The Concept of "Sky" as a Set of Collective Representations in Chinese Linguoculturology

Abstract

The article deals with the semantics of the concept "sky" in the Chinese language. The aim of the article is to study the concept "sky" in Chinese culture and to identify the specifics of its content in the Chinese language picture of the world. The concept serves as the basis of human consciousness and the system of cultural values of the nation. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the polysemous word "sky" and its lexical combination in Chinese linguocultural studies. The object of the research is the concept "sky" in the Chinese language picture of the world. The subject of the research is the representation of collective representations of the concept "sky" in Chinese language. Descriptive, component and structural, comparative analysis methods were used in this article. The main conclusions are that the concept "heaven" in Chinese philosophy acquires special representations, which are closely connected with the religious component in the culture of ancient China. In comparison with the concept "God" in European cultures, the concept "sky" has no personal realization, it symbolizes the supreme central deity. With the development of temporality the concept "sky" is presented with new meanings and values. The novelty of the research consists in the fact that, for the first time using the analysis of collective representations of the concept "heaven" in the article, its meaning and lexical compatibility in modern Chinese language are described and the specificity of Chinese language thinking is revealed.