CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF “POWER” AND “PEOPLE” IN CHINA’S POLITICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The article analyzes the mutual representation of the concepts of "power" (权力, quánlì) and "people" (人民, rénmín) in China’s political discourse from the prospective of a cognitive-discursive approach. Drawing on official speeches by the top leadership of the PRC, party documents, and media publications, the study traces how linguistic means codify the ideological model of interaction between the communist party of china, the state, and society.
It is shown that the concept of "power" is consistently framed as a party-directed and institutionally centralized governing resource, normalized through formulas such as "serving the people," "exercising power in accordance with the law," and the metaphor of "power in the cage of rules." the concept of "people" appears as a policy recipient, beneficiary of development, and a mobilized collective subject whose "will" is interpreted and implemented through party-state mechanisms.
Lexico-semantic and phraseological patterns (e.g., 权为民所用／利为民所谋) construct stable frames of legitimation in which the "people" emerge as the source of power, while the "party" functions as the communicative intermediary of its realization. The article proposes a typology of discursive frames–those of "service," "legality," "control/supervision," and "moral authority"–that structure notions of proper power execution and its limits.
The scientific novelty lies in combining corpus-based observation of collocational patterns with analysis of metaphorical and normative constructs, offering a comprehensive view of how the concepts of "power" and "people" interact in the linguistic practices of contemporary China. The practical relevance lies in the applicability of the findings to translation studies, intercultural communication, and interpretation of official PRC rhetoric in international relations.