“Yin Yang”

The “Yin Yang” (Taijitu) is a well-known Chinese symbol. Sometimes it’s called Tai-Chi symbol from I-Ching the “Book of Changes”. The I-Ching is the well spring of all Chinese philosophy. This unique and elegant form flows from the observation by the ancients of the change and flow of the natural phenomena of our universe.

People can more easily grasp the concepts of harmony, change and dual nature of the observed universe within the framework of the cosmic unity by talking about the sun (Yang), moon (Yin) as symbolic of the male and female, positive and negative, active and passive nature of being. We see the harmony and balance of the cosmos, which flows directly from the ratios upon which the universe is built.

The ancients, seeking to understand the harmony of the cosmos first observed the night sky recording the positions of the constellation known as 北斗 “Beidou” in China or “The Big Dipper” in the West and watching the shadow of the Sun from a standard Chinese measuring post, an 8-foot pole, they determined the four directions. The direction of sunrise is the East; the direction of sunset is the West; the direction of the shortest shadow is the South and the direction of the longest shadow is the North. At night, the direction of the Polaris star is the North. They noticed the seasonal changes.

When the Dipper points to the East, it’s spring; when the Dipper points to the South, it’s summer; when the Dipper points to the West, it’s fall; when the Dipper points to the North, it’s winter. When observing the cycle of the Sun, ancient Chinese simply used the measuring pole and posted at right angles to the ground and recorded positions of the shadow. Then, they found the length of a year is around 365.25 days. They even divided the year’s cycle into 24 segments, including the Vernal Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice, using the sunrise and Dipper positions.

Brilliant in its simplicity. The astronomers then inscribed six concentric circles, marked the 24-Segment points, divided the circles into 24 sectors and recorded the length of the shadow every day. The shortest shadow is found on the day of Summer Solstice. The longest shadow is found on the day of Winter Solstice. After connecting each lines and dimming Yin Part from Summer Solstice to Winter Solstice the Sun chart looks like familiar figure above.

Sam Saran