In
India the theory of the three elements in the Chândogya
Upanishad led to the theory of the three forces,
the gunas, and to the later theory of five
elements. In China, the theory of five elements
coexisted early with the theory of two forces:
yin1 and yáng. In the Spring and Autumn
Period there was actually a Yin and Yang School.
Later its theories were accepted by nearly everyone,
but especially by Taoism. The implications of the
theory are displayed in the great book of divination,
the I Ching, the "Book of Changes."
Yin originally meant "shady, secret, dark, mysterious,
cold." It thus could mean the shaded, north side of
a mountain or the shaded, south bank of a river. Yang in turn meant "clear, bright, the sun, heat," the
opposite of yin and so the lit, south side of a mountain
or the lit, north bank of a river. From these basic
opposites, a complete system of opposites was elaborated.
Yin represents everything about the world that is
dark, hidden, passive, receptive, yielding, cool,
soft, and feminine. Yang represents everything about
the world that is illuminated, evident, active, aggressive,
controlling, hot, hard, and masculine. Everything
in the world can be identified with either yin or
yang. Earth is the ultimate yin object. Heaven is
the ultimate yang object. Of the two basic Chinese
"Ways," Confucianism is identified with the yang aspect, Taoism with the yin aspect.
Although
it is correct to see yin as feminine and yang as masculine,
everything in the world is really a mixture of the two, which means that female beings
may actually be mostly yang and male beings may actually
be mostly yin. Because of that, things that we might
expect to be female or male because they clearly represent
yin or yang, may turn out to be the opposite instead.
Taoism
takes the doctrine of yin and yang, and includes it
in its own theory of change. Like Anaximander and
Heraclitus, Taoism sees all change as one opposite
replacing the other. The
familiar diagram of Yin and Yang flowing into each
other, the earliest attested example of which, strangely
enough, occurs on a Roman shield illustrated in the
fifth century Notitia Dignitatum, also illustrates,
with interior dots, the idea that each force contains
the seed of the other, so that they do not merely
replace each other but actually become each
other.
Unlike
Heraclitus, Taoism sees change as violent only if
the Tao [Dào] is opposed: If Not Doing [Wú Wéi] and
No Mind [Wú Xin1] are practiced, then the
Tao guides change in a natural, easy way, making for
beauty and life. Since trying to be in control is a yang (or Confucian) attribute, Taoism sees Not
Doing (and Taoism itself) on the yin side of
things; but since Not Doing does not literally mean
doing nothing, Taoism can use the language of passivity
and receptivity to mean something that is actually
quite active.
That
is especially obvious in the use of the term ,
"soft, pliant, yielding, gentle." Róudào, the "yielding
way," is read in Japanese as judô and is the
name of a popular Martial Art. Judo doesn't look at
all yielding or gentle, but it does employ Taoist
doctrine in so far as it is not supposed to originate
force or an attack but takes the attack of an opponent
and uses its own force against it.
Thus
the great economist F. Hayek invoked Taoism in the
defense of capitalism, a system that does not seem
particularly yielding or gentle, but is based on the
principle that government should "leave alone" (laissez
faire) private property and voluntary exchanges
and contracts. The free market would thus be the Not
Doing of government.
When
it comes to the five elements, earth, water, and wood
are clearly to be associated with yin. Water, the
softest and most yielding element, becomes the supreme
symbol of yin and the Tao in the Tao Te Ching.
Fire (the hottest element) and metal (the hardest)
both are associated with yang. Nevertheless, the Blue
Dragon that symbolizes wood is a principal symbol
of yang, while the White Tiger that
symbolizes metal is a principal symbol of yin.
This kind of reversal turns up frequently in the I
Ching.
The I Ching is based on the principle of a broken
line, ,
representing yin, and an unbroken line, ,
representing yang. During the Shang Dynasty (1523-1028
BC), questions that could be answered with a "yes"
or a "no" were written on tortoise shells. The shells
were heated, then doused in water, which caused them
to crack. A broken crack, ,
was interpreted as a "no" answer, an unbroken crack, , as a "yes." The I Ching elaborates on this,
by grouping the lines into sets of threes (the trigrams)
and into sets of sixes (the hexagrams).
There
are eight trigrams:
Among the trigrams it is noteworthy that in all the
children, the sex is determined by the odd line, so that the trigrams are predominately the opposite quality from the sex of the child. Also, we expect
water to be associated with yin and fire with yang,
but water is the second son and fire the second daughter. The other children are associated
with such things as we might expect, e.g. water turns
up again in the third daughter as the Lake.
