The latest post on the (highly recommended) China Media Project site has some fascinating history and analysis on phrases from China’s “discourse on greatness.”

A whole new set of terms is emerging in China to describe the country’s growing national power. Taken together, these form what might be called a “discourse of greatness,” or shengshi huayu (盛世话语). China’s discourse of greatness includes such terms as “China in ascendance” (盛世中国), “the China path” (中国道路), “the China experience” (中国经验), “the China pace” (中国速度), “the China miracle” (中国奇迹), “the rise of China” (中国崛起) and, last but not least, the “China Model” (中国模式).

Besides historical evolution of the terms, they also offer numbers!

Nice to see a solid attempt at quantification rather than just the lazy language punditry we see so often in English. I might quibble with not including a comparison of “China Model” to a more neutral term (just to make sure the big rise isn’t purely the result of an increase in database size), but it’s good for a first step.