The hidden meanings of yin and yang – John Bellaimey
Yin and Yang: Nature’s Energy Balance
The Dao begot one.
One begot two.
Two begot three.
And three begot the ten thousand things.
The ten thousand things carry yin and embrace yang.
They achieve harmony by combining these forces.
– Laozi, Daodejing
Consider the ancient Chinese taiji symbol, which describes the fundamental dynamic balance of the whole universe. The universe is organized like one giant hologram. The taiji reminds us that this holds true at every level of magnification, from the cosmos right down to the micro-universe of the human body.
The shaded area of the symbol represents yin and the white area yang. These two energies are opposing in nature but have a complementary relationship and are always found together. There are endless examples: sun and moon, earth and sky, fire and water,
light and shade, hard and soft. Human properties are also attributed to these energies; yang as the active, male principle and yin as the receptive, female principle.
The taiji symbol describes both structure and function. It represents not only the building blocks of how everything is constructed but also how one half acts on the other to give rise to the movement and rhythm of life.
To look at structure first, consider the illustration of the taiji hierarchy. Note that yang is always present in yin and vice versa. Take the case of the human embryo. At the start, its physical anatomy is the same for both sexes. Then, in accordance with its genetic inheritance, the hormones it produces cause it to develop intoa boy (yang) or girl (yin). Yin and yang are also expressed in the capacity of the male for receptivity (yin) and the capacity of the female for activity (yang). All the internal organs of the body, as well as the meridians, have a specific balance of yin and yang in order to maintain health. Later we will discuss how health problems arise when the balance is not maintained.
Turning now to function, we can understand the taiji symbol as a “snapshot” of the movement of qi as it flows throughout the twenty-four hour cycle of night and day. To understand how yin and yang flow together, imagine you are standing on the edge of the circle at 11:00 a.m. Note that while most of the energy is yang like a bright and sunny day, yin is just starting to grow. So it is not right just to think of yang as day and yin as night, because it is in the middle of the day that yin is born.
In ancient Daoist texts, including the Yijing, the moment of the arising of yin is called shaoyin (little yin). Here we refer to this as the birth of baby yin to highlight the life-giving nature of the cycle.In China it is considered very important to have a period of rest during baby yin time, between eleven and one o’clock. After eating, people lie down and have a nap. This ensures that baby yin is nourished from the start and helped to grow, for by giving it a good start, like a well-cared-for baby, it will grow steadily bigger and stronger over the coming twelve hours.
Now go around the circle to 11:00 p.m. In China, people consider it essential to be in bed by this hour, resting or sleeping. You can see that yin has become dominant, which means that body and mind are intended to be at peace, in accordance with the rhythm of the universe.
Next, see how between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., although yin is still dominant, baby yang is born and then steadily grows through the first half of the day. During sleep, we not only benefit from the flow of yin, but also nourish baby yang, so that yang qi will grow strong and vigorous for the demands of the busy day ahead.
Take one more look at the taiji. As yin and yang embrace each other, right in the heart of yin there is an “eye” of yang, and likewise, in the yang an “eye” of yin. These eyes represent the seeds of energy that drive the cycle of yin and yang in its circular movement and highlight the fundamental principle that in yang there is always to be found yin, and within yin, yang.
There are two ways of picturing the circular motion of the taiji. Earlier we used the image of walking clockwise around the edge of the circle. Now picture standing still and imagine the taiji rotating around its center point, turning counterclockwise in a complete circle once every twenty-four hours.
The effect reminds us that we are not looking at a stationary object but at a moving current of energy that flows without ceasing. In the cosmos, there is no up and down, top, and bottom. There is only a flow of energy. Here the taiji is shown with yin above and yang below for a reason that will be evident later when we discuss how yin and yang qi flow through the body. Next let us look in more detail at the meridians, the energy channels that were briefly mentioned.
