Welcome, this is the first post of my series on Traditional Medicine. In modern times we tend to spend billons as a whole on medical care, thats a topic for another discussion. My goal is to bring wholistic healing to everyone and to open our eyes to a different outlook on basic medical care. join in on journey to empower people with the knowledge that has been spread over a millennium.
The theory of yin and yang is one such philosophy, which is used to explore the movement and change of things.The theory of yin and yang is first mentioned in zhouyi (Book of Changes ,周易), which can be traced back to nearly 6000 years ago. Ancient Chinese had gradually realized that the world is material, and that material world itself is the result of the unity of opposite between yin-qi and yang-qi. Qi is a kind of driving force from the universe.
The Concept Of Yin-Yang
In the beginning, the concepts of yin-yang were quite simple, meaning facing the sunlight or turning away from the sunlight respectively. Facing the sunlight is called the yang ,while turning away from the sunlight is referred to as the yin.
the Chinese philosophers subscribe to a concept called Yin Yang which is a belief that there exist two complementary forces in the universe. One is Yang which represents everything positive or masculine and the other is Yin which is characterized as negative or feminine. Ancient Chinese philosophers realized that every phenomenon in the world had relationship of opposition and interaction.Therefore this was the origin of development and application of Yin-yang theory .
What is the symbol of yin-yang ?
This Symbol of Yin-Yang represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work.
The outer circle represents everything, while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause everything to happen and it should be point out that they are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other. While "yin" would be dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak. The symbol of yin is water. "yang" would be bright, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong. The symbol of yang is fire.
The True Shape Of The Yin-Yang symbol
The shape of the yin and yang sections of the symbol actually gives you a sense of the continual movement of these two energies. Yin to yang and yang to yin, causing everything to happen just as things expand and contract, or as the natural temperature changes from warm, hot to cool cold. They are opposite and restrict, at the same time they are interdependent and inter-transformable. It is not just the surface picture that we see on tattoos and doors , it is actually a ball structure just like a tennis ball
Yin and yang represent not only two inter-opposite things or forces, but also the two inter-opposite aspects existing within one object or person. Yin and Yang are not specific things, but a generalization of the properties of specific things. Therefore, yin and yang refer only to abstract conceptions of properties.
The two sides of yin and yang are both opposite and interdependent, and neither of them can exist by its own without the other. Without yin ,there would be no yang. And without yang, there would be no yin. The two inter-opposite and interdependent sides of yin and yang are not in a state of stillness, but in a state of dynamic change, or in a state of “yin wane and yang wax” or “yang wane and yin wax” . This dynamic change of wane and wax between yin and yang is called “wane-wax of yin-yang”.
This is the foundation of Traditional Chinese medicine. you have to understand the concept of yin and yang to fully grasp the mechanism of thinking when treating a certain type of symptom or disease. As states in huangdi neijing, ”consumption of yin leads to gaining of yang, and consumption of yang leads to gaining of yin ”. Under the normal conditions, the wane-wax between yin and yang is in the state of relative dynamic balance. So the whole body is healthy. But if goes beyond physiological limits, the yin-yang balance will be impaired, leading to disease. Traditional Chinese Medicine also uses the theory of yin-yang to summarize and explain the body’s physiological functions, claiming that the normal life activity of the human body is outcome of the relation of yin and yang in their unity of opposites.
I hope this gives you a some what short understanding of Yin and Yang. I will be adding new posts every Wednesday and Sunday. Thank you for your time and your upvote!