The Yin Yang Symbol
When did you first see it? Or delve into the meaning? For me it was middle school, seeing it rendered on enamel necklaces and backpacks. It equally feels like it's been etched in our subconscious for eternity. Let's go a bit deeper...
Tai Ji, or the supreme ultimate as the symbol is called, reflects Yin and Yang theory, which is simple yet profound. It's both a philosophy to understand change and also a method used to qualify opposite but complementary properties.
To understand Yin and Yang, think of a mountain.
Yin represents the cool, dark, shady side and Yang the hot, bright, sun filled side.
To take it further, Yin corresponds to darkness, rest, contraction, inwardness, tranquility and space. Yang relates to brightness, activity, expansion, vigor, outwardness and time.
Yin and Yang are opposites, yet they are also interdependent. They cannot exist without one another and they continually mutually consume one another in order to maintain balance. At some point they completely transform into each other. For example, the day belongs to Yang, but after noon, the Yin starts to creep in till we have dusk, and then the Yin of night, but after midnight Yang advances till we have the dawn.
In the symbol, Yang is symbolized as white and is always on the left, as to the Chinese that represents the East, where the sun rises. Yin is black and should always be on the right side, as the sun sets in the West. If you just read that and thought "wait isn't East normally on the right?" on a compass, you would be correct, traditionally, but it's flipped according to Chinese philosophy. The symbol is set as though we face South (as opposed to North), so East will be on the left and West on the right. I point this out, along with the colors, just to let you know how often it is incorrectly portrayed. The smaller circles represent the opposite that is always present.
