<p>I fully appreciate the difficulty as the passage in question could be argued either way actually. So, I think it comes down to a highly personal, though hopefully a reasoned opinion.</p>
<p>MHO is that &quot;一片冰心在玉壶&quot; is both  metonymic &amp; metaphoric. I of course could be hopelessly wrong.</p>
<p>So here goes, for the sake of an academic discourse:-</p>
<p>借代, (metonymy), i.e. substituting the name of an idea with another name.</p>
<p>比喻, (metaphor), which transfers meaning from one object to another so that the second object can be understood in a new way.</p>
<p>The passage in question is therefore both a metaphor, 比喻, and a metonymy, 借代, because the operative words, namely,</p>
<p>(1)  玉壶, that is, substituting the name, or idea of a &quot;Jade Pot&quot;, 玉壶, for the human body, (also called a 玉体 for the female body), hence a 借代.</p>
<p>(2)  冰心, that is, transferring the meaning of the &quot;coldness of ice&quot;, 冰, to another object, &quot;the warm heart&quot;, 心, so that the latter could be understood in a new way, hence a 比喻.</p>
<p>I see no problem if someone were to argue it the other way.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-30T04:24:57.497Z
2022-12-30T04:24:57.497Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>借(用)代(指) - 借用A代替B(use A to represent B), 如“江山如此多娇”中借用“江山”来代指“祖国” - here, 江山 represents 祖国。</p>
<p>比喻 - 比拟A說明B(use parallel linking A to B), 如“鲁迅在一篇文章里，主张打落水狗”中用“落水狗”来比拟“挨了打的敌人” - here, 挨了打的敌人 was/were referred to as 落水狗。</p>
<p>“一片冰心在玉壶”是唐王昌龄《芙蓉楼送辛渐》诗中的名句。 這整句話是一個隱喻, 意思是：请告诉他们我依然冰心一片，装在洁白的玉壶中。- 一片心冰在玉壶之中，比喻人的清廉正直。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-29T19:16:36.593Z
2022-12-29T19:16:36.593Z
r13
<p>these are both more on the abstract side of concepts, so it would probably be hard to firmly separate them, as they could overlap etc.</p>
<p>that said, this is how I would differentiate them:</p>
<p>to me, 借代 is a more literal connection being drawn, between things that are genuinely connected in some way.  The sword symbolizes the warrior, the pen represents the scholar, the suit the businessman etc.  Note that if you only mention one of these, there is a good chance you will think of the other.  This connection goes both ways too.</p>
<p>比喻 is less real, more poetic.  In your example of a heart like ice, personally I consider this a clear example of 比喻.  The author is not talking about literal ice, and there is no inherent symbolism between ice and hearts.  Rather the author is just saying ice is cold, his heart is cold, so his heart is the same in this standard metaphorical way.</p>
<p>I do still believe that there are times these two terms could overlap, but I don't think this is one of them.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-01-29T07:00:49.373Z
2023-01-29T07:00:49.373Z
zagrycha
<p>These are two rhetorical devices commonly used. The most typical example would be</p>
<p>一个<strong>红领巾</strong>向我走来 -- 借代</p>
<p>A <strong>像</strong> B -- 比喻</p>
<p>These are easy to identify. However, some are harder, for example:</p>
<p>一片冰心在玉壶。</p>
<p>Is the author saying that <em>his heart is similar to ice</em> or is he <em>using ice to represent his heart</em> ?</p>
<p>How to diffrentiate between 借代 and 比喻？</p>

<rhetoric>
What's the difference between 借代 and 比喻?
# What's the difference between 借代 and 比喻?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-29)

These are two rhetorical devices commonly used. The most typical example would be

一个**红领巾**向我走来 -- 借代

A **像** B -- 比喻

These are easy to identify. However, some are harder, for example:

一片冰心在玉壶。

Is the author saying that *his heart is similar to ice* or is he *using ice to represent his heart* ?

How to diffrentiate between 借代 and 比喻？

**Tags:** rhetoric

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-12-30. Score: 1

I fully appreciate the difficulty as the passage in question could be argued either way actually. So, I think it comes down to a highly personal, though hopefully a reasoned opinion.

MHO is that "一片冰心在玉壶" is both metonymic & metaphoric. I of course could be hopelessly wrong.

So here goes, for the sake of an academic discourse:-

借代, (metonymy), i.e. substituting the name of an idea with another name.

比喻, (metaphor), which transfers meaning from one object to another so that the second object can be understood in a new way.

The passage in question is therefore both a metaphor, 比喻, and a metonymy, 借代, because the operative words, namely,

(1) 玉壶, that is, substituting the name, or idea of a "Jade Pot", 玉壶, for the human body, (also called a 玉体 for the female body), hence a 借代.

(2) 冰心, that is, transferring the meaning of the "coldness of ice", 冰, to another object, "the warm heart", 心, so that the latter could be understood in a new way, hence a 比喻.

I see no problem if someone were to argue it the other way.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-12-29. Score: 0

借(用)代(指) - 借用A代替B(use A to represent B), 如“江山如此多娇”中借用“江山”来代指“祖国” - here, 江山 represents 祖国。

比喻 - 比拟A說明B(use parallel linking A to B), 如“鲁迅在一篇文章里，主张打落水狗”中用“落水狗”来比拟“挨了打的敌人” - here, 挨了打的敌人 was/were referred to as 落水狗。

“一片冰心在玉壶”是唐王昌龄《芙蓉楼送辛渐》诗中的名句。 這整句話是一個隱喻, 意思是：请告诉他们我依然冰心一片，装在洁白的玉壶中。- 一片心冰在玉壶之中，比喻人的清廉正直。


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2023-01-29. Score: 0

these are both more on the abstract side of concepts, so it would probably be hard to firmly separate them, as they could overlap etc.

that said, this is how I would differentiate them:

to me, 借代 is a more literal connection being drawn, between things that are genuinely connected in some way. The sword symbolizes the warrior, the pen represents the scholar, the suit the businessman etc. Note that if you only mention one of these, there is a good chance you will think of the other. This connection goes both ways too.

比喻 is less real, more poetic. In your example of a heart like ice, personally I consider this a clear example of 比喻. The author is not talking about literal ice, and there is no inherent symbolism between ice and hearts. Rather the author is just saying ice is cold, his heart is cold, so his heart is the same in this standard metaphorical way.

I do still believe that there are times these two terms could overlap, but I don't think this is one of them.


---

