A Study on the Construction of China's National Image in Corpus-based English Textbooks: A Case Study of Chinese and Japanese Textbooks

English teaching materials serve as the most direct and authoritative channel for English learners in their language acquisition process. They also play a crucial role in cultural transmission, knowledge dissemination, and national image construction. Based on the comparison of the national image of China in the English textbooks of China and Japan, this paper, by understanding the similarities and differences in the construction of national image between the two countries, masters the image of China created in the Japanese textbooks, and contributes to the dissemination of China's national image under the background of "telling Chinese stories well". The method of quantitative and qualitative analysis is adopted in this study. The research finds that in terms of the proportion of Chinese images presented, Chinese English textbooks show a higher frequency of occurrence when displaying national images, and the content is richer and diversified. In terms of presenting Chinese images, Chinese English textbooks uphold the principle of neutrality and comprehensiveness, depict the image of China as the inheritor of history and culture in multiple dimensions, and highlight China's international influence. Regarding the strategies for presenting Chinese images, Japanese English textbooks have potential one-sidedness and misleading strategies for compiling Chinese images, which have certain biases and tendencies. Chinese English textbooks present a comprehensive image of China as a country connecting the past, present, and future, playing an important role in global affairs.