An Eco-critical Study On The Ancient Wisdom Embodied In The ’Dreaming’ And The ’Greaty Yasa’

As great American ecological thinker Peter·Coates said:"cultural theory believes that the social threat to the ecological system can only be explained by the cultural category." The mission of Eco-criticism is to review human culture, conducting culture critique and interpreting the thought and cultural roots of ecological crisis. Among the various studies conducted to deal with the ecological crisis, turning to ancient wisdom formed in the culture of ancient peoples for inspiration is drawing more and more attention. As an alive cultural heritage, the’Dreaming’is recorded in anthropological and historical literature, which carries cultural ideology and environment-friendly practices of traditional indigenous Australians, whose wisdom has been passed on from generation to generation through the dreaming stories, artworks, ceremonies, rituals and performances and gradually developed into their holistic worldview and simple living in their thousand of years’living with nature. While, as the social cultural essence of Mongolian people and recorded in various Mongolian and English historical records, the’Greaty Yasa’fully demonstrates Mongolian nomadic culture, as well as their distinctive ecological cultural ideology and practices. It encapsulates not only Mongols’ancient wisdom, customary taboos, ceremonies, sacrifices festival and totemism, but also enforces the ecological cultural ideology in their daily practice to realize the harmonious coexistence with nature.The studies on the ecological culture have shown that the inspiration and guidance gained from traditional cultural ideology and practices of ancient peoples are so significant for our modern people to keep a sustainable and healthy environment. Therefore, the thesis is intended to analyze the ecological cultural wisdom and practices embodied in the’Dreaming’ and the ’Greaty Yasa’under the theoretical framework of eco-criticism to reveal that their holistic worldview and simple living have made them live with nature harmoniously for thousand of years. It is hoped that this study will bring about a new understanding on the relationship between human beings and nature, and also help to further probe into the cultural roots of the health and harmony of the whole ecological system.