Dream: A Special Political Language in Ancient China

This thesis focuses on the political dreams recorded in ancient Chinese literature. Through the methods of literature research, comparison, and case study, it explores the relationship between dreams and politics, and interprets the political expressions contained therein. The aim is to illustrate that under the ancient feudalistic superstitious thoughts and theological concepts, dreams, as a form of discourse strategy, exerted a unique spiritual power in the political operations of ancient China. The thesis points out that dreams mainly manifest in four forms of political language. First, dreams are symbols for emperors to declare their acceptance of divine mandate. Second, dreams are a subtle way for ministers to offer gentle advice. Third, dreams are implicit expressions of political aspirations. Fourth, dreams are mysterious prophecies that influence war decisions. This study mainly focuses on those cases of political dreams that are recorded as “successful” or “effective” in historical narratives, and analyzes their composition and operational logic as a set of political language mechanisms. Through systematic review, the thesis concludes that based on the widespread secular superstition beliefs of the time, dreams became a special form of political language, serving as a discourse means for politicians to achieve specific political goals. The research materials are detailed, the structure is clear, and the viewpoints are explicit. It has inspiring and reference value for the study of Chinese dream culture and political discourse.