The
arrangement of the trigrams around the compass reflects
Chinese geomancy (feng shui), i.e. the
determination of the auspicious or inauspicious situation
and orientation of places (cities, temples, houses,
or graves). Chinese cities are properly laid out as
squares, with gates in the middle of the sides facing
due north, east, south, and west. The diagonal directions
are then regarded as special "spirit" gates: northwest
is the Heaven Gate; southwest the Earth Gate; southeast
the Man Gate; and northeast the Demon Gate. The northeast
was thus the direction from which malevolent supernatural
influences might particularly be expected. The situation of the old Japanese capital city of Kyôto
is particularly fortunate. To
the northeast is a conspicuous, twin-peaked mountain,
Mt. Hiei (corresponding to the Mountain trigram),
which is crowned with a vast establishment of Buddhist
temples to guard the Demon Gate. Later, Tôkyô (originally
called Edo) was laid out with temples to the northeast
on rising ground in the Ueno district; but both the
ground and the temples are now entirely surrounded
and obscured by the sprawl of Tôkyô.
The I Ching [Yì Jing1] uses the
trigrams by combining pairs of them into 64 hexagrams.
The hexagrams reuse the trigrams by combining pairs
of them into 64 hexagrams. The hexagrams represent
states of affairs, and the I Ching is consulted
through the construction of a hexagram to answer one's
question. The construction is carried out either through
a complicated process of throwing and counting yarrow
stalks, or by throwing three coins. The obverse (head)
of each coin is worth 3 points (odd numbers are yang),
while the reverse (tail) is worth 2 (even numbers
are yin). Three coins will therefore add up to either
6, 7, 8, or 9. The numbers 7 and 8 represent "young"
yang and yin, respectively. Starting from the bottom
up, these add a plain yang, ,
or a plain yin, ,
line. The numbers 6 and 9, in turn, represent "old"
yin and yang, respectively, and are called "changing
lines." This illustrates an important aspect of the
theory of yin and yang: Because the "Way of the Tao
is Return," yin and yang, when they reach their extremes,
actually become their opposites. The "old"
lines therefore change into their opposites, giving
us two hexagrams if any changing lines are involved:
the first hexagram, representing the current state
of affairs; and the second hexagram, after the changes
have been made, representing the future state of affairs.
Changing lines are usually denoted by writing for a 9 and for a 6. The text of the I Ching describes
the significance of each hexagram and also the special
meaning to be attached to the presence of any changing
lines.
Yin originally meant "shady, secret, dark, mysterious,
cold." It thus could mean the shaded, north side of
a mountain or the shaded, south bank of a river. 
Yang in turn meant "clear, bright, the sun, heat," the
opposite of yin and so the lit, south side of a mountain
or the lit, north bank of a river. From these basic
opposites, a complete system of opposites was elaborated.
Yin represents everything about the world that is
dark, hidden, passive, receptive, yielding, cool,
soft, and feminine. Yang represents everything about
the world that is illuminated, evident, active, aggressive,
controlling, hot, hard, and masculine. Everything
in the world can be identified with either yin or
yang. Earth is the ultimate yin object. Heaven is
the ultimate yang object. Of the two basic Chinese
"Ways," Confucianism is identified with the yang aspect, Taoism with the yin aspect.
The
familiar diagram of Yin and Yang flowing into each
other, the earliest attested example of which, strangely
enough, occurs on a Roman shield illustrated in the
fifth century Notitia Dignitatum, also illustrates,
with interior dots, the idea that each force contains
the seed of the other, so that they do not merely
replace each other but actually become each
other.
,
"soft, pliant, yielding, gentle." Róudào, the "yielding
way," is read in Japanese as judô and is the
name of a popular Martial Art. Judo doesn't look at
all yielding or gentle, but it does employ Taoist
doctrine in so far as it is not supposed to originate
force or an attack but takes the attack of an opponent
and uses its own force against it.
,
representing yin, and an unbroken line, 
,
representing yang. During the Shang Dynasty (1523-1028
BC), questions that could be answered with a "yes"
or a "no" were written on tortoise shells. The shells
were heated, then doused in water, which caused them
to crack. A broken crack, 
Among the trigrams it is noteworthy that in all the
children, the sex is determined by the odd line, so that the trigrams are predominately the opposite quality from the sex of the child. Also, we expect
water to be associated with yin and fire with yang,
but water is the second son and fire the second daughter. The other children are associated
with such things as we might expect, e.g. water turns
up again in the third daughter as the Lake.
To
the northeast is a conspicuous, twin-peaked mountain,
Mt. Hiei (corresponding to the Mountain trigram),
which is crowned with a vast establishment of Buddhist
temples to guard the Demon Gate. Later, Tôkyô (originally
called Edo) was laid out with temples to the northeast
on rising ground in the Ueno district; but both the
ground and the temples are now entirely surrounded
and obscured by the sprawl of Tôkyô.
for a 9 and 
for a 6. The text of the I Ching describes
the significance of each hexagram and also the special
meaning to be attached to the presence of any changing
lines.