Chinese Enigmatic Folk Similes ( CEFS) is one of Chinese traditional cultures .Its traditional studies usually start from its origin , classi-fication, rhetoric, and translation.This paper attempts to analyze and reveal the mechanism of understanding of CEFS from figure -ground theory.The first part of CEFS is the background which is highlighted and percepted easily , and it is the cognitive reference point of the later part .The latter part is the figure.Through the cognitive process in which background activates the figure , people achieve cognitive understanding on CEFS .
figure---ground theoryprinciple of prominencecognitive reference pointCEFS
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