Yin Yang Meaning: Origin, 5 Principles and many more!

Yin and yang is a concept in Chinese culture that has developed over thousands of years. In short, the yin yang meaning is that the universe is governed by a cosmic duality, sets of two complementary principles or cosmic energies that can be observed in nature: yin energy and yang energy.

Now that you know the yin yang meaning, let’s talk about the universal principles of this philosophy.

Origin of yin yang

This concept comes from the Yin Yang school, one of the so-called “100 schools of thought”, which is part of a series of philosophical and spiritual currents that emerged in China between 770 and 221 BC.

According to this philosophical and religious principle of Chinese culture, there are two opposing but complementary forces essential in the universe: yin energy, associated with the feminine, darkness, passivity and earth; and the yang energy, linked to the masculine, the light, the active and the sky. According to this philosophy, both energies are necessary to maintain universal balance.

Learn more about energy balance and how it benefits your life.

Soon after the creation of yin yang, Taoism, a philosophical and religious doctrine of Chinese origin that emerged in the same period, absorbed the principles of the Yin Yang school to argue that everything that exists has a counterpart that is necessary for existence.

There is no immutable, static, but everything is continually changing, in an infinite flow, harmonious and balanced by the forces of yin and yang.

Although there is no consensus on the origin of the term yin yang, the oldest records found so far suggest that as early as the Shang dynasty (1776 BC-1122 BC) there was a graphic representation of two opposing and complementary forces, which has been interpreted as an antecedent of the concept, which would later be extended into Taoism.

After knowing the yin yang meaning and its origin, it’s time to talk about its principles. Check out:

Yin Yang Principles

More important than knowing the yin yang meaning is understanding its principles. According to Taoism, yin yang responds to the following universal principles:

• Yin and Yang are opposites: however, they are not absolute, since for this philosophy everything that exists is relative.
• There is yin within yang, just as there is yang within yin: this complements the previous principle. This principle states that the seed of your opposite lives within you. That is: there is Yin within Yang, just as there is shadow in light. In the symbol you can see that each part of the force has a point with the opposite force to symbolize that none of it is absolute.
• Both forces are generated and consumed mutually.: An increase in yin energy implies a decrease in yang energy, but this is not considered imbalance, but part of the life process.
• They can be infinitely subdivided and transformed: yang energy can be split to create yin and yang energy (and vice versa). Likewise, one of the forces can become its opposite.
• Yin and yang are interdependent: each of these forces needs the other to exist.

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Yin Yang Applications

The yin yang meaning and the concept of the two essential, opposing and complementary forces has been applied in other areas that go beyond the spiritual.

The I Ching, an oracular book of Chinese origin, is based on the belief in a fluid and changing universe, in which each situation has its opposite, which will give rise to a new circumstance. Winter, for example, is yin (dark) energy, but potentially contains yang (light) energy. That’s why the change of season brings spring.

Some martial arts include stretching exercises that “draw” taijitu, the most popular graphic representation of yin and yang.

In traditional Chinese medicine, they treat diseases with their opposite energy. In this way, a fever indicates an excess of yang (heat) force, and remedies based on yin (cold) energy are applied to cure it.

For its part, Feng Shui (a discipline of Chinese origin that seeks harmony and aesthetic and energetic balance in environments) is based on the meaning of yin yang to determine if a place has a deficiency or excess of any of these energies, and to work in a reorganization of space to achieve balance.

Also check out some Feng Shui techniques for beginners and apply them in your home.

yin yang symbol

The graphic representation of the yin and yang forces is known as taijitu, in Chinese, and is a diagram represented by a circle divided by a sinuous line, in black and white. One of the first diagrams of this type was created by Lai Zhide (1525-1604), a Taoist practitioner of the Ming dynasty.

What we know today as the symbol of yin and yang is the so-called “early times taijitu” and is first mentioned in the book Discernments on the diagrams of mutations, written during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912).

In this diagram, the opposing forces are fish-shaped (one black, representing the yin force, and the other white, which is the yang force). Each has a dot of the opposite color to symbolize the presence of the opposing force.