Are Zhuzi contentious? A rhetorical investigation of speech/word radicals in ancient Chinese texts.

This article examines the rhetorical acts of ancient Chinese intellectuals by analyzing words and characters containing the speech/word radical (言) in nine classical texts representing five major schools of thought—Ming Jia, Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, and Legalism—using digital corpus methods. The study finds that the frequency distribution of these speech-related characters follows Zipf's law and that these characters collectively map key rhetorical components such as rhetor, audience, message, purpose, and genre across the schools. It reveals that ancient Chinese rhetoric encompasses both contentious modes (e.g., argumentation and disciplining) and noncontentious modes (e.g., invitational and advisory rhetoric), challenging prior assumptions that Chinese rhetoric is solely noncontentious or oppositional to argumentation. The research contributes to comparative rhetoric by highlighting indigenous rhetorical terms and demonstrating the coexistence of diverse rhetorical modes in ancient Chinese traditions, thereby enriching understanding of rhetoric beyond Western paradigms.