Constructing a Genealogy of Emotions ( Qing 情) in Chinese Culture through the Lens of Etymological and Semantic Analyses

The present study takes an initial step towards constructing a genealogy of emotions (qing 情) in Chinese culture through the lens of etymological and semantic analyses. Given the rich records of the Chinese language’s evolution from ancient to modern scripts, such an approach is considered particularly promising. Through meticulous research based on relevant reference tools, three interesting phenomena related to emotions in Chinese culture are uncovered: First, the initial emergence of emotion words lags behind that of moral words; second, the negative emotion words significantly outnumber the positive ones; third, expressions bearing mixed emotions are prevalent. An examination of you 憂 (worry), a frequently expressed emotion in Chinese culture, reveals a highly developed perception of emotional nuances. While illustrating the sophistication of Chinese perception and expression of emotions, the present study also invites a further exploration into the important question of whether the phenomena uncovered here are culture-specific or essentially universal. To construct a thorough genealogy of emotions in Chinese culture, the study proposes that etymological and semantic analyses be extended to analysis of notable cultural signs and discourse analysis.