China has an abundance of semiotic resources. The semiotic thoughts and practices from ancient times onward continue to guide semiotic studies today. Signs & Media has always paid close attention to Chinese symbolic and discursive systems, and to the spiritual thought and culture behind these forms of meaning.
This special section “Semiotics of Mind” in this issue can be regarded as an intensive dialogue with the previous section, “Cultural semiotics of Jingshen”. In this section, Li Siqu reviews the historical background of semiotics of the mind in China and then systematically analyses the concepts, methods and applications involved. Li Tao applies semiotics of the mind to the study of animation and shows how the starting point of animation semiotics is human spirit and values. We are glad to provide a platform for this academic dialogue, and are happy to invite more discussions in this new field.
In the section “Traditional Semiotic Thought in China”, Li Weihua explores the relation between “Wen” and “Tao” as discussed in the chapter “On Tao” in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons. The author then discusses the essence of the “consciousness of wen”. Li Gang ponders the semiosis of the empty sign in Zen koans. Ding Maoyuan analyses the concept of “form” in the Tao Te Ching.
This approach to the semiotic exploration of classical texts has been applied to the fields of art and communication. Our contributors in the sections on the “Semiotics of Art” and “Semiotics of Communication” turn their eyes to contemporary China. For instance, Zhi Yu and Wu Pengbo examine the emergence of Western and Eastern concepts in the visual designs of Chinese literary journals. Peng Jia and Yuan Ting explore how the panda became the symbol of China. Wang Ting discusses the differences between Eastern and Western significations of the face. The discussions in these two sections also cover several other fields such as decorative signs on residential buildings, Sori Yanagi’s works on design, Western art history and the phenomenological differences between semiosis and the encoding/decoding process.
From East to West and from the traditional to the present, each of these investigations considers the macro aspects of culture, and the construction of every discourse eventually returns to considering the uses and meanings of signs themselves. We are looking back, exploring and moving forward in this path from the micro to the macro level, telling our own stories and making our own voices heard.
主席：曹顺庆（四川大学）
委员：（音序）
Paul Cobley, Middlesex University, UK
Lian Duan, Concordia University, Canada
Kalevi Kull, University of Tartu, Estonia
Mabel Lee, University of Sydney, Australia
Massimo Leone, University of Torino, Italy
Susan Petrilli, University of Bari, Italy
Eero Tarasti, University of Helsinki, Finland
Yiyan Wang, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
蔡秀枝(台湾大学)
丁尔苏（香港岭南大学）
傅修延（江西师范大学）
龚鹏程（台湾佛光大学）
蒋述卓（暨南大学）
李 彬（清华大学）
李凤亮（深圳大学）
李 杰（浙江大学）
乔国强（上海外国语大学）
申 丹（北京大学）
陶东风（广州大学）
王 宁（清华大学）
王一川（北京师范大学）
徐 亮（浙江大学）
杨慧林（中国人民大学）
叶舒宪（中国社会科学院）
乐黛云（北京大学）
张 杰（南京师范大学）
张智庭（南开大学）
赵宪章（南京大学）
周 宪（南京大学）
朱国华（华东师范大学）
主 编：赵毅衡
执行主编：赵星植
执行副主编：何一杰 薛晨
编 务：于化龙 王雨馨 唐波 邓胜月
网络总监：饶广祥
封面创意：唐亚丽
Email address: semiotics_media@163.com
Phone: +86-28-8541-2121
Fax: +86-28-8541-2710
Website: www.semiotics.net.cn
Official Microblog：http://e.weibo.com/semioticsscu
Official Wechat: semiotics2008
Postal Address: Institute of Semiotics & Media Studies,
Sichuan University,
No.29 Wanjiang Road,
Chengdu, 610064
China
Email address: semiotics_media@163.com
Phone: +86-28-8541-2121
Fax: +86-28-8541-2710
Website: www.semiotics.net.cn
Official Microblog：http://e.weibo.com/semioticsscu
Official Wechat: semiotics2008
Postal Address: Institute of Semiotics & Media Studies,
Sichuan University,
No.29 Wanjiang Road,
Chengdu, 610064
China
Email address: semiotics_media@163.com
Phone: +86-28-8541-2121
Fax: +86-28-8541-2710
Website: www.semiotics.net.cn
Official Microblog：http://e.weibo.com/semioticsscu
Official Wechat: semiotics2008
Postal Address: Institute of Semiotics & Media Studies,
Sichuan University,
No.29 Wanjiang Road,
Chengdu, 610064
China
