The Systemic Nature of Chinese Paremiology

Introduction. Contemporary paremiology views paremies as complex semiotic and linguoaxiological units that reflect worldviews and values of a certain ethnic group. Chinese paremiology, with its rich tradition, constitutes a multifaceted system characterized by interactions between structural, semantic, and cultural levels. Goals. The article aims to identify some systemic properties of the Chinese paremiological corpus, determine the nature of interrelations among paremic units, and uncover their axiological and cultural-cognitive potentials. To facilitate these, the work shall describe the formal and semantic patterns of paremies, analyze their variants, identify universal and culturally marked components, and examine the pragmatic and metatextual functions of Chinese paremies. Materials and methods. The study focuses on approximately 1,500 Chinese paremies selected from authoritative dictionaries, the authors’ personal card indices, and literary texts (in particular, Cao Xueqin’s novel Dream of the Red Chamber). The research methodology is based on modern approaches rooted in postulates of the theory of phraseology, linguocultural studies, linguoaxiology, as well as the descriptive analytical method and those of component, comparative contrastive and pragmatic analyses. Results. The study reveals the presence of systemic relationships in Chinese paremiology, including synonymic, antonymic, and hyper-hyponymic connections, along with significant variability. Both universal (anthroponyms, toponyms, zoonyms, chrononyms) and ethnospecific elements are identified as carriers of cultural constants. The analysis demonstrates that Chinese paremias exhibit a high degree of functional flexibility, thus fulfilling normative, identificational, and poetic functions. Conclusions. Chinese paremiology shows properties of a semiotically closed and cognitively rich system, in which forms, meanings, and values are closely interrelated. Paremias function as tools for conceptualizing the world, preserving ethnocultural knowledge, and transmitting values. The findings of the study may be applied in cross-linguistic paremiological comparisons and in practices of linguistic and cultural mediation.

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