I have seen the yin yang symbol so many times in the nineteen years I have been alive, and never knew that behind the symbol there is a meaning, and a reason. I use to draw them on my notebooks, and on my hand because I thought they looked cool, and never thought there might be a reason for the creation of the symbol.
The yin yang symbol was created by Han dynasty philosophers, and has been around for thousands of years. The symbol is also sometimes called the Tai-Chi symbol, and comes from I-Ching, which is the greatest foundation of Chinese philosophy. The I-Ching explains the metaphysical workings of the entire universe; also known as the Tao. They believed the universe is run by the Tao, which is divided into two opposite actions; Yin and Yang. The Yin and Yang can explain all changes in the universe, and all phenomena. They believe that all phenomena has their opposite state within them. The way the yin and yang complete changes in the universe is through their agents; The movement of the stars, the working of the body, the nature of foods, the qualities of music, the ethical qualities of humans, the progress of time, the operations of government, and the nature of historical change. They believed that each of these opposite agents are all related in some way.
The symbol’s main purpose is to represent the universal harmony and unity between opposites that are complimentary to each other. For example, male and female, light and dark, passive and negative, weak and strong, and so on. The goal of the symbol is to send the message that everything in the universe can be related in some way or another, and everything that happens has the roots of its opposite state.
Now whenever I draw the yin yang symbol on my notebook, I will know exactly what I am drawing, and why it was created. Learning the history behind anything can help one to understand exactly why something is the way it is. So next time a symbol is drawn on a notebook, look it up and find out exactly what is being drawn. There is a story and history behind everything.
That's an interesting concept. I remember one family I knew tried to convince me that the Yin Yang symbol was evil, because it meant "There's a little bit of God in the devil, and a little bit of the devil in God." I wish they'd taken the time to examine the cultural significance behind it before blindly applying its meaning, in a rather skewed way, to their own religion.
ReplyDeleteWow, I learned a lot from reading this. I have never even thought about this.
ReplyDelete