Editing Yin and yang (section)

{{Short description|Philosophical concept of dualistic-monism or dynamic-monism in ancient Chinese philosophy}}
{{Redirect|Yin yang|other uses|Yin yang (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| collapse = no
| pic = Yin and Yang symbol.svg
| piccap = A [[taijitu]] of a particular style that is often named a "yin and yang symbol", the black area representing yin, with the opposite white side representing yang. The dots are representative of one within the other.
| picupright = 0.6
| t = {{linktext|陰陽}}
| s = 阴阳
| p = yīnyáng
| w = {{tone superscript|yin1-yang2}}
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|yin|1|.|yang|2}}
| gr = inyang
| j = jam1 joeng4
| y = yām yèuhng
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|j|am|1|-|j|oeng|4}}
| poj = im-iông
| tl = im-iông
| h = {{tone superscript|yim1-yong2}}
| mc = 'im-yang
| oc-b92 = &ast;ʔrjum ljang
| oc-bs = &ast;q(r)um lang
| hangul = 음양
| hanja = 陰陽
| rr = eumyang
| mr = ŭmyang
| qn = âm dương
| chuhan = 陰陽
| mon = арга билэг / арга билиг
| mong = ᠡ‍ᠠ‍ᠷᠭ᠎᠎ᠠ ᠪᠢᠯᠡᠭ <br /> ᠠᠷᠭ᠎ᠠ ᠪᠢᠯᠢᠭ
| kanji = 陰陽
| hiragana = {{unbulleted list|いんよう|おんよう|おんみょう}}
| revhep = {{unbulleted list|in'yō|on'yō|onmyō}}
| tp = yin-yáng
| bpmf = ㄧㄣ ㄧㄤˊ
| katakana = {{unbulleted list|インヨウ|オンヨウ|オンミョウ}}
| kunrei = {{unbulleted list|in'you|on'you|onmyou}}
}}
{{Taoism}}
{{Chinese folk religion}}

'''Yin and yang''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|j|ɪ|n}}, {{IPAc-en|j|æ|ŋ}}), also '''yinyang'''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stefon |first=Matt |date=7 May 2021 |title=yinyang |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/yinyang |access-date=3 May 2023 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Robin R. |title=Yinyang (Yin-yang) |url=https://iep.utm.edu/yinyang/ |access-date=3 May 2023 |website=[[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |language=en-US}}</ref> or '''yin-yang''',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shan |first=Jun |date=3 February 2020 |title=What Do Yin and Yang Represent? |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/yin-and-yang-629214 |access-date=3 May 2023 |website=[[ThoughtCo]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> is a concept that originated in [[Chinese philosophy]], describing an opposite but interconnected, self-perpetuating cycle. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary and at the same time opposing forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts and the parts are as important for the cohesion of the whole.<ref>{{cite book |author=Georges Ohsawa |author-link=Georges Ohsawa |year=1976 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQqDZnm43mkC |title=The Unique Principle |publisher=George Ohsawa Macrobiotic |isbn=978-0-918860-17-0 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

In [[Chinese cosmology]], the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of primordial [[qi]] or material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and yang, force and motion leading to form and matter. "Yin" is retractive, passive and contractive in nature, while "yang" is repelling, active and expansive in principle; this dichotomy in some form, is seen in all things in nature—patterns of change and difference. For example, biological, psychological and seasonal cycles, the historical evolution of landscapes over days, weeks, years to eons. The original meaning of Yin was depicted as the northerly shaded side of a hill and Yang being the bright southerly aspect. When pertaining to human gender Yin is associated to more rounded feminine characteristics and traits and Yang as sharp and masculine.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations |last=Feuchtwang |first=Stephan |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-415-85881-6 |location=New York |page=150}}</ref>

''[[Taiji (philosophy)|Taiji]]'' is a Chinese cosmological term for the "Supreme Ultimate" state of undifferentiated absolute and infinite potential, the oneness before duality, from which yin and yang originate. It can be contrasted with the older ''[[Wuji (philosophy)|wuji]]'' ({{zhi|t=無極|l=without pole}}). In the cosmology pertaining to yin and yang, the material energy which this universe was created from is known as ''[[qi]]''. It is believed that the organization of qi in this cosmology of yin and yang is the  formation of the 10 thousand things between Heaven and Earth.<ref>Feuchtwang, Sephan. "Chinese Religions." Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations, Third ed., Routledge, 2016, pp. 150–151.</ref> Included among these forms are humans. Many natural [[Dualistic cosmology|dualities]] (such as [[light and dark]], fire and water, expanding and contracting) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. This duality, as a [[unity of opposite]]s, lies at the origins of many branches of classical [[History of science and technology in China|Chinese science]], [[Science and technology in China|technology]] and philosophy, as well as being a primary guideline of [[traditional Chinese medicine]],<ref name=Porkert1974>{{cite book |author-last1=Porkert |author-first1=Manfred |title=The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine |publisher=MIT Press |year=1974 |isbn=0-262-16058-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/theoreticalfound00pork}}</ref> and a central principle of different forms of [[Chinese martial arts]] and exercise, such as [[baguazhang]], [[tai chi]], [[daoyin]], [[kung fu]] and [[qigong]], as well as appearing in the pages of the ''[[I Ching]]'' and the famous Taoist medical treatise called the ''[[Huangdi Neijing]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Field |first=Tiffany |date=2011-08-01 |title=Tai Chi research review |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1744388110000824 |journal=Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=141–146 |doi=10.1016/j.ctcp.2010.10.002 |pmid=21742279 |issn=1744-3881|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In [[Taoist]] metaphysics, distinctions between good and bad, along with other [[dichotomous]] moral judgments, are perceptual, not real; so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole. In the ethics of [[Confucianism]] on the other hand, most notably in the philosophy of [[Dong Zhongshu]] ({{circa}} 2nd century BC), a moral dimension is attached to the idea of yin and yang.<ref>{{cite book |last=Taylor Latener |first=Rodney Leon |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Confucianism |volume=2 |publisher=Rosen Publishing Group |year=2005 |page=869 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8239-4079-0}}</ref> The [[Ahom religion|Ahom philosophy]] of [[Dualism (philosophy of mind)|duality]] of the individual self ''han'' and ''pu'' is based on the concept of the [[Hun and po|hun 魂 and po 魄]] that are the yin and yang of the mind in the philosophy of Taoism.<ref name=":10603/116167">{{cite thesis |last=Gogoi |first=Shrutashwinee |date=2011 |title=Tai ahom religion a philosophical study |hdl=10603/116167 |type=PhD |url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/116167}}</ref>{{rp|page=vii}} The tradition was originated in [[Yunnan]],  [[China]] and followed by some [[Ahom people|Ahom]], descendants of the [[Dai people|Dai ethnic minority]].<ref name=":10603/116167" />{{rp|page=203}}