Boxi Learn › Chinese › Stage 2 · Models and Patterns
Pick the comparison: what does the reader see?
CN-3 A text is what the writer choseX-3 Look from another side
What many people think
Figures of speech are just decoration: the plain sentence says the same thing.
The idea
A metaphor lends the reader features of a familiar thing: call the moon a 白玉盘 (jade plate) and they see round and bright, call it a boat and they see a thin curve; choosing what to compare to is choosing what the reader notices.
Explain it
A friend says “月亮像小船 just means 月亮是弯的 — 比喻 is decoration.” Use what you found to tell them what the boat adds, and what a reader would see if you wrote 白玉盘 instead.
Try at home
Pick something at home (a lamp, a slipper, a pillow). Think of three things to compare it to and ask someone what each one makes them picture. Which one points at the feature you want noticed?