Defining and Classifying "Contrast" as a Semantic Category in Modern Chinese

The aim of this paper is to rationalize the idea of constructing a contrast category as one of the semantic categories in Chinese Language,as well as to classify it from different perspectives.There are theoretical supports from cognitive psychology and linguistic that contrast as a semantic category in modern Chinese is the reflection of contrast as part of humankinds' cognitive mechanism.As a semantic category revises a certain relationship,contrast is characterized by highlighting difference.From different perspectives we can classify contrast category into different sub-categories as follows:marked contrast and unmarked contrast,antithetical contrast and non-antithetical contrast,two-thing contrast and two-profile contrast,linear contrast and non-linear contrast,overt contrast and implied contrast,unitary contrast and multiple contrast and etc.