Meat Utensil” Unit, and the “Wine Vessel” Group
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The Library will look into your claim and consider taking remedial action upon receipt of the written requests. Pao Yue-kong Library, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong http://www.lib.polyu.edu.hk A SEMANTIC STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MORPHEMIC SYMBOLS AND DESIGNED ARTIFACTS IN CHINA XI XIAOCHAO Ph.D The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 2017 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design A Semantic Study of the Relationship between Morphemic Symbols and Designed Artifacts in China XI Xiaochao A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2016 Certificate of Originality I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it reproduces no material previously published or written, nor material that has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. (Signed) XI Xiaochao (Name of student) iii Abstract Modern times of China see serious impact on the cultural inheritance due to tremendous transformations and movements. Artifact design, deemed as one of the major carriers of the cultural values, has become more critical because of the complex situations facing every designer. This research focuses on how to interpret designed artifacts in an innovative way, and how to embody the essence of native culture in man- made forms, proposing an approach to fit the acculturation. Toward this end, a series of studies is conducted from the perspective of semantic representation. It starts with the linguistic investigation, suggesting a new way to analyze Chinese ideographs morphemically. The connection between Chinese ideographs and designed artifacts is then set up, and the cognitive semantics-based interpretive framework of designed artifacts is proposed. On the basis of the theoretical statements, the author is establishing the “Ideograph-Artifact Library” that contains the information of both artifact samples and corresponding Chinese ideographs with different groups and units. After that, several case studies are given, including the “food-container” group, the “meat utensil” unit, and the “wine vessel” group. By examining semantics of designed artifacts from a cognitive approach, two kinds of relationships between Chinese ideographs and designed artifacts are uncovered, namely, the denotative and the connotative relationship. Furthermore, the author raises two implications of design: the evaluation model and the “Ideographic Design” approach. To prove the statements, examples are also given, attesting the practical value of the research. iv Publications and Conferences Design Journal Chow, Kenny, and Xiaochao Xi. 2017. “Semantics of Abstinence: Blending between the Chinese Character “Horn (角)” and Wine Vessel Design in China.” The International Journal of Designed Objects 11 (2): 1-17. Kenny K. N. Chow & XiaoChao Xi. “Mapping Semantics of Designed Artifacts and Chinese Ideograph with Blends.” The IJCCI Journal. (accepted). Presentation Kenny K. N. Chow & Xi XiaoChao (2014, June). Design Semantics of Light: Relationship between Chinese ideograph and Lamp Design. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Multimodality (7-ICOM). Chow KaNin & Xi Xiaochao (2016, October). Design for Worshipping Ancestors: Blending Semantics of Grain Utensil in China to Chinese Ideographs. Paper presented at the 10th International Conference on Design History and Design Studies (ICDHS). v Acknowledgements To complete the Ph.D thesis is the greatest achievement that I have ever got. In the study, I faced challenges and difficulties. Here, I am so grateful for my supervisors’ guidance: Dr. Chow KaNin, Prof. DE BONT Cornelis Joachim Petrus, and Mr. Leong Chin Hong. Especially with my chief supervisor – Dr. Chow KaNin – who not only trains me to do academic research rigorously and professionally, but also offers me precious opportunities to develop my design ability, and to present my study work in public. More than that, I want to give thanks to my family for full support in all these years, and my friends Meng Ye and Liu RuiQi, who contribute their talents and endeavors to this research. Particularly, graphs of Chinese characters in this thesis mostly quote from the website “http://www.chineseetymology.org/” established by Richard H. Sears. As a young researcher who interests in material culture of China, I truly salute his selfless and contribution to the revival of native culture of China. Thank you all. vi Content Certificate of Originality ................................................................................................ ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iv Publications and Conferences ......................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ vi Content ......................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................ xi List of Tables ................................................................................................................. xv Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 16 1.1 A Historical Background ............................................................................... 16 1.1.1 “Detraditionalization” – A Cultural Phenomenon .................................... 17 1.1.2 “Superficial Localization” in Design .......................................................... 19 1.2 Problem Identification ................................................................................... 24 1.3 Research Scope and Hypotheses .................................................................... 28 1.4 Research Significance .................................................................................... 30 1.5 Summary ........................................................................................................ 31 Chapter 2 Literature Review ......................................................................................... 32 2.1 A Study of Chinese Philology and the Chinese Ideograph System ............... 32 2.1.1 Language, Writing System and Ideograph ................................................ 33 2.1.2 The “Six Character Origins (六書說)” ...................................................... 38 2.1.3 The “Three Origins (三書說)” .................................................................. 42 2.1.4 The “Parts Theory (部件說)” .................................................................... 44 vii 2.1.5 The “Hanzi Tree (漢字樹)” ....................................................................... 49 2.1.6 The “Chinese Character Series” Study ...................................................... 57 2.2 A Study of Material Culture in China ........................................................... 65 2.2.1 Culture, Material Culture, and Artifact ..................................................... 65 2.2.2 A History of Material Culture in China .................................................... 70 2.2.3 The Modularity of the Chinese Material Culture ..................................... 80 2.3 Preliminary Analysis of Applying Chinese Ideographs to Artifact Design .... 88 2.3.1 Direct Use of Chinese Ideographs – “Beauty of Character” Artifacts ....... 88 2.3.2 Indirect Use of Chinese Ideographs – The “Aura/Narrative Design” ........ 95 2.4 Summary ...................................................................................................... 101 Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework and the “Ideograph-Artifact Library” ................... 102 3.1 Academic Foundation of the Theoretical Framework ................................. 103 3.2 Semantic Analysis of Chinese Ideographs ................................................... 110 3.2.1 Morphemic Basis of Chinese Ideographs ................................................ 110 3.2.2 Three Layers of Chinese Ideograph Formation ...................................... 111 3.2.3 Semantic Model of Chinese Ideographs .................................................. 117 3.3 Semantic Analysis of Artifact Design .......................................................... 125 3.3.1 Psychological Model of Designed Artifacts