The Geomancy & Fengshui Portal

The theories of Yin-Yang and Five Elements were the creation and development of the ancient Chinese through their long and faithful tradition of observing nature's cycles and changes. They held that wood, fire, earth, metal, and water were the basic substances constituting the material world. These five basic substances were considered an indispensable part of daily life. They also noted that the material world is in a constant state of flux due to the dynamic movement and mutual antagonism of yin and yang factors.

According to the book of Change or I Ching, Ying and Yang are illustrated as two opposite polar that existed in the universe.

The Yin Yang theory holds that all phenomena consist of two opposite aspects, yin and yang, which are variously defined as: up and down, left and right, light and dark, hot and cold, stillness and movement, substance and function, etc. The movements and changes of yin and yang give impetus to the development of everything or in the words of the Suwen, "Yin and yang are the law of Heaven and Earth, the outline of everything, the parents of change, the origin of birth and destruction...."

Yin and yang represent two opposite aspects of every object and its implicit conflict and interdependence. Generally, anything that is moving, ascending, bright, progressing, hyperactive, including functional disease of the body, pertains to yang. The characteristics of stillness, descending, darkness, degeneration, hypoactivity, including organic disease, pertain to yin.

The nature of yin and yang is relative. According to Yin-Yang theory, everything in the universe can be divided into the two opposite but complementary aspects of yin and yang and so on ad infinitum. For example, day is yang and night is yin, but morning is understood as being yang within yang, afternoon is yin within yang, evening before midnight is yin within yin and the time after midnight is yang within yin. As the Suwen states, "Yin and yang could amount to ten in number, be extended to one hundred, to one thousand, to ten thousand and ever to the infinite."

The Characteristics of Ying and Yang Principle

The Opposition of Yin and Yang

The theory of Yin-Yang holds that every object in the universe consists of two opposite aspects which are in continual mutual restriction and interaction. The alternation of the four seasons is an example. The spring is warm and the summer hot. This is due to the rising of yang qi which restricts the autumn cool and the winter cold. Alternately, the coolness of autumn and cold of winter arise because of the ascendancy of yin that restricts the spring warmth and summer heat. According to Yin-Yang theory, the seasonal cycle is the outcome of the mutually restrictive and mutually consuming-increasing activities of yin and yang. Either side of the two opposites always restricts and acts on the other. This process of mutual restriction and interaction is the operation of yin and yang, without which change would not occur. Thus the two opposites of yin and yang do not exist as an entity in a still and unconcerned state. They constantly interact with each other, hence the alteration and development of an object.

Yin and Yang Interdependence

Yin and yang are at once in opposition and in interdependence. They rely on each other for existence, coexisting in a singe entity. Each of the two aspects is the condition for the other's existence and neither can exist in isolation. For example, daytime is yang, night in yin, without day there would be no night; upper is yang, lower is yin; left is yang, right is yin, etc., each pair exists in a state of mutual dependence, and without its opposite it could not exist. The interdependent relationship of yin and yang is described in the Suwen, "Yin is installed in the interior as the material foundation for yang, while yang remains on the exterior as the manifestation of the yin function." This is a traditional explanation of the interdependence of yin and yang.

The Mutual Consuming-Increasing Relationship of Yin and Yang

The yin and yang aspects within an object are not quiescent, but in a state of constant motion. They can be described as being in a state where the lessening of yin leads to an increase of yang, or vise versa. Taking the transformation of the seasons as an example, in terms of the Yin-Yang theory, the process of transition from winter cold through spring warmth into summer heat demonstrates the process of a lessening of yin leading into an increasing of yang. While the transition from the heat of summer to the cold of winter is the lessening of yang leading to an increasing of yin.

Yin and Yang's Mutual Transforming Relationship In certain circumstances and at a certain stage of development, each of the two aspects of yin and yang, within an object, will transform from yin into yang and from yang into yin. The mutual consuming-increasing of yin and yang is a process of quantitative change, and the mutual transformation of yin and yang is a process of qualitative change. The Suwen comments, "Extreme cold will bring about heat, and extreme heat will induce cold..."furthermore, "Excessive yin may cause yang syndromes or tend to be transformed into yang and vice versa." These are the features and conditions of the mutual transformation of yin and yang.

The above-mentioned relationships of mutual opposing, depending, consuming-increasing, and transforming of yin and yang are the basic content of Yin-Yang theory. Furthermore, these four relationships between yin and yang are not so isolated from each other but interconnect with and interact upon each other.