“Fourth World,” “Third Nature,” and the Poetic Imagination of Eastern Ecological Wisdom: An Analysis of The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian

• Published in: Frontiers of literary studies in China Vol. 16; no. 3; pp. 454 - 466
• Main Author: ZHANG Lijun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Higher Education Press 01.09.2022
• Subjects: Chi Zijian, The Last Quarter of the Moon, Eastern ecological wisdom, “Fourth World,” “Third Nature”
• ISSN: 1673-7318; 1673-7423
• DOI: 10.3868/s010-011-022-0020-5

In her novel The Last Quarter of the Moon, Chi Zijian, while narrating the history of the extinction of the Evenki people, constructs a “spiritual time” that contends with linear time and the “Third Nature” filled with the universal love of humanity, creating a “Fourth World” where humanity and nature come together in a spirituality that goes beyond life and death. This represents a profound ecological consideration and offers enlightenment for the psychological crisis of contemporary times. With poetic language, Chi expresses her estimation of the course of human civilization and the contemporary crisis of spiritual ecology, thereby constructing the ecological wisdom of the Oriental peoples with poetic aesthetics and imagination.