The Meaning of Yin-Yang Symbol in Chinese Culture Essay

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...

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