A New Cognitive-Semantic Perspective on Acupuncture Points from the View of Embodied Philosophy

Based on the interdisciplinary perspective of cognitive linguistics and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this paper analyzes 1407 cases of acupuncture points terms in the ancient medical books such as Huangdi Neijing and Classic on Medical Problems by means of corpus research. It focuses on the specific representation of the integration between acupuncture points concept and embodied experience, and then explores the interactive relationship between modern embodied philosophy and TCM. First, at the initial stage, primary-level concept of acupoints domain is recognized through the transportation experience in daily life, and then projected to the domain of TCM to develop the unique meaning of acupuncture points. Second, the specific terms of acupoints reflect four cognitive perspectives within the TCM conceptual domain, among which "highlighting viscera, meridians or body parts" are the main. Third, the terms of acupuncture points contain nine categories and 22 types of conventional metaphors, among which topographical metaphors are the most prevalent. The conceptualization of acupuncture points also reflects cognitive patterns shaped by water metaphors underlying their associations with other concepts. Additionally, 14.55% of acupuncture points terms feature integrated metaphorical structures.