Abstract / Description of output
This conceptual analysis of the graph ling 靈 neither focuses on phonetics nor semantics but mainly on the linguistic function of the term in its pragmatic use in early Chinese texts.
As a term, ling mostly takes on a classificatory function as a label that qualifies objects or locations as belonging to a powerful, often numinous, realm without however further specifying this realm. While often implying some general kind of spirit-like quality, authors use this term precisely to avoid committing themselves to any specificity. In early Chinese texts ling therefore appears mainly as an alienated term, a term in quotation marks, a categoriser, an indicator of an exanimate conceptual space that assigns a quasi-religious quality to something without determining the exact mode of its usage. The usage of ling can be metaphorical, allegorical, ritual, aesthetic or, indeed, “religious” in some indistinct way. It can, in a loose associative sense, refer to aspects of spiritual qualities such as goodness, power, superiority, blessing or auspiciousness. It can also de-secularise something in a very general sense and for various reasons. Ling in this usage is thus best understood as a graph with a classificatory function rather than a term with a range of lexical meanings.
As a term, ling mostly takes on a classificatory function as a label that qualifies objects or locations as belonging to a powerful, often numinous, realm without however further specifying this realm. While often implying some general kind of spirit-like quality, authors use this term precisely to avoid committing themselves to any specificity. In early Chinese texts ling therefore appears mainly as an alienated term, a term in quotation marks, a categoriser, an indicator of an exanimate conceptual space that assigns a quasi-religious quality to something without determining the exact mode of its usage. The usage of ling can be metaphorical, allegorical, ritual, aesthetic or, indeed, “religious” in some indistinct way. It can, in a loose associative sense, refer to aspects of spiritual qualities such as goodness, power, superiority, blessing or auspiciousness. It can also de-secularise something in a very general sense and for various reasons. Ling in this usage is thus best understood as a graph with a classificatory function rather than a term with a range of lexical meanings.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | A Powerful Term |
| Subtitle of host publication | Ling 靈–Between ‘Efficacy’ and ‘Spirituality |
| Editors | Christian Meyer, Philip Clart |
| Publisher | Brill Academic Publishers |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 2023 |