Much of a person’s worldview is constructed from their past experiences and community interactions.
The statement is both true and false, Wilson said, because it depends on what mindset an individual is working from. “Is dark really bad and is light really good?” Wilson said. In addition to the central idea of balance, the word ‘paradox’ can also characterize the yin yang symbol.
Moving from binary to paradoxical thought If you don’t balance, you get bad luck.”Įmphasizing one extreme over the other is what causes one to lose equilibrium. “You need to make sure it matches in order to balance. “For each thing, there’s a different kind of force in power,” said Hannah Tu, a junior from Taiwan. For example, day and night gradually flow into each other and the balance between them changes with the seasons. “Outside of Shanghai, pretty much everywhere in China, the houses face south … because the sunshine gets rid of the yin,” Liu said.Īnother concept that defines the nature of yin yang is that it is not static. Senior Douglas Liu said yin yang philosophy is part of Chinese tradition when setting up a home, where yin energy is expressed as black and yang energy as white. Feng shui teaches that there are certain ways to set up a room to not obstruct the flow, Barton said. These flows exist in physical spaces, which gave rise to the ancient art and science of feng shui in China. To achieve this balance, the Daoist approach emphasizes aligning oneself with the equilibrium flows of the cosmos and living in harmony with nature because of the belief in a natural order or “the way.” “In every revealed religion, there is this notion of balance, because inextricably tied to the universe is this idea of balance,” said Eric Wilson, associate dean of Student Affairs and executive director of Spiritual Life programs. Darkness is something that’s part of the natural rhythms and flows of the universe, and you need dark and light - you don’t even know what one is without the other.” “Darkness is not something to be overcome. “The Daoistic use of those metaphors is very different,” Barton said. Darkness is “morally evil” and something one should strive to defeat. Light is “morally good” and something one should strive to expand. In Christianity, light and darkness function as a set of moral categories, Barton said. Students from Taiwanese and Chinese cultures, as well as two experts, reflected on how this symbol is related to paradoxical thinking and achieving balance based on internal flow. They’re all part of the flow of the universe. “The Daoisitic worldview is that all of those things are needed. “The point isn’t that one side is better than the other,” Religion Professor John Barton said.
On the yang side, there is lightness, warmth, summer, aggression, rational thought and masculinity.
In Daoism, yin is associated with darkness, depth, weakness, submission, intuition and femininity. Following this mindset, light and darkness lose their original associations and become part of the deeper dynamics at play in an individual’s journey. While Western culture tends to oversimplify the complexities of human behavior and experiences by placing them in one of two categories - part or whole, negative or positive, competitive or collaborative - yin yang emphasizes the necessity of each to create balance. The yin yang, an ancient symbol of harmony and balance, challenges the conventional association of light with good and darkness with evil.
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