Editing Yin and yang (section)

=== Toponymy ===
Many Chinese place names or [[toponyms]] contain the word ''yang'' 'sunny side', and a few contain ''yin'' 'shady side'. In China, as elsewhere in the [[Northern Hemisphere]], sunlight comes predominantly from the south, and thus the south face of a mountain or the north bank of a river will receive more direct sunlight than the opposite side.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CHINESE PLACE NAMES |url=https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/chinalan.htm |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.sjsu.edu}}</ref> For example, ''Yang'' refers to the "south side of a hill" in [[Hengyang]] {{lang|zh|衡陽}}, which is south of [[Mount Heng (Hunan)|Mount Heng]] {{lang|zh|衡山}} in [[Hunan]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hengyang {{!}} Ancient City & Major Industrial Hub {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Hengyang |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> and to the "north bank of a river" in [[Luoyang]] {{lang|zh-hant|洛陽}}, which is located north of the [[Luo River (Henan)|Luo River]] {{lang|zh|洛河}} in [[Henan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Info about Luoyang-国际合作交流中心 |url=https://sites.lynu.edu.cn/gjhz/wjzp/Info_about_Luoyang.htm |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=sites.lynu.edu.cn}}</ref> Similarly, ''yin'' refers to "north side of a hill" in [[Huayin]] {{lang|zh-hant|華陰}}, which is north of [[Mount Hua]] {{lang|zh-hant|華山}} in [[Shaanxi]] province.<ref>{{cite book |first=Zhuqing |last=Li |chapter=Chinese Place Names |pages=179–180 |editor-last=Jiao |editor-first=Liwei |title=The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Language and Culture |publisher=Routledge |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-315-16780-0}}</ref>

In Japan, the characters are used in western [[Honshu]] to delineate the north-side [[San'in region]] {{lang|ja|山陰}} from the south-side [[San'yō region]] {{lang|ja|山陽}}, separated by the [[Chūgoku Mountains]] {{lang|ja|中国山地}}.