『史記』 ‘人才’ 담론에 대한 개념적 은유·환유 연구 = Conceptual Metaphor and Metonymy in the Shiji’s Talent (人才) Discourse: A Cognitive-Semantic Analysis

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study departs from existing research on the Shiji(Records of the Grand Historian) that primarily focused on Confucian virtue-based politics or historical verification. Instead, it aims to identify the cognitive mechanisms through which the concept of ‘talent’(rencai) is structured as a strategic tool, employing a cognitive linguistic analysis. By examining thirteen representative cases from the Shiji’s ‘Benji’ (Annals) and ‘Liezhuan’(Biographies)—including figures such as Yi Yin (伊尹), Fu Yue (傅說), Han Xin (韓信), and Zhang Tang (張湯)—from the perspectives of cognitive semantics and pragmatics, this study reveals that ‘talent’ is reified through metaphorical schemas rooted in six source domains: sensation and materiality, function and instrumentality, system/structure/procedure, spatial position, warfare and contest, and the sacred. Furthermore, through interaction with metonymic structures based on action, outcome, state, and role, talent in the Shiji is conceptualized as a performative entity understood through practical efficacy and achievement, transcending the traditional moral ideal. These findings provide empirical cognitive evidence that Sima Qian prioritized practical utility over moral justification in his evaluation of historical figures. By proving that the Shiji’s perspective on talent constitutes a complex cognitive model explaining the political and social order, this research opens a new analytical horizon for the study of classical texts.