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In Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin yang (simplified Chinese: 阴阳; traditional Chinese: 陰陽; pinyin: yīnyáng - often referred to in the west as yin and yang) is used to describe how seemingly opposing forces are bound together, intertwined, and interdependent in the natural world, giving rise to each other in turn. The concept lies at the heart of many branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy, as well as being a primary guideline of traditional Chinese medicine,[1] and a central principle of several forms of martial arts and exercise, such as taijiquan, gung fu and qigong. Many natural dualities - e.g. dark and light, female and male, low and high - are cast in Chinese thought as yin yang.

The relationship between yin (simplified Chinese: 阴; traditional Chinese: 陰; pinyin: yīn) and yang (simplified Chinese: 阳; traditional Chinese: 陽; pinyin: yáng) is often described in terms of sunlight playing over a mountain and in the valley. Yin (literally the 'shady place' or 'north slope') is the dark area occluded by the mountain's bulk, while yang (literally the 'sunny place' or 'south slope') is the brightly lit portion. As the sun moves across the sky, yin and yang gradually trade places with each other, revealing what was obscured and obscuring what was revealed. Yin is usually characterized as slow, soft, insubstantial, diffuse, cold, wet, and tranquil. It is generally associated with the feminine, birth and generation, and with the night. Yang, by contrast, is characterized as hard, fast, solid, dry, focused, hot, and aggressive. It is associated with masculinity and daytime.[2]

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The nature of yin-yang

Yin-yang is an active concept: yin and yang are thought to arise together from an initial quiescence or emptiness (wuji, sometimes symbolized by an empty circle), and to continue moving in tandem until quiescence is reached again. For instance, dropping a stone in a calm pool of water will simultaneously raise waves and lower troughs between them, and this alternation of high and low points in the water will radiate outward until the movement dissipates and the pool is calm once more. Yin-yang, thus, always has the following characteristics:

Yin yang are opposing
Yin yang describe opposing qualities in phenomena. For instance, winter is yin to summer's yang over the course of a year, and femininity is yin to masculinity's yang in human relationships. It is impossible to talk about yin or yang without some reference to the opposite.
Yin yang are rooted together
Since yin and yang are created together in a single movement, they are bound together as parts of a mutual whole. A race with only men or only women would disappear in a single generation, but men and women together create new generations that allow the race they mutually create (and mutually come from) to survive.The interaction of the two gives birth to things.[3]
Yin yang transform each other
Like an undertow in the ocean, every advance is complemented by a retreat, and every rise transforms into a fall. Thus, a seed will sprout from the earth and grow upwards towards the sky - an intrinsically yang movement. Then when it reaches its full height, it will begin to weaken, and eventually will fall back to the earth in decay - an intrinsically yin movement. Yin always contains the potential for yang, and yang for yin.
Yin-yang are balanced
Yin-yang is a dynamic equilibrium. Because they arise together they are always equal: if one disappears, the other must disappear as well, leaving emptiness. This is rarely immediately apparent, though, because yang elements are clear and obvious while yin elements are hidden and subtle.

Yin-yang is not an actual substance or force[1], the way it might be conceived of in western terms. Instead, it is a universal way of describing the interactions and interrelations of the natural forces that do occur in the world. It applies as well social constructions - e.g. value judgements like good and evil, rich and poor, honor and dishonor - yet it is often used in those contexts as a warning, since by its principles extreme good will turn to evil, extreme wealth to poverty, extreme honor to dishonor.

The concept of "unity in duality" arises in many faiths and philosophies, from the philosophy of Heraclitus, to the nondualistic philosophies of Hinduism,Sikhism,Taoism,and Buddhism, to Gnosticism and Zoroastrianism. Yin-yang is unique, however, both in its dynamic nature and its broad application to the natural world.

Depictions of yin yang

The Taijitu of Zhou Dun-yi

The Taijitu or Taiji diagram is a well known symbol representing the principle of yin and yang. The term taijitu (literally "diagram of the supreme ultimate") is commonly used to mean the simple 'divided circle' form, but may refer to any of several schematic diagrams representing these principles, such as the one at right.

In the taijitu, the circle itself represents a whole (see wuji), while the black and white areas within it represent interacting parts or manifestations of the whole. The white area represents yang elements, and is generally depicted as rising on the left, while the dark (yin) area is shown descending on the right (though other arrangements exist, most notably the version used on the flag of South Korea). The image is designed to give the appearance of movement. Each area also contains a small circle of the opposite color at its fullest point (near the zenith and nadir of the figure) to indicate how each will transform into the other.

In the I Ching, yin yang are represented by broken and solid lines: yang is solid (⚊) and yin is broken (⚋). These are then combined into trigrams, which are more yang or more yin depending on the number of broken and solid lines (e.g. ☰ is heavily yang, while ☷ is heavily yin), and trigrams are combined into hexagrams (e.g. ䷕ and ䷟). The relative positions and numbers of yin and yang lines within the trigrams determines the meaning of that trigram, and in hexagrams the upper trigram is considered yang with respect to the lower trigram, allowing complex depictions of interrelations.

Taijiquan, a form of martial art, is often described as the principles of yin and yang applied to the human body. Wu Jianquan, a famous Chinese martial arts teacher, described Taijiquan as follows:

Various people have offered different explanations for the name Taijiquan. Some have said: - 'In terms of self-cultivation, one must train from a state of movement towards a state of stillness. Taiji comes about through the balance of yin and yang. In terms of the art of attack and defense then, in the context of the changes of full and empty, one is constantly internally latent, not outwardly expressive, as if the yin and yang of Taiji have not yet divided apart.' Others say: 'Every movement of Taijiquan is based on circles, just like the shape of a Taijitu. Therefore, it is called Taijiquan.

– Wu Jianquan, The International Magazine of T’ai Chi Ch’uan[4]

Symbols similar to the taijitu been used in other contexts. In particular, certain late Roman military units - the Armigeri defensores seniores and the field legion Mauri Osismiaci - used comparable signs as shield markings for regional identifications, as noted in the Notitia Dignitatum.[1] There is no evidence to suggest these shield markings have any connection to the Chinese use or sense of the symbol.

See also

Um Yang in the flag of South Korea.


Symbolically, the South Korean Flag represents 'balance of the opposites' rather than the more complex philosophy implicit in yin yang, but it derives from the same concept.

References

  1. ^ a b Porkert (1974). The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine. MIT Press. ISBN 0262160587. 
  2. ^ Osgood, Charles E. "From Yang and Yin to and or but." Language 49.2 (1973): 380-412 . JSTOR. 16 Nov. 2008 <http://www.jstor.org/search>.
  3. ^ http://www.iep.utm.edu/y/yinyang.htm
  4. ^ Woolidge, Doug (June 1997). T’AI CHI The International Magazine of T’ai Chi Ch’uan Vol. 21 No. 3, Wayfarer Publications. ISSN 0730-1049. 

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