fight against climate change, thus enhancing the public’s understanding and resonance.

6.2. A Leader in the Fight Against Climate Change

China is a compelling leader when it comes to addressing climate change. China has won the recognition of many developing and developed countries by demonstrating climate leadership through domestic target management and low-carbon actions, international reciprocal cooperation and climate assistance

[23]

. For example, in journey metaphor, China formulates and implements climate policies, guiding countries around the globe to work together to address the challenges of climate change. This emphasises China’s guiding role and leadership responsibilities in the international arena, as well as its determination and courage to work tirelessly to protect our homeland. In war metaphor, China has huge “resources” and a powerful “army”, and is committed to leading and organising global efforts to tackle the challenge of climate change. The metaphor emphasises China’s sense of responsibility and defence in the area of climate change, as well as its efforts to maintain global environmental security.

6.3. A Cooperator in the Fight Against Climate Change

China has been a dedicated collaborator in addressing the issue of climate change. On the world stage, China has been active in mitigating the impacts of climate change with the concept of a community of life between human beings and nature

[24]

. Despite its numerous achievements in the field of green development, China has not been shy about sharing its results with the rest of the world. For example, with China’s help, Africa built the first cross-country electrified railway, the Aji Railway; China’s new energy buses and artificial intelligence and other technologies have gone to more than 20 countries in Europe; the world's largest monolithic photovoltaic power plant in the United Arab Emirates, “Abu Dhabi Light”, also derives its core technology from China. What China does fully demonstrate the concept of a community of human destiny, and the national image of its collaborators is also fully demonstrated mainly through the metaphor of the journey and the competition metaphor. Combating climate change is both a “journey” and a “competition”. In this “journey”, China, together with many other “travelers”, is “fast forwarding” towards the “destination”. In this “competition”, China advocates a win-win situation for mutual benefit, because no country can stand alone in the face of an increasingly severe global climate.

Abbreviations

CMT	Conceptual Metaphor Theory
CMA	Critical Metaphor Analysis
MIP	Metaphor Identification Procedure
USAS	UCREL Semantic Annotation System

Author Contributions

Gefei Dong: Project administration

Xuejiao Ding: Writing – original draft

Funding

This work is not supported by any external funding.

Data Availability Statement

The data is available from the author upon reasonable request.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Dong, G., Ding, X. (2025). The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily. Humanities and Social Sciences, 13(5), 410-418. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21

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Dong, G.; Ding, X. The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2025, 13(5), 410-418. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21

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Dong G, Ding X. The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily. Humanit Soc Sci. 2025;13(5):410-418. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21,
  author = {Gefei Dong and Xuejiao Ding},
  title = {The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily
},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {13},
  number = {5},
  pages = {410-418},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20251305.21},
  abstract = {Metaphor is not only a rhetorical device, but also pervades our ordinary conceptual system. Due to the abstract and complex nature of climate change issues, metaphors can be found everywhere in such reports. Since the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing the abstract in terms of the concrete, analyzing metaphors is to deepen the understanding of the concepts and ideologies behind climate discourse. Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA), this paper adopts a combined approach of corpus and Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) to analyze the metaphors in China Daily’s climate change discourse and the images of China constructed by these metaphors. On the one hand, it is found that there are eight types of metaphors in total, among which four types: the struggle metaphor, the journey metaphor, the competition metaphor and the war metaphor dominate. One the other hand, these metaphors shape the national image of China as a fighter, a leader and a collaborator in the combat against climate change. By exploring the national images of China constructed through metaphors in climate discourse in China Daily, this paper aims to expand the areas of application of Critical Metaphor Analysis, while providing new perspectives and methods for the study of national image construction.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily

AU  - Gefei Dong
AU  - Xuejiao Ding
Y1  - 2025/10/22
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 410
EP  - 418
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8184
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21
AB  - Metaphor is not only a rhetorical device, but also pervades our ordinary conceptual system. Due to the abstract and complex nature of climate change issues, metaphors can be found everywhere in such reports. Since the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing the abstract in terms of the concrete, analyzing metaphors is to deepen the understanding of the concepts and ideologies behind climate discourse. Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA), this paper adopts a combined approach of corpus and Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) to analyze the metaphors in China Daily’s climate change discourse and the images of China constructed by these metaphors. On the one hand, it is found that there are eight types of metaphors in total, among which four types: the struggle metaphor, the journey metaphor, the competition metaphor and the war metaphor dominate. One the other hand, these metaphors shape the national image of China as a fighter, a leader and a collaborator in the combat against climate change. By exploring the national images of China constructed through metaphors in climate discourse in China Daily, this paper aims to expand the areas of application of Critical Metaphor Analysis, while providing new perspectives and methods for the study of national image construction.

VL  - 13
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Gefei Dong

Foreign Studies College, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China

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Xuejiao Ding

Foreign Studies College, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Dong, G., Ding, X. (2025). The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily. Humanities and Social Sciences, 13(5), 410-418. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21

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ACS Style

Dong, G.; Ding, X. The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2025, 13(5), 410-418. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21

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AMA Style

Dong G, Ding X. The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily. Humanit Soc Sci. 2025;13(5):410-418. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21,
  author = {Gefei Dong and Xuejiao Ding},
  title = {The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily
},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {13},
  number = {5},
  pages = {410-418},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20251305.21},
  abstract = {Metaphor is not only a rhetorical device, but also pervades our ordinary conceptual system. Due to the abstract and complex nature of climate change issues, metaphors can be found everywhere in such reports. Since the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing the abstract in terms of the concrete, analyzing metaphors is to deepen the understanding of the concepts and ideologies behind climate discourse. Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA), this paper adopts a combined approach of corpus and Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) to analyze the metaphors in China Daily’s climate change discourse and the images of China constructed by these metaphors. On the one hand, it is found that there are eight types of metaphors in total, among which four types: the struggle metaphor, the journey metaphor, the competition metaphor and the war metaphor dominate. One the other hand, these metaphors shape the national image of China as a fighter, a leader and a collaborator in the combat against climate change. By exploring the national images of China constructed through metaphors in climate discourse in China Daily, this paper aims to expand the areas of application of Critical Metaphor Analysis, while providing new perspectives and methods for the study of national image construction.
},
 year = {2025}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Construction of Images of China from the Perspective of Critical Metaphor Analysis: A Case Study of Climate Change Reports in China Daily

AU  - Gefei Dong
AU  - Xuejiao Ding
Y1  - 2025/10/22
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 410
EP  - 418
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8184
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20251305.21
AB  - Metaphor is not only a rhetorical device, but also pervades our ordinary conceptual system. Due to the abstract and complex nature of climate change issues, metaphors can be found everywhere in such reports. Since the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing the abstract in terms of the concrete, analyzing metaphors is to deepen the understanding of the concepts and ideologies behind climate discourse. Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA), this paper adopts a combined approach of corpus and Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) to analyze the metaphors in China Daily’s climate change discourse and the images of China constructed by these metaphors. On the one hand, it is found that there are eight types of metaphors in total, among which four types: the struggle metaphor, the journey metaphor, the competition metaphor and the war metaphor dominate. One the other hand, these metaphors shape the national image of China as a fighter, a leader and a collaborator in the combat against climate change. By exploring the national images of China constructed through metaphors in climate discourse in China Daily, this paper aims to expand the areas of application of Critical Metaphor Analysis, while providing new perspectives and methods for the study of national image construction.

VL  - 13
IS  - 5
ER  -

Copy | Download