National Image Construction from the Perspective of Multimodal Metaphor-A Case Study of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics

The national image is a comprehensive concept with a distinct political feature,including the international image presented to the outside world,and also encompassing the national identity of the people.With the development of globalization,international cultural communication has become a crucial part of shaping the national image,and the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics has become an important opportunity for China to showcase its national image to the world in the post-pandemic era.Based on Forceville’s multimodal metaphor theory,this paper examines the metaphorical phenomena contained in the performance and their functions,effects,and purposes in the construction of the national image.It is found that there are many scenes,images,and narratives in the opening ceremony,including war metaphor,competition metaphor,personification metaphor,and other conceptual metaphors.The focus of this paper is on multimodal metaphor in a broad sense,mainly encompassing auditory and visual modes.Through the use of these multimodal metaphors,the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics builds an image of a vibrant,peace-loving,and responsible country,which not only demonstrates China’s cultural self-confidence,but also expresses the Chinese people’s beautiful vision for the early reunification of the motherland.

Chinese Overseas Enterprises and Construction of China＇ s National Image

National image is an important component of national interests and a key indicator of a country's comprehensive strength. National image is also an integral part of a country's foreign strategy. With further promotion of the going global strategy, Chinese overseas enterprises have become important participants in globalization and thus major actors shaping China's national image. However, several overseas enterprises have adversely affected China's national image due to lack of cooperation, lack of legal concepts, lack of environmental awareness, ignorance of social responsibility and cultural differences. To this end, the Chinese government should focus on raising awareness among overseas enterprises about national image, establishing a clear mechanism for the entry and exit of overseas enterprises, fostering publicity among overseas enterprises, strengthening the guidance of overseas enterprises in performing their duties, and guiding Chinese overseas enterprises to actively and effectively shape a responsible national image.

The Economic and Trade Factors in China’s National Image in the Arab Countries

In the context of globalization,although governments maintain the leading role in shaping the image of states,the increasing bilateral economic and trade exchanges are gradually becoming an equally important,if not more important,element.The recent years have witnessed a continuous growth of trade between China and Arab countries—a newly established crucial trading partner and platform for practicing the“going-out”strategy.Thanks to both sides complimenting each other,a positive win-win situation has been achieved.However,as more and more Chinese merchandises and enterprises have entered the Arab world,certain problems have emerged,such as poor quality of merchandises,illegal operation of enterprises,and difficulties of certain Chinese employees integrating into local life.These economic and trade elements have become key factors in shaping China’s image in the Arab countries,and hence should not be left unattended.

Image of Guangzhou in the Eyes of Western Travelers to China in the 19th Century

Based on the travel texts of western travelers who came to Guangzhou in the 19;century, the travel situation of travelers in Guangzhou in the 19;century was deeply analyzed;Thirteen Hongs of Canton as the focus of the travel texts, and western travelers’ impressions of Guangzhou’s urban landscapes and water landscapes were described and discussed in detail;China’s national image in the eyes of Westerners was analyzed, and it was an objective reflection of the situation of the Qing Empire at that time.

The Establishment of Grand Tour Rules and Its Influence on the Image of Western Countries

In the process of civilization competition between the East and the West,different foreign travel rules have been gradually established.From the 16th to the 19th century,the Chinese government gradually lost the motivation and willingness to travel abroad.In the process of promoting the development of modern civilization in the western world,through the practice of grand tour,the travel rules with equal communication as the main feature are established,and an open,innovative and enterprising image of western group countries was constructed.

The Image of North China in the Perspective of Western Peregrinators in the 19^(th) Century

With the increasing number of western peregrinators to China,the number of travellers to Beijing and the Great Wall continued to increase,forming the north China peregrination route.This paper analyzed the concrete impression of western peregrinators on Beijing and the Great Wall,and held that the structural characteristics of western peregrinators were caused by the change of trade requirements.

The Image of Southwest China in the Perspective of Modern Western Peregrinators

The paper analyzed the scenery along the Yangtze River and southwest peregrination route in the perspective of western peregrinators through relevant texts of modern western peregrinators.On the one hand,the peregrinators to China were struck by the picturesque and peculiar landscape of southwest China,and praised the Chinese art,culture and architectural images in their texts.On the other hand,these texts concealed the reality of the miserable life of Chinese people at that time.

The Decline of Image of China Under the Background of Rites Controversy in Qing Dynasty

At the turn of the 18th-19th century,in the process of developing missionary business in China,there was a debate about the nature of traditional Chinese sacrificial rites among missionaries,that is,whether the traditional rites of Confucius and Christianity were consistent.With the intervention of the Vatican and the Qing Dynasty,the Chinese rites controversy evolved into the dispute over Chinese imperial power and Roman religious imperial power.The missionary career in China also experienced the transformation from the toleration order,exclusion order and the ticket receiving order to the prohibition order.The sharp opposition between Chinese imperial power and Roman religious imperial power led to the desperate situation of Christian career in China.The missionaries naturally vented their dissatisfaction with China,the good image of China gradually collapsed,and the western image of China began to decline rapidly.

Analysis of the Harmonious Discourse of Publicity Documentary Seasons of China Based on Transitivity System

Publicity documentaries play an important role in shaping the image of one country during the international communication.Seasons of China is a publicity documentary introducing the traditional Chinese culture 24 solar terms.Under the guidance of the framework of Harmonious Discourse Analysis,this thesis uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the harmonious discourse of this documentary based on the transitivity system.The research finds that the discourse of Seasons of China conveys the China’s ecological concept of respecting,following and protecting the nature,while telling the stories of Chinese traditional culture 24 solar terms,highlighting the image of China as a responsible country for ecological civilization construction.

Establish and Highlight the Chinese Cultural Symbols and the Image of the Chinese Nation Shared by All Ethnic Groups

Establishing and highlighting Chinese cultural symbols and the image of the Chinese nation shared by all ethnic groups is necessary to foster a sense of community for the Chinese nation and to comprehensively build a modern socialist state.The article explains the understanding of the connotation of establishing and highlighting Chinese cultural symbols and the image of the Chinese nation shared by all ethnic groups,analyzes the practical problems in its practice,and proposes to strengthen Chinese cultural integration and national narratives,build a new era cultural symbol system led by the core socialist values,and creatively transform and innovatively develop Chinese cultural symbols and the image of the Chinese nation shared by all ethnic groups.

Economic relations and the public image of China in Latin America:A cross-country time-series analysis

This article investigates the impact of Chinese economic activities in Latin America on the national image of China in the region.Using economic and public opinion data from 17 Latin American countries from 2001 to 2016,this work relates cross-national time-series variations regarding China’s image in Latin America to changes in the economic ties(such as trade,FDI,and contracts)between the perceiving countries and China.Controlling for the size of the economy and the level of its development,the statis-tical analysis indicates that trade surplus against China in Latin America has a positive effect on the public perceptions of China in the region,while Chinese FDI outflows to Latin America lead to a negative effect.The effects of Chinese contracts,imports,and exports tend not to be statistically significant.We also find less developed Latin American countries with low life expectancy and low educational attainment tend to have a more positive view of China than their richer counterparts in the region.Finally,we find that Latin American countries under presidents with left-wing ideology have a much more positive view of China than countries under presidents with other ideological preferences.Diplomatic relations with China and China’s soft power influence as indexed by the presence of Confucius Institutes do not exhibit a strong impact on China’s national image in Latin America,compared with the dominant political ideology in a Latin American country as reflected in the president’s ideology.