Ye, Zhengdao (2006). Why are there two ‘joy-like’ ‘basic’ emotions in Chinese? Semantic theory and empirical findings. In Paolo Santangelo & Donatella Guida (Eds.), Love, hatred and other passions: Questions and themes on emotions in Chinese civilisation (pp. 59-80). Leiden: Brill.
Among different versions of ‘basic emotions’ based on English, it is uncommon for two emotions from the same cognitive domain of ‘something good happened’ to appear side by side on the same list. The two Chinese emotion terms xi and le, on the other hand, often appear together on lists of basic Chinese emotions. Thus, these ‘twin’ qingganzi have been chosen in the hope of answering a question that few have raised, that is, why are there two basic emotions belonging to this ‘joy-like’ category in Chinese? An in-depth analysis of the meaning of these so-called ‘basic’ emotions (within the Chinese language, and between Chinese and English) not only sheds light on the ‘basic’ Chinese emotional experience, but also has implications for the discussion of whether there are emotions ‘basic’ to people from all cultures, an issue that has been widely debated in studies of emotions.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
