Did you know that the Yin Yang symbol is all about the balance of opposites?
Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia! My name is Kelly and today's video is all about
the history and meaning of the popular symbol of Yin and Yang. You will definitely recognise the
symbol of Yin and Yang, but do you know all that it encompasses? Don't forget,
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The principle of Yin and Yang dates from the 3rd Century BCE and perhaps even earlier than that,
and as the foundational principle of Chinese philosophy and Chinese medicine. Yin and Yang
is a symbol of balanced opposites where they are inseparable and contradictory such as dark
and light and young and old. The term Yang in Chinese means the 'Sunny Side of the Hill' and
the term Yin means the 'Shady Side Of The Hill.' Yin and Yang are two different energies that can
be used to describe anything and everything in the universe, and as symbolised in the two small dots
within the Yin and Yang symbol, everything contains a bit of its opposite. The symbol
of Yin and Yang shows that each side is equal and comprises a bit of the other; neither is superior
and an increase in one leads to a decrease in the other. In order to reach harmony, the two
sides must be correctly balanced. It is believed that if there is ever too great of an imbalance
between Yin and Yang, natural disasters such as droughts, floods and plagues can occur. The desire
for Yin and Yang to be balanced can also be seen in Chinese medicine with the belief that a lack or
excess of Yin or Yang energy can cause health issues and balancing them out is the remedy.
In Chinese mythology, Yin and Yang were created from chaos when the universe was first created
and are believed to exist in harmony at the centre of the earth. The balance between Yin
and Yang during creation allowed for the birth of the first human and the first Gods Fuxi,
Nuwa and Shennong were born from Yin and Yang. In Chinese religion, Yin and Yang is
a fundamental part of the Taoist religion and philosophical thought. Taoism is centered on
the belief in a force known as The Tao that flows through all things, binds all things,
releases all things. The Tao is in constant motion; has always been in constant motion,
bringing things into being and passing them away in an eternal flow of energy. The Yin
and Yang symbol in Taoism represents this eternal interaction of opposites which is necessary for
existence. Without Yang energy nothing could come into existence; without Yin, energy nothing could
pass out of existence. Everything is in a constant state of change all the time and of course this is
true for every person. Taoism encourages people to recognise that life is constant change and to go
with the flow of the Tao instead of resisting and trying to keep things in our life as they are. The
Yin Yang symbol is a powerful reminder to Taoists, and anyone else of how the universe works and that
one can find personal balance in recognising and accepting the nature of life. In the "I Ching",
or the "Book of Changes" which is an early divination manual, Yin is represented by a broken
line and Yang is represented by a solid line. These lines are arranged into groups of three
known as trigrams which depict either more Yin or more Yang, depending on the grouping of lines. In
the "I Ching" as in Taoism, one must have both Yin energy and Yang energy for right results.
Yin is the black side of the symbol. Yin is female and the feminine energy. It's dark,
north and passive. Yin is cold, it's water, it's down it's old and Earth and static. Yin is the
moon, its valleys, its even numbers, it's soft and it's poor, and then you have Yang which is
the white side of the symbol. Yang is male and the masculine energy. It's light, south and active.
Yang is warm, it's fire, it's up, it is young and heaven and moving. Yang is the sun, its mountains,
its odd numbers, it's hard and it's rich. Where Yin provides the spirit to All Things, Yang
provides the form. Where Yin is the destination, Yang is the journey. Yin and Yang are two sides
of the same coin, they're opposites and they can also transform into one another with Summer always
transforming into Autumn and day always becoming night to then return daylight out of darkness.
Can you think of an example of Yin and Yang that we didn't explore in this video? Let
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