Cognitive Analysis on Plant Metaphor in Cancer Growth

VernacularTitle:恶性肿瘤生长植物隐喻的认知分析
Author: Xingyu HOU ¹ ; Huiwen HUANG ; Chunhua JIA
Author Information

1. 北京中医药大学北京100029
Keywords: Cancer; plant metaphor; traditional Chinese medicine; cognition
From: World Science and Technology-Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2017;19(9):1507-1510
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Cancer is a serious threat to human health at present,so it is an important task in the medical field to overcome it.The first step is to recognize cancer.Metaphor is a universal cognitive mode.This paper analyzed the metaphorical phenomenon which the tumor growth process was described as plant growth.The results showed that in modern medicine,growth pattern,tumor shape characteristics,growth velocity and diffusion were using plant metaphors to illustrate.Tumor growth is the growth of stems and leaves of plants,plant root growth,plant fruit growth,plant growth in four seasons,special types of plant growth.The tumor metastasis is the seed spreading of the plant.The result implied that tumor in modern medicine was a metaphorical cognition of plants.This metaphor showed the vitality of tumor.