Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Rhythm -- The Prevalence of Rhythmic Patternsin Daily - Life Chinese -- Is Rhythm Unusually Common in Chinese? -- Speakers' Awareness of Rhythm -- Are There Fads in Rhythms? -- The Roots of Rhythms -- "External" Rhythms: Dominant and Recessive -- Recessive Rhythms of Favor -- How Recessive Rhythms Affect Structure -- How Universal Are the Preferred Rhythms of Chinese? -- Do Rhythms Have Meanings? -- What Other Formal Features Contribute to Meaning? -- Can the Users of Rhythm Be Unaware of Its Effects? -- 2. Metaphor -- How Do Metaphors Work in Ordinary Language? -- Metaphor and Thought -- Time -- Color -- Up and Down -- North and South -- Consciousness -- The Self in Ancient Thought -- Privilege in Dyads -- Metaphors That Chinese and English (Pretty Much) Share -- Metaphors in Chinese That Diverge from English in Significant Ways -- Conceptual Differences That Are Rooted in Metaphor -- Can Conceptual Metaphors Generate Philosophical Problems? -- The Significance of Similarities and Differences among Conceptual Metaphors in Different Languages -- 3. Politics -- A Bifurcation -- Characteristics of the Official Language -- The Language Game -- How the Game Is Played: From the Side of the Rulers -- How the Game Is Played: From the Side of the Ruled -- Effects of the Language Game in the Mao and the Post - Mao Eras Compared -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Index.