Ye, Zhengdao (2001). Los sentimientos morales de la “tristeza” china: una ilustración del acercamiento del Metalenguaje Semántico Natural (MSN) al análisis de algunas emociones chinas “básicas” [Moral feelings of “sadness” in Chinese: An illustration of the NSM approach to the analysis of some “basic” Chinese emotions]. Isegoría, 25, 201-222.
Written in Spanish.
This study undertakes, within the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach developed by Anna Wierzbicka and colleagues, a detailed contrastive and comparative semantic analysis of a couple of Chinese emotion concepts: 悲 bēi and 哀 ai (often glossed interchangeably as sadness, sorrow, and grief), which are considered to be basic emotions in traditional Chinese philosophical texts. It illustrates that (a) they are by no means interchangeable, nor are they equivalent of the Western idea of sadness, (b) they are artifacts of the Chinese culture, shaped by Chinese people’s social and moral experiences, and their view of life and the universe. Essentially, 悲 bēi encompasses a fatalistic view, and 哀 ai is a moral emotion.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
