Origin of the Ying-Yang? (experience, verse, taoism)

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by ALifetimeToWaitFor....

What is the origin of the Ying-Yang symbol. I'm pretty sure its from taoism if i'm wrong tell me. But where did it come from? The moon in the night sky?

So far as I know, May is correct. Some scholars believe that the terms once referred to such things as the shady side of a mountain and the sunny side of a mountain.

[d.]

Originally Posted by may

The Chinese character "yin" literally means "shade" or "shadow" and represents darkness, cold, femininity. "Yang," the opposite, stands for things bright, hot, masculine.

also important to remember is that the yin side has a white dot and the yang side a black dot, and that the whole symbol is spinning. that's very important, actually.

why? because this way there is darkness in light - and vice versa - and the fields and the distinction betwen them are not static but constantly changing.

anybody know what happens when you spin a coloured disc fast enough?

[Master Vigil]

It's quite common knowledge that the "yin yang" symbol has existed LOOONG before Lao Tzu and in many different forms. A symbol, is ALWAYS a way of explaining a concept or idea, never is it an explanation in and of itself. A symbol is exactly what "symbol" means. Something used to "represent" something else.

[Francine]

Originally Posted by Master Vigil

A symbol, is ALWAYS a way of explaining a concept or idea, never is it an explanation in and of itself. A symbol is exactly what "symbol" means. Something used to "represent" something else.

DC Lau says: "…the Yin and Yang occur once and once only in the Laozi (chapter 47) and there is no reason to suppose that they occupy an important place in the thought of the whole work."