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In:Crises We Live By: A transdisciplinary study of crisis and its metaphors in their cultural context
Edited by Irene Leonardis
[Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 20] 2026
► pp. 200–219

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Metaphorical expressions of crisis and their role in the legitimation of dissent in Sinic thought

Materials from premodern China and Korea

 | Ruhr-University Bochum
 | Ruhr-University Bochum
Published online: 5 February 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.20.09egg
Abstract
This contribution explores the metaphors for crisis in connection with the emergence of a culture of dissent in East Asia, in particular in Confucianism. Both topics are intimately related inasmuch as crisis can be a catalyst for, a result of, and a threat to such a culture. We suggest that these “critical” junctions are reflected in the metaphoric expression of liminal situations. This hypothesis is substantiated with textual materials from ancient China and Chosŏn Korea. The Chinese materials afford insights into the development of the metaphoric field of crisis and the unfolding of its implications, while the Korean materials serve to test how these played out in long durée, demonstrating their continued productive vitality.
Article outline
  • 1.Methodological note: Why China and Korea?
  • 2.Crises in early China
  • 3.Sinitic metaphors for crisis
    • 3.1Topographic metaphors
    • 3.2The term weiji 危機
    • 3.3Weiji in textual context: Between danger and pitfall
  • 4.Weiyi 危疑: A better candidate for “crisis”?
  • 5.Crisis, discernment and dissent
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (55)
References
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