Definition
Two interlinked polarities of Chinese thought describing complementary, changing and relative dynamics.
Yin and yang are two interdependent aspects of the real in Chinese thought. Yin is often associated with darkness, rest and interiority; yang with light, movement and externality; they do not represent good and evil, nor two fixed categories: each contains the possibility of the other.
To be retained
- Understanding their complementarity
- Avoiding opposition well against evil
- Observe the transformations between the two poles
- Do not reduce the concept to gender stereotypes
Origin of the term and context
Yin was particularly concerned with the shaded slope of a mountain and the sunny slope of the yang. The terms then described many complementary relationships.
Why does it matter?
Yin and yang do not represent evil and good, nor simply the feminine and the masculine. Each polarity depends on the context and contains the possibility of the other.
- Provide a model for understanding balance
- Influencing Chinese Medicine and Philosophy
- Helping to Think about Change
- To raise a philosophical framework rather than a physical law
How can I practice it?
- Observe alternations: rest and activity
- Avoid rigid categories
- Seek adjustment rather than fixed equilibrium
- Examine the context of each polarity
Misconceptions and points of caution
- Yin is not bad and yang is not good.
- Polarities do not correspond to frozen species.
- The taijitu symbol does not exhaust all Chinese thought.
Perspectives from different traditions
- Taoism: transformation and complementarity.
- Chinese medicine: traditional framework of functional relationships.
- Yijing: mutations and configurations.
To go further
- Tao Te King
- The Yi Jing
- The Web That Has No Weaver — Ted Kaptchuk