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Yin Yang
| |
 |
| Yin |
Yang |
| moon |
sun |
| night |
day |
| dark |
light |
| cool |
warm |
| rest |
active |
| feminine |
masculine |
| north |
south |
| winter |
summer |
| right |
left |
| introversion |
extroversion |
| earth |
heaven |
| even |
odd |
| 6* |
9* |
| 8** |
7** |
| *
major symbol numbers;
** minor symbol
numbers |
The concept of yin and yang (Traditional
Chinese:陰陽; Simplified Chinese:阴阳 ; pinyin:
yīnyáng) originates in ancient Chinese philosophy
and metaphysics, which describes two primal opposing
but complementary forces found in all things in the universe. Yin, the
darker element, is passive, dark, feminine, downward-seeking, and
corresponds to the night; yang, the brighter element, is active, light,
masculine, upward-seeking and corresponds to the day.
The pair probably goes back to ancient agrarian religion;
it exists in confucianism, and it is prominent in
Taoism,
though the words yin and yang only appear once in the
Tao Te Ching by
Lao Tzu (Lao Tse, Laozi, Lao Tze).
Yin and yang are complementary opposites rather than
absolutes. Most forces in nature can be broken down into its respective
yin and yang states, and the two are usually in movement rather than
held in absolute stasis.
The meaning of the characters for yin and yang,
necessarily, has more than just one connotation. Because yang means
"sunny", it corresponds to the day and more active functions. Whereas
yin, meaning "shady", corresponds to night and less active functions.
Yin and yang can be compared in the chart at the top of this article.
It is also possible to look at yin and yang with
respect to the flow of time. Noon, is full yang, sunset is yang turning
to yin; midnight is full yin and sunrise is yin turning to yang. This
flow of time can also be expressed in seasonal changes and directions.
South and summer are full yang; west and autumn are yang turning to yin;
north and winter are full yin, and east and spring are yin turning into
yang.
Yin and yang can also be seen as a process of
transformation which describes the changes between the phases of a
cycle. For example, cold water (yin) can be boiled and eventually turn
into steam (yang).
One way to write the symbols for yin and yang are a
solid line (yang) and a broken line (yin) which could be divided into
the four stages of yin and yang and further divided into the eight
trigrams (these trigrams are used on the South Korean flag). The symbol
shown at the top left hand corner of this page, called Taijitu
(太極圖), is another way to show yin and yang. The mostly white portion,
being brighter, is yang and the mostly dark portion, being dim, is yin.
Each, however, contains the seed of its opposite. Yin and yang are
equally important, unlike the typical dualism of good and evil.
The concept is called yin yang, not yang yin, just
because the former has a preferred pronunciation in Chinese Mandarin,
and the word order has no cultural or philosophical meaning.
Everything can be described as either yin or yang
1. Yin and yang are opposites.
Everything has its opposite--although this is never
absolute, only comparative. No one thing is completely yin or completely
yang. Each contains the seed of its opposite. For example, cold can turn
into hot; "what goes up must come down".
2. Yin and yang are interdependent.
One cannot exist without the other. For example, day
cannot exist without night.
3. Yin and yang can be further subdivided into yin
and yang.
Any yin or yang aspect can be further subdivided into
yin and yang. For example, temperature can be seen as either hot or
cold. However, hot can be further divided into warm or burning; cold
into cool or icy.
4. Yin and yang consume and support each other.
Yin and yang are usually held in balance--as one
increases, the other decreases. However, imbalances can occur. There are
four possible imbalances: Excess yin, excess yang, yin deficiency, yang
deficiency.
5. Yin and yang can transform into one another.
At a particular stage, yin can transform into yang and
vice versa. For example, night changes into day; warmth cools; life
changes to death.
6. Part of yin is in yang and part of yang is in
yin.
The dots in each serve as a reminder that there are
always traces of one in the other. For example, there is always light
within the dark (e.g., the stars at night), these qualities are never
completely one or the other.
Yin and yang can also be used (in conjunction with
other characters) to indicate various parts of the male and female
anatomy.
A modern example:
 | Yin: the traffic light on the road (the stillness)
|
| Yang: the traffic that flows past that traffic
light (activity) |
Some Chinese, Korean and Japanese place
names that
still exist are named in the following principle:
| Yin: the shady north side of the mountain, the
south side of the river.. |
| Yang: the sunny south side of the mountain, the
north side of the river. |
While yin dominates femininity and yang masculinity,
according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, within the body of either
sex, each of the five elements has a pair of organs assigned to it one
yin one yang. The yin organs meridian has a downward flow of energy and
the yang upward. As a result, an imbalance of the yin-yang ratio can
cause illness. This is not to say that everyone should have exactly half
of each; every individual needs to find this balance depending on their
own constitution, climate, season, occupation and even emotional
environment. If in perfect health, the individual should be able to
adapt to any of the inevitable changes of life.
Together, the symbolic colors of yin and yang,
black (symbolising darkness, the absence of light) and white (symbolizing
light) respectively, are combined into a circle that symbolizes Taoism
for many: the tàijíbāguàtú (太極八卦圖) (simplified Chinese
太极八卦图), often known as the T'ai Chi symbol or the Pictogram of
the Supreme Ultimate. This graphical representation is however of a far
more recent date than the word pair itself. Its Unicode code is U+262F
(☯). A common mythological animal pairing that represents yin and yang
metaphorically are the dragon (representing yang) and phoenix (representing yin) often found as a decorative motif in modern Chinese
restaurants.
Taoist philosophy also uses metaphor
to describe the dynamic complexities of the human body's organic
processes in traditional Chinese medicine as well as the complexities of
human personality in (Chinese astrology). Nothing in the universe is
completely yin or completely yang - everything is a mixture of the two.
The yin yang symbol contains two smaller circles: a small circle of yin
inside the yang, and a small circle inside the yin. Often misunderstood,
these important circles reinforce the circular nature of the philosophy
by symbolizing another Taoist tenet: one extreme will always change into
its opposite, so that extreme yang turns into yin and vice versa. This
is also symbolized in the yin-yang symbol by the shape of the outer
swooshes, which appear to be moving, one into the other. This principle
has been extended into the physical realm of full and empty, hard and
soft, active and receptive, etc.
Over the centuries, the study of the interplay between
these principles has also led to the formulation and refinement of
several systems of martial arts across East Asia.
1. Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine)
2. Ted J. Kaptchuk, OMD. "The Web that has No Weaver"
McGraw-Hill 2000
3. Maciocia, Giovanni "The Foundations of Chinese
Medicine" Churchill-Livingstone 1989 |
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