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YIN/YANG
Chinese Taoist belief that the universal
life force or energy of the universe, known as chi, and everything in
it is based on a pair of opposite forces: Ying and Yang. Yin and Yang
are complete opposites but they are also interdependent and cannot exist
without each other.
The concept of Yin/Yang was first introduced in the second century BC
in the I Ching, which placed Yin and Yang behind Chi on the existential
pyramid of the universe. Below Yin and Yang are the five elements of the
natural world.
Together Yin and Yang outline the experience of life, which is forever
changing. Something is never just Yin or Yang but a combination of the
two extremes in different stages of flux. There is always some Yin and
Yang and visa versa. Yin is the feminine embodiment of Chi, which represents
and symbolizes shadows, earth, night, the moon, dark, cool, calm, passivity,
downward motion and moisture. Yang is the masculine component, which represent
heaven, day, light, warmth, upward motion, activity, fullness and dryness.
The interdependence between the two is symbolised in the tail or Yin/Yang
symbol, showing a two-tone circle with a dynamic curve and contrasting
dot that separates Yin from Yang. The line between the two halves is not
straight and abrupt, as transitions are never sudden, but gradual like
a waving curve. The dot of contrasting colour is there to remind us that
there is always some Yin in Yang and some Yang in Yin.
Although everything in the universe is an interdependent combination of
Yin and Yang some things will be more one that the other and this holds
true for people too. The goal in Chinese philosophy and traditional Chinese
medicine is always to maintain an equal amount of both, as too much Yin
or too much Yang can lead to disease and decay.
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