In terms of the body, the front is considered Yin and the back Yang. The upper part of the body is considered more Yang than the lower part; the outer parts of the body (skin, hair, etc.) are more Yang than the inner Organs.
The philosopher Zou Yen (c. 305-240 b.c.e.) describes this idea this way: "Heaven is high, the earth is low, and thus [Heaven and Earth] are fixed. As the high and low are thus made clear, the honorable and humble have their place accordingly. As activity and tranquillity have their constancy, the strong and the weak are thus differentiated. . . . Cold and hot season take their turn. . . . [Heaven] knows the great beginning, and [Earth] acts to bring things to completion. . . . [Heaven] is Yang and [Earth] is Yin:'
Any Yin or Yang aspect can be further divided into Yin and Yang. This means that within each Yin and Yang category, another Yin and Yang category can be distinguished. It is an extension of the logic that divides all phenomena into Yin and Yang aspects, allowing further division within aspects ad infinitum. For example, temperature can be divided into cold (Yin) and hot (Yang), but cold can be divided further into icy cold (Yin) and moderately cold (Yang). In the body, the front of the trunk is Yin compared with the back, but the front can be divided further so that the abdomen is Yin in relation to the chest. (Page 9--The Web That Has No Weaver by Ted J. Kaptchuk)
Within the body, Yin and Yang influences are always at work. The roles of Yin and Yang within the body structure are summarized The living body has shape, structure, and weight. These are its Yin qualities. It is also active, warm, and responsive to its environment -attributes that are essentially Yang. The head and the upper part of the body are more Yang; they, are nearer Heaven. The feet and lower parts are more Yin; they are closer to the Earth. The back and the exposed surfaces of the limbs are Yang. When we turn our backs against a cold wind, these are the strong, proactive aspects we present to the outside.
The front and the protected inner aspects of the limbs are Yin. When we curl up in a defensive "armadillo" position, these are the soft, vulnerable inner surfaces we seek to protect The skin, the outermost layer of the physical body, and the muscles, the active body tissue that enables us to move, are both Yang.
The bones, the deepest, hardest, and most stable of the structural
tissues, are Yin. So also are the internal organs, protected within the
ribcage and the pelvic cavity. These are the deepest, most essential layer
of our being. (p. 21- The Book Of Shiatsu by Paul Lundberg
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why Yin Yang Symbol looks like this way?
Where does the Yin Yang Symbol come from?
is a well-known Chinese
Yin Yang symbol. Sometimes it's called Tai-Chi symbol. The Tai-Chi is from
I-Ching. The I-Ching is the greatest foundation of Chinese philosophy.
It’s development is from the natural phenomena of our universe. Because
I-Ching comes from nature, it should be easy.
The Chinese characters of I-Ching are 
.
The second character means a book, a profound book. The first character
means ease or change. Since I-Ching is easy, some people call it as "The
Book of Ease" or "The Book of Changes". The
original Chinese character of 
is 
, which is a symbol combining
the sun (top) and moon (bottom). It's easy for people to understand the
philosophy by talking about the sun (Yang), moon (Yin) and universe. After
observing the universe, ancient Chinese found that the universe is changing
every day. Although it changes easily every day, it also has seasonal and
annual cycles. From these cycles the unchanging rules are created. However,
it's not easy to use the
method to find the unchanging rules from the universe and apply on human
activities. That's why some people think I-Ching is easy and some don't.
The Dipper at night
By observing the sky, recording the Dipper's positions and watching the shadow of the Sun from an 8-foot (Chinese measurement) pole, ancient Chinese determined the four directions. The direction of sunrise is the East; the direction of sunset is the West; the direction of the shortest shadow is the South and the direction of the longest shadow is the North. At night, the direction of the Polaris star is the North.
They noticed the seasonal changes. When the Dipper points to the East, it's spring; when the Dipper points to the South, it's summer; when the Dipper points to the West, it's fall; when the Dipper points to the North, it's winter.
When observing the cycle of the Sun, ancient Chinese simply used a pole about 8 feet long, posted at right angles to the ground and recorded positions of the shadow. Then they found the length of a year is around 365.25 days. They even divided the year's cycle into 24 Segments, including the Vernal Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice, using the sunrise and Dipper positions.
They used six concentric circles, marked the 24-Segment points, divided the circles into 24 sectors and recorded the length of shadow every day. The shortest shadow is found on the day of Summer Solstice. The longest shadow is found on the day of Winter Solstice. After connecting each lines and dimming Yin Part from Summer Solstice to Winter Solstice, the Sun chart looks like below. The ecliptic angle 23 26' 19'' of the Earth can be seen in this chart.
The Ecliptic is the Sun's apparent path around the Earth. It's tilted relative to the Earth's equator. The value of obliquity of the Ecliptic is around 23 26' 19'' in year 2000.
By rotating the Sun chart and positioning the Winter Solstice at
the bottom, it will look like this 
.
The light color area which indicates more sunlight is called Yang (Sun).
The dark color area has less sunlight (more moonlight) and is called Yin
(Moon). Yang is like man. Yin is like woman. Yang wouldn't grow without
Yin. Yin couldn't give birth without Yang. Yin is born (begins) at Summer
Solstice and Yang is born (begins) at Winter Solstice. Therefore one little
circle Yin is marked on the Summer Solstice position. Another little circle
Yang is marked on the Winter Solstice position. These two little circles
look like two fish eyes.
In general, the Yin Yang symbol is a Chinese representation of the entire celestial phenomenon. It contains the cycle of Sun, four seasons, 24-Segment Chi, the foundation of the I-Ching and the Chinese calendar.
© Copyright 1999-2003 Allen Tsai http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/yinyang.htm
(Back to Home)
Return to Table of Contents