The theory of Yin-Yang

Origin

The ‘Yin and Yang’ is a principle in ancient Chinese philosophy. It is also found in various ancient Chinese faiths, such as Confucianism. It mainly deals with the concept of dualism, which states that there are two opposite fundamental forces which oppose each other. The examples are Night and Day, Winter and Summer, disorder and order. Since the opposite states are complementary, they cannot exist without the other.

What does Yin and Yang mean?

The Yin-Yang principle states that there are two opposite states of duality, the Yin (also known as dark or negative), and Yang (also known as bright or positive). There are various different representations of Yin and Yang in Chinese philosophy, the prominent ones being the original and the Taijitu (Taichi) representations. In the original Yin Yang representation, there are 2 areas, the white area representing Yang, and the black area representing Yin. The two areas are complementary to each other. Yin may not always have a negative connotation, and yang may not always be associated with positivity. Sometimes, Yin may also mean a laid back, passive, quiet atmosphere or attitude. On the contrary, Yang can represent an agile, energetic and active atmosphere. Everyone has a mixture of Yin and Yang characteristics. A person with more ‘yin’ characteristics is a passive, smart, calculative and laidback person, and a person with ‘yang’ characteristics is an active, clever, artful and a dominating person.

In the Taijitu representation, there is a small black circle in the white (yang) area, and a small white circle in the black (yin) area. This is a symbolic representation of a little positive (good) being present in the negative (bad), and a little negative being present in positive.

 (Taijitu [Taichi] representation. courtesy: freesvg.org)

Inferences from the Yin and Yang philosophy

This representation states that everyone has a ‘good’ element and a bad element in them, and little of ‘bad’ element is present in the good and vice versa. These ‘good’ and ‘bad’ elements are what constitutes a person.

One cannot really separate the good from the bad. One cannot label a person as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. We are all different shades of grey, in essence, we all have different levels of good and bad in us. Good and bad, order and disorder exist complementarily in nature. We cannot separate them. We must learn to control our emotions. There exist some good and bad in every person. We must learn to use this to our advantage. We have to work in such a way that our ‘yang’, i.e. our good qualities are more prominent than yin, our bad qualities. We have to have control over our bad thoughts and deeds.

The yin yang symbol is worn as a pendant and is present at many houses and places of worship, as the charm of good luck. It is said that the yin yang concept keeps us grounded and humble. It reminds us of our place in nature; that nobody is superior and nobody is inferior. We are all the same. It also reminds us that humans are fallible and a person can lose all his wealth and fame if he does not control his arrogance and greed.

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