This thesis would not come into being if I had not received help from mysupervisor, teachers, classmates, and family. They offered me so much encouragement,without which I could have already given up. But before I express my sincerestgratitude to them, I would thank my God. It was always He who first came to help mewhen my faith was influenced by Blakes unorthodox theological thinking. Again itwas He who gave me wisdom and patience to do whatever I did for his glory.
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” (NIV, Ecclesiastes 9:10)And here is the prayer when I was in the valley of despair: “May the favor of the Lordour God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-yes, establish the workof our hands.” (Psalm 91:17) It is His faithfulness and unfailing love that urged me towrite the thesis with all my might.
My supervisor Xu Xiaodong did offer me so much help that I feel so grateful tohim. He has lent me over thirty valuable monographs, biographies, anthologies, andcollections of essays. Nearly all of the books were bought from abroad at his ownexpense. His fervent love for literature, his relentless pursuit of knowledge, and hismeticulous attitude towards research manifest the personalities and qualities I shouldcultivate as a qualified scholar. Whenever I sent him an article he always gave meprecious suggestions that really improved my critical thinking a lot. For many times Ifailed to keep my promise, he forgave me and kept encouraging me to pursue mystudies. I give my most genuinely gratitude to him for his generous help.
Besides my supervisor, I have benefited from many other teachers. Prof. ZhangRuwen, Prof. Yi Jianhong, Prof. Jiang Yuebin, Sun Jiurong and Wei Lina, they havetaught me many critical approaches and broadened the scope of my knowledge invarious fields of literature. Moreover, I would like to extend my gratitude to myclassmates and roommates. They taught me how to balance study and rest. I alsothank my family, especially my sister, who came to my school many times to visit me.
Her support and comfort gave me much strength.
Lastly my gratitude would be expressed to Charles Gardner, Paul Berger, HelenC. White, Maung Ba-han, S. Foster Damon, J. G. Davies. Even though some of themhave gone to the land where no traveler returns back, their results of years of researchwill be passed down to future generations. Without their researches, students ofWilliam Blake would fumble many more years in the mystical land of the mystic-poet.
William Ralph Inge, Miss Evelyn Underhill, Emily Herman, Joseph B. Collins,without whose systematic exploration of mysticism I would be totally at loss in thevast ocean of this particular human experience.
First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to mysupervisor, Professor Jia Aiwu. I have benefited tremendously from her criticalthinking and insightful viewpoint. Through his patient instruction,I finally focusedon the object studied in this thesis, and obtained valuable advice on aspects rangingfrom frame work constructing and data collection to elaborated analysis.
Secondly, I'm profusely grateful to my respected predecessors and teachers.
Without their precious suggestions, I could not have come this far in this thesis.
Moreover, I owe my thanks to my family and friends, who have always supportedme with their generous encouragements and praises.
Last but not least, I sincerely thank my fellow classmates. We share joys andanxieties, which propels us forward together throughout the arduous journey.
I am greatly indebted to my supervisor, Professor Wang Shuting, for his valuable instructions and suggestions on my thesis as well as his careful reading of the manuscript.
I feel grateful to all the teachers in the College of Foreign Languages of China University of Petroleum who once offered me valuable courses and advice during my study. My sincere thanks are also given to Pro. Dai Ruiliang and Pro. Sun Chengrong. from whose lectures I benefited greatly.
Last but not least, I owe much to my friends and classmates for their valuable suggestions and critiques which are of help and importance in making the thesis a reality.
The present work is the result of all joint efforts. So many people hada part in the making of this dissertation that it is hard to acknowledgethem all.
First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor BaiJiehong, supervisor of my dissertation, for having continually stimulatedme with her methodological concerns and persistent guidan够 in bothrealms of studies and life during the lengthy period of my writing thework, for having helped me with so many practical problems, andparticularly for having stirred my interest in cognitive linguistics when Ibegan my work on graduate program under her supervision. wish tothank her sincerely for her tolerance and openness which nurtured myinterest in the present work. Now I consider it a great privilege to havegot the benefit of her professional guidance.
I would like to thank the College of Foreign Studies, Hunan NormalUniversity, for providing a stimulating academic environment and varioussupport which promote my growth here. Thanks to the professors at theEnglish Department for their share in shaping my view of the relationshipbetween language and cognition. I particularly appreciate my interactionwith Professor Huang Zhengding for his philosophical ideas,ProfessorLiao Guangrong for his open-mindedness and encouragement to my ideas,Professor Deng Yunhua for her inspiring comments to my questions, andProfessor Qin Yuxiang, for his nice grammar book which fanned myinterest in Cognitive Grammar and his discerning comments on my work.
Special thanks to Professor Jiang Hongxin, who broadened my visionthrough his course on classics. His eloquent talks made me feel as if Iwere a literary student, and I was inspired to read so much beyondlinguistics.
I am deeply grateful to the College of Foreign Studies as a whole foroffering me a warm home for my explorations. Without her support, Iwouldn't have got the opportunity to pursue my study at the ForeignLanguage Education and Research Center, Beijing Foreign StudiesUniversity; nor could I have won the scholarship from China ScholarshipCouncil, which enabled me to study at University of Oregon. My year ofapprenticeship at Beijing Foreign Studies University had a on my view of language and language studies. Special thanks toProfessor Chen Guohua, who as the supervisor of my visiting programallowed me a chance to go into the world of Case Grammar, an inspiringworld I still love to stay and explore. Warm thanks also to ProfessorWang Kefei, who spared his time to discuss my topic and gave me hisprofessional advice during my stay at Beijing.
I am greatly indebted to Professor Mark Johnson, who invited me toUniversity of Oregon for further studies. It was so nice an experienceattending his lectures. And it was he who first introduced me toneuroscience, and its relation to cognitive linguistics. His coherence inmultiple disciplines makes him a role model for researchers.
I want to say thank you to my best friends Zeng Yonghong, ChenMinzhe and Yang Quan for their persistent encouragement. Ours is aneverlasting world of friendship and brotherhood without which life wouldbe boring and monotonous, and also a lively forum for communicationsof questions and views, which, I believe, will always breed sm^pt answers.
Special thanks go to Professor Liu Zhengguang, Professer LiangXiaobo, and also Chen Yunjiang, who always give me insightfulcomments on my work, whether on public occasions or in private talks.
Great is my debt to my family. Warm thanks to my parents andparents-in-law for their consistent support and concern, and all kinds ofpractical help. Their generous help has accompanied me for so long, yet Ican only offer so little in return. To my wife I am most indebted for herlove and understanding, and her capability to manage all the matterswhen I feel helpless. She has the ability to put things in the right track.
Without her support, this work would simply not have been possible. I ammuch indebted to my son Max, who keeps asking me how soon I wouldcomplete the work, so that I could come back to a normal life full oflaughter, games and outdoor activities. His concern brings me warmencouragement and sweet joys when I feel frustrated at myself for mypoor performance in organizing both my life and study. Finally, I'd like tothank my brothers, whose frequent visits and calls remind me where Ibelong when I feel lonely.
