Principle of Yin and Yang

To understand the nature of chi-healing, we must first understand chi. To begin the study of chi, we need to understand the principle of yin and yang. Yin and yang are the basic structure of the universe. Thus, it can be found everywhere in the universe. The yin and yang of the universe are called "Tao".

Yin and yang are two opposite yet complementary force. Dark, night, moon, female, water, and solid are considered to be yin. Bright, day, sun, male, fire, and hallow are considered to be yang. When we are comparing things in term of yin and yang, we are doing so in relative terms. For example, when we are describing height, we can say short is yin, and tall is yang. In terms of distance, we can say near as yin, and far as yang. In temperature, yin is cold, and hot is yang. Although, sometimes yin can be view as negative quality (sadness, grief, weak, indecisive), we must not look at yin as negative "Bad", and yang as positive "Good", but look at yin as the opposite contrary, and complementary to yang. Without yin, there would be no yang, and vise versa. For example, without light, there would be no shadow. Without life, there would be no death. Within yang, there is yin. Within yin there is also yang. This can be seen clearly in the Tai-Chi symbol. Another principle of yin and yang is: from the extreme yang, comes the yin, and from the extreme yin comes the yang. For instance, during a hazardous storm or blizzard, some people would become worried. They worry what will happen if the storm doesn’t stop. But other people would not even bother to worry, because they understand the principle of yin and yang. There is a Chinese saying that: "after the storm will come the sunshine". That idea is based on the concept that from the extreme yin (the storm) will come the yang (the sunshine). All these relationship can be seen in the Tai-Chi symbol. taichi.gif (212 bytes)

yin	Yang
Passive	Active
Feminine	Masculine
Static	Dynamic
Cold	Hot
Damp	Dry
Water	Fire
Earth	Heaven
Bottom	Top
Left	Right
In	Out
Short	Long
Night	Day
Moon	Sun
Down	Up
Female	Male
Intangible	Tangible
Solid	Hallow
Conceptualize	Materialize
Contract	Expand
Pull	Push
Defensive	Offensive
Soft	Hard
Inhale	Exhale
Death	Alive
Sad	Happy
Short	Tall
Thin	Fat
Close	Open
Weak	Strong