The Intersection Of Tao And Fantasy

Ursula K.Le Guin is a contemporary American female fantasy novelist.Her fantasy novels break through the thinking mode of dualism.Instead of describing the magic and the advanced technology world in the future,she describes the real world through the genre of fantasy novels and shows her concern for human beings and the world.At the same time,she is deeply influenced by Taoism,and integrates the whole Taoism of“balance of Yin-Yang” and “For Being and Nonbeing arise together” into fantasy novels.Le Guin's reconstruction of Taoism makes important contributions to the communication between Chinese and western cultures and the spreads of Chinese traditional culture.In addition to the “Introduction” and Cconclusion”,the paper is divided into three chapters.The first chapter starts from the background of accepting Taoism in the West and the family environment of Le Guin,analyzes the cultural origin of Le Guin and Taoism,as well as the deep cultural motivation of Le Guin's learning Taoism.The two world wars in the 20 th century bring serious spiritual crisis to the west,which prompt many western scholars to look to the East for a good remedy.At this time,the spread of Taoism in the west is no longer limited to the spread of Christian thought,but to explores the literary and ideological value of Taoism.In addition,influenced by the enlightened family environment and her father,Le Guin begins to contact the Tao Te Ching when she is a child,which make it possible for Le Guin to reconstruct and absorb Taoism in her fantasy novels;Secondly,this paper analyzes the “creative treason” of Le Guin's translation of the Tao Te Ching from two aspects: the reconstruction of the images of “Female metaphor”and “Sage”,and points out that Le Guin interprets Taoism from the perspective of feminism,which lays the foundation for her reconstruction of Taoism in fantasy novels.The second chapter takes the series of The Earthsea Cycle as the research object and analyzes the reconstruction of Le Guin's fantasy novels on Taoism.First of all,from the world level,Le Guin combines “Being-Nonbeing” thought with the birth of the Earthsea world and the magic of “real name”.“Being” and “Nonbeing” are the other names of“Tao”.The “real name” of the Earthsea is the reconstruction of “For Being and Nonbeing arise together”.Meanwhile,the wizards who master the magic of “real name” should follow the principle of “integration to balance”,and maintain the balance of the Earthsea world in “the balance of Being and Nonbeing”;Secondly,at the personal level,“Being-Nonbeing” thought becomes the life criterion to guide the protagonist's personal growth.The young Ged is lost in “Action”,and the old Ged realizes the true meaning in“Inaction”,finds himself and achieves personal growth.The third chapter analyzes the reconstruction of the “Yin-Yang” thoughts of Taoism in Le Guin's fantasy novels.First of all,Le Guin combines the “Yin-Yang” thoughts with feminism.In the left hand of darkness,Le Guin breaks through the gender limitation,combines the Taoism of “Yin-Yang living together” with “Androgyny”,embodies hers inclusive feminism,that is,on the basis of respecting the differences between men and women,pursuing the harmonious coexistence between the two sexes;In the later three parts of The Earthsea Cycle,Le Guin changes the male hero narrative in the first three parts,begins to pay attention to the fate of women,and integrates the Taoism of“Yin-Yang harmony”,creates a unique image of female dragon people,transcends a single gender concept,and makes these female dragon people exude the beauty of “Yang”.Secondly,Le Guin realizes the holistic view contained in the thought of “Yin-Yang”,and combines the holistic view of Taoism with cultural pluralism,criticizing the phenomenon of cultural autocracy.The Dispossessed is the opposite of the cultures of different countries,and The Telling is the opposite of the new and old cultures.Through the conflict of cultural opposites,Le Guin expresses the idea of advocating “cultural pluralism” with the help of Taoism's thoughts of “Yin-Yang Combining”.To sum up,Le Guin's fantasy novels integrate Taoist elements,and show concern for human existence.Le Guin's translation of the Tao Te Ching and the reconstruction of Taoism in her fantasy novels promote the exchange and interaction between Chinese and Western cultures.Therefore,the cross-cultural study of Taoist culture is still significant today.