Abstract:Fauconnier’s mapping theory originated from mathematics, which is a theory on semantic corresponding and matching relations. It has become an integrated part of cognitive poetics since it appeared and been mainly used in the study of literary texts. In classic Chinese poetry, mappings in mental space are the important cognitive mechanism and approach to realize the artistic conceptions. There are three types of mappings, namely the projection mappings, the pragmatic function mappings and schematic mappings. The first type of mappings projects part of the structure of one cognitive domain onto another. It’s basis is the cognitive similarities between the two domains. The second type of mappings involves only one cognitive domain in which one thing is matched with another in the same domain according to their cognitive relevance. The third type operates when the concrete values in a situation in context are matched with the slots in a schema based on one-to-one model.