From Symbolic Erasure to Multispecies Justice: A Corpus-Assisted Ecolinguistic Analysis and Biocultural Ethical Reflection on Rodent-related Idioms in China

Technical Summary: From Symbolic Erasure to Multispecies Justice

Problem Statement
This study addresses the critical disconnect between the biological reality of rodents as "ecosystem engineers" and their systematic demonization within the human-constructed "logosphere" (symbolic habitat). Despite rodents comprising over 42% of all mammalian species and playing pivotal roles in soil aeration, seed dispersal, and nutrient cycling, traditional Chinese discourse has entrenched them in a "moral freezing point." The paper argues that this linguistic distortion is not merely rhetorical but constitutes a form of "symbolic violence" that drives "taxonomic chauvinism." This bias manifests as "destructive discourse" which, through mechanisms of erasure and evaluative binding, legitimizes "one-size-fits-all" extermination policies. These policies, in turn, have led to tangible ecological consequences, including the degradation of grasslands and trophic cascade collapses, exemplified by the mismanagement of the Plateau Pika in the Sanjiangyuan region.

Methodology
The research employs a rigorous Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS) approach, integrating quantitative data mining with qualitative critical discourse analysis (CDA). The methodology is structured in three phases:

1. Diachronic Mining and Prototype Identification: Using the Zdic digital lexicographical platform, the author retrieved 192 rodent-related idioms from pre-Qin to modern texts. These were cleaned and lemmatized to identify 69 independent core discursive prototypes.
2. Synchronic Validation: The 69 prototypes were screened against the 15-billion-word BCC Modern Chinese Corpus. Two strict criteria were applied: a minimum frequency threshold ($N \ge 10$) and cross-register penetration (requiring presence in both "News" and "Literature/Spoken" sub-corpora). This process isolated eight core idioms with high contemporary vitality and eco-critical significance.
3. Qualitative Deconstruction and Epistemological Antidote: A "differentiated sample extraction strategy" (KWIC sampling) yielded 239 contextual segments for micro-analysis. These were analyzed using Arran Stibbe's ecolinguistic framework (focusing on erasure, metaphorical projection, and evaluative binding) and Ricardo Rozzi's "3Hs" biocultural ethics model (Habitats/Logosphere, Habits, Co-inhabitants). Crucially, the study juxtaposes these discursive findings with empirical evidence from modern ethology and neuroscience (e.g., rodent metacognition, empathy, and sensory acuity) to serve as an "epistemological antidote."

Key Results
The analysis yields three primary findings regarding the structure and impact of rodent-related discourse:

• Discursive Mechanisms of Stigmatization: Traditional Chinese idioms function as "destructive discourse" that systematically erases the ecological agency of rodents. Through metaphorical projection, physiological traits (e.g., small eyes, rapid movement) are forcibly mapped onto human moral failings (e.g., myopia, cowardice, thievery). This creates a "perceptual chauvinism" where biological adaptations are reinterpreted as character defects.
• Register Permeability and "Discursive Licensing": The study identifies a significant "register distribution inversion." Idioms with "exterminatory semantics" (e.g., laoshuguojie - "a rat crossing the street") are disproportionately concentrated in official news registers compared to literary or spoken corpora. This indicates that symbolic violence has been instrumentalized by state and administrative narratives, providing a "moral license" for exclusionary governance and "zero-tolerance" eradication policies.
• Material Consequences and Ecological Collapse: The paper traces a causal chain from the contaminated logosphere (H1) to exploitative governance habits (H2) and finally to the extirpation of co-inhabitants (H3). The case of the Plateau Pika demonstrates how taxonomic bias (treating pikas as "rodents" due to linguistic association) has driven half a century of chemical poisoning. This has resulted in a trophic cascade collapse, where the removal of a keystone prey species led to the decline of predators and the spread of "black soil beach" (severe land degradation), validating the failure of anthropocentric discursive logic.

Key Contributions

• Theoretical Integration: The study constructs a recursive interplay model combining Stibbe's micro-discursive tools with Rozzi's macro-ethical 3Hs framework. This allows for a holistic analysis of how linguistic symbols function as cognitive mediators that drive real-world ecological outcomes.
• Empirical Validation of Symbolic Violence: By utilizing the BCC Corpus, the research moves beyond subjective literary interpretation to provide quantitative evidence of how "destructive discourse" permeates official administrative registers, thereby bridging the gap between linguistic analysis and policy critique.
• Interdisciplinary "Epistemological Antidote": The paper introduces frontier scientific evidence (rodent empathy, metacognition, and sensory precision) to directly counter "discursive fossils." This approach challenges the "ontological alienation" of rodents by reframing their behaviors as evolutionary successes rather than moral failings.
• Expansion of Ecolinguistics: The research extends the scope of critical ecolinguistics beyond Indo-European languages, demonstrating the power of the Chinese idiomatic system as a "cognitive template" that shapes collective ecological perception in non-Western contexts.

Significance and Claims
The paper claims that restoring a contaminated logosphere is the epistemological cornerstone for transitioning toward an equitable "community of life." It argues that physical ecological protection efforts are structurally hindered if the underlying cognitive biases in the "logosphere" remain unaddressed.

The study posits that semantic debridement—reinterpreting idioms through the lens of evolutionary salience and ecological function—is a prerequisite for reshaping human "habits" (H2) and achieving multispecies justice. It concludes that the ecological crisis is, at its essence, a crisis of discourse; therefore, the de-stigmatization of rodents is not merely a textual exercise but a critical reflection on the anthropocentric cognitive paradigm. By shifting the human identity from "external dominators" to "participants in the community of life," the restoration of the logosphere facilitates a transition from "conquest" to "multispecies flourishing," offering a Chinese paradigm for addressing global taxonomic chauvinism.