This study presents a comprehensive corpus-assisted discourse analysis that examines the diachronic representation of rural China in People’s Daily from 2000 to 2025, utilizing the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA). The research is based on a systematically constructed corpus of 1,739 news reports, which are categorized into three distinct phases aligned with major national policy shifts: rural governance reforms (2000-2005), new socialist countryside construction (2005-2017), and comprehensive rural revitalization (2017-2025). The analysis identifies a clear evolutionary trajectory in media discourse, with thematic focus progressing from basic governance and institutional reforms to systematic rural construction and finally to holistic revitalization. Furthermore, it reveals two key discursive transformations. First, nomination strategies shift from administrative terminology (“rural areas”) to culturally rich concepts (“countryside”), reflecting a reconceptualization of rural space. Second, perspectivization expands from exclusively government-oriented narratives to incorporate diverse voices, including local actors, enterprises, and international observers. These discursive shifts demonstrate a close alignment with China’s national rural policy evolution, illustrating how state-aligned media discourse actively constructs and legitimizes policy agendas while responding to sociopolitical changes. The findings contribute to understanding the dynamic relationship between media representation, policy implementation, and formation of public perception in contemporary China’s rural transformation. Notably, this study makes a unique contribution to corpus-assisted discourse analysis by demonstrating how the integration of diachronic corpus data with the DHA framework can systematically unveil and interpret nuanced linguistic and discursive adaptations that mirror and reinforce macro-level sociopolitical transformations.
This study presents a comprehensive corpus-assisted discourse analysis that examines the diachronic representation of rural China in People’s Daily from 2000 to 2025, utilizing the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA). The research is based on a systematically constructed corpus of 1,739 news reports, which are categorized into three distinct phases aligned with major national policy shifts: rural governance reforms (2000-2005), new socialist countryside construction (2005-2017), and comprehensive rural revitalization (2017-2025). The analysis identifies a clear evolutionary trajectory in media discourse, with thematic focus progressing from basic governance and institutional reforms to systematic rural construction and finally to holistic revitalization. Furthermore, it reveals two key discursive transformations. First, nomination strategies shift from administrative terminology (“rural areas”) to culturally rich concepts (“countryside”), reflecting a reconceptualization of rural space. Second, perspectivization expands from exclusively government-oriented narratives to incorporate diverse voices, including local actors, enterprises, and international observers. These discursive shifts demonstrate a close alignment with China’s national rural policy evolution, illustrating how state-aligned media discourse actively constructs and legitimizes policy agendas while responding to sociopolitical changes. The findings contribute to understanding the dynamic relationship between media representation, policy implementation, and formation of public perception in contemporary China’s rural transformation. Notably, this study makes a unique contribution to corpus-assisted discourse analysis by demonstrating how the integration of diachronic corpus data with the DHA framework can systematically unveil and interpret nuanced linguistic and discursive adaptations that mirror and reinforce macro-level sociopolitical transformations.