A Corpus-based Investigation of Guomin

Cao, Qing

Abstract

One of the fundamental changes in modern China is the transformation from a traditional dynasty to a modern nation-state. However institutional transformation is often pushed and guided by a system of ideas. Previous studies on late Qing transformation give insufficient attention to the role of language in the ideational world of representation. Based on a corpus-centred empirical study, this article examines the prevalent notion of guomin in late Qing from the perspective of conceptual map and semantic regrouping. It argues that, contrary to the conventional understanding of the term as highlighting such values as liberty and individualism, guomin prioritises obligations of the people to the state to transfer their loyalty from the family to the newly imagined nation-state. Thus, guomin as a newly risen term after the 1895 Jiawu defeat, became an elitist demand for normative behaviours on the part of people as part of China’s nation-state building. The article delineates four levels of semantic meanings of guomin as a statist construction of a new ‘national people’ in order to transform the Qing empire to a modern republic.

Citation

Cao, Q. (2018). A Corpus-based Investigation of Guomin. Zhongguo shehui yuyanxue, 31(2), 13-28

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 28, 2019
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Deposit Date: Nov 3, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 6, 2022
• Journal: Journal of Chinese Sociolinguistics
• Print ISSN: 1729-5173
• Publisher: Chinese Society of Socio-Linguistics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 13-28
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1285152
• Publisher URL: https://cstt.cbpt.cnki.net/WKE2/WebPublication/index.aspx?mid=cstt