This symbol, known as the Tai Chi Chu symbol, or Yin-Yang symbol has its
roots in ancient Chinese cosmology. The original meaning of "yin and
yang" is representative of the mountains--both the dark side and the bright
side, or the contrasting shaded and sunlight slopes of the mountain. These two
words can possibly be traced back to the Shang and Chou Dynasty,(1550 - 1050BC).But most scholars credit the "Yin and Yang" to the Han Dynasty
(206B.C.
-A.D. 220). At this time, The Yin Yang School was founded by Tsou Yen.It combines the ancient philosophy of the 5 elements: wood, fire, earth, metal,
water; and combined them into a cosmology of cyclical movements. The arrangement
between the two poles forms a cycle of movement or the meaning of change.
In
relationship to the elements, wood and fire belong to the yang, and water and
meter to yin. Earth belongs to both yin and yang because it assists both. The
yin and yang only represent opposite poles NOT good or evil. You might ask what
role the Yin and Yang play in everyday life. Well, as you can see, the Chinese
picked up on this many years ago. The ideas behind Yin and Yang developed by
observing the physical world.
It was observed that nature appears to group into
pairs mutually dependent opposites. For example, the concept of night has no
meaning without the concept of day. Americans picked up on the connection, but
never truly tried to name it. Yin and Yang are just opposites. I believe
thats were the saying, Opposites attract, originated from. Chinese
believed that in any situation, that without the positive and the negative there
could never be a whole.
Because you want get a perfect fit. There are so many
examples that can be explained, examples that have never truly been thought
through or examined. For instance, a magnet has a South Pole and a North Pole.Putting two south sides or two north sides together is impossible, but if you
put the north and south together, you form a whole.
A joining together of the
opposite poles. Another example would be a person riding a bicycle. If a person
riding a bicycle wants to go somewhere he/she cannot pump on both pedals at the
same time or not pump on them at all. In order to go somewhere he/she has to
pump on one pedal and release the other. So the movement of going forward
requires this oneness of pumping and releasing.
This oneness of
things is a characteristic of the Chinese mind. In the Chinese language, words
are even looked on as a whole because their meanings are derived from each
other. For example, the Chinese character for good and the Chinese
character for not good, when combined together will reflect the quality of
something (whether good or not good). Likewise, the Chinese character for
long and the Chinese character for short, when brought together mean
length. All these examples show us that everything has a complementary
part to form a whole. Without one it is impossible to have the other.
In
closing, I believe that most human beings live their life according to the
saying, Dont sweat the small stuff. Small stuff meaning things that
really dont serve a purpose in everyday life. Daily we become even more
blinded by the big picture instead of seeing the beauty in things that we
normally dont care about. Being at one with yourself and your surroundings
could be a wonderful experience, but not many are willing to take that step.
Philosophy
