AStudy of the Trend and Future of the 21st Century Chinese

							淡江人文社會學刊【第二十一期】




          A Study of the Trend and Future of
         the 21st Century Chinese Rhetoric
       Currently Used in Commercial Terms

                                   Tai-Ying Ni*

                                    《Abstract》

          Rhetoric is the study of effective writing and speaking. It is also
      the art of presenting languages. In the early nineteenth century, as
      more and more concepts and thoughts from the western world
      were adopted by the Eastern cultures, the formal study of Rhetoric
      in Chinese began with the book Xiucixue fafan, written by Chen
      Wangdao. Scholars and researchers started to study, learn and
      discuss Rhetoric in Chinese in many different aspects. Their
      studies and discoveries continued into the twentieth century and
      started to face the challenge of diversity in the new era.
          At the turn of the 21st century, responding to the developments
      of new media and technologies has become one of the most
      significant focuses in the studies of Rhetoric. People have realized
      the importance of applying the theories of Rhetoric everywhere
      and everyday. One of the best examples would be use of Rhetoric in
      commercials. Manufacturers try to introduce and advertise their
      products by using more efficient and proficient ways to present
      their ideas. This essay focuses on the study of Rhetoric in Taiwan in
      the twentieth century and further discusses some of the commercial
      awards for the past twenty years. This essay can be divided into
      three parts: (1) Discussion on the findings of the study in Rhetoric;
      (2) Discussion of how Rhetoric has been presented in some of the
      recent award-winning commercials, and of how the theory of
      Rhetoric is applied in commercials; (3) Discussion of the trend and
      the future of Rhetoric in Chinese in the 21st century.

      Key Words: rhetoric, commercial, trend



*Tai-Ying Ni, Associate Professor, Department of Chinese, Tamkang University