Abstract：Abstract: This article, influenced by the “center” concept and subversion of process philosophy to conventional ontology, proposes process metaphor, a new type of metaphor parallel to ontological metaphor and analyzes its motivation, theoretical advantages and its compatibility to TCM theories. By analysis, process metaphor is rooted in the process-featured “xiang” of TCM; it adheres to the expression method and term system adopted by ontological metaphor; it is complementary to ontological metaphor's incomplete interpretive power of TCM theories; it is distinct from verb metaphor and event structure metaphor; it is in line with related findings of linguistic typology and parabolic projection; its conceptual feature can be proved by its comparison with grammatical metaphor; its validity can be inversely proved by English translations of Wuxing.
Key words: Metaphorical thinking of TCM; center; ontological metaphor; process metaphor
