Qi as Narrative Mediation: A Daoist Tripartite Ontology in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Lavinia

This article examines Ursula K. Le Guin’s Lavinia (2008) through a tripartite framework drawn from classical Daoist cosmology, particularly the relational dynamics of Dao, Yin-Yang, and Qi. Moving beyond binary interpretations of gender, agency, and silence, it argues that Le Guin’s reworking of Virgil’s epic is structured by a triadic ontology in which differentiated forces remain interconnected through mediation. In this account, Yang corresponds to the epic logic of conquest, teleology, and political foundation, while Yin finds expression in Lavinia’s embodied relationship with the land, ritual practices, and cyclical temporality. Qi, understood as the dynamic force of transformation and balance, mediates these contrasting orientations through Lavinia’s consciousness, her encounters with Virgil, and her role as an ethical witness. Drawing on the Dao De Jing and the Zhuangzi, the analysis shows how Le Guin’s narrative brings Daoist relational ontology into dialogue with questions of agency, power, and ethical responsibility. Through Lavinia’s perspective, the novel challenges the logic of domination that governs the epic tradition and imagines a form of agency grounded in relational awareness, continuity, and non-coercive action (wu wei). In this reading, storytelling emerges as an ethical practice that makes interdependence visible and opens up possibilities for inhabiting the world without seeking mastery over it.