The concept of Yin and Yang is most often illustrated within a symbol called a “Taijitu”, which represents Taiji, “great pole”, in both its monist (Wuji) and its dualist (Yin and Yang) aspects. And so represented is the ultimate, supreme Principle that is unmanifest, Wuji, and from this comes the creator which indicates it is not the supreme Principle, but only Being, insomuch as it is the first Principle of manifestation which is metaphysical unity, Taiji, then giving rise to the dualism and differentiation of creation, Yin and Yang, as the very nature of this unity produces a binary by its own polarization in the process of cosmic manifestation and the splitting into two halves of the World Egg. “Out of One comes Two” says the Tao , and “I am the One who becomes Two” says an Ancient Egyptian inscription. In terms of numbers, as a whole the Taijitu represents the sacred number 3; 1 + 2 = 3. The manifestation and sacral nature of 1 and 2 and then 3 can be seen in many cultures, from Occident to Orient.

Though a seemingly simple symbol to look at, and definitely a popular one, within it is found the deepest of philosophy characteristic to the Chinese Spirit. Yin-Yang along with the Tao (道 – “way”, “path”, “route”, “road”, “doctrine”, “principle”, “holistic beliefs”) express a complete picture of the world and of the spirit, its differentiations, inherent natures and ultimately its holistic harmony that is ‘invisible’ in its truest form, but is reflected in creation. Yin-Yang thus visually represents a dualism, but with a subtle implication to a third element, a centre, thus making a triad – which too reflects the nature of Man (as in humanity), with our place at the midpoint between heaven and earth. The whole, truly embraced, is a return back to a state primordial in perfect unity, “Being” and balance, which in many traditions is depicted as the androgyne. Even in Chinese traditional medicine health is directly related to the balancing of Yin and Yang within oneself, the disequilibrium is what leads to certain bodily ailments which in itself reflects and symbolizes the greater disequilibrium and natural state of the Spirit. Biblically speaking it’s the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” that sets in motion the nature of creation and its interlinked dichotomies that ultimately throws humanity out from the perfect unity and equilibrium of Eden, into a state of worldly illusion.

One cannot be spoken of without reference to the other. We cannot define Good without Evil, top without bottom, knowledge without ignorance, all of these dichotomies ultimately make up a single whole in creation.

In the I Ching, Yin is denoted by a broken line and Yang by a continuous line. They are combined to form trigrams and hexagrams. Six broken Yin lines make up Kūn (坤), “field”, relating to passive perfection, the Earth, the receptive, the flow, etc. While six continuous Yang lines make up Qián (乾), “force”, relating to “active” perfection, Heaven, the creative, the key, “god” etc. As stated already, Heaven and earth are the polarization of the primordial Monad, Taiji, the Great Pole or the Great Hinge, ‘Out of One comes Two’. Yet on the other hand if we simply concern ourselves with the dualist nature of the created world, then Yang and Yin suggest Oneness and duality respectively, the Monad and dyad of the Pythagoreans, odd and even.

Yin-Yang is presented in the Taijitu as a symbol of a circle divided into equal halves by a wavy line – one half is Black, which is Yin, the other White, which is Yang, two faces which can only exist in inseparable relation to each other, representing the two-fold complimentary, and whole nature of the created universe with its alternating rhythm. Dark and light, evil and good, earthly and Heavenly, cold and hot, closed and open, external and internal, negative and positive, female and male, and so on. Like the two sides of a valley, one is in the sun and the other is in darkness, an illustration in nature that of which is one of the foundations of Chinese Geomancy (Feng-Shui – 風水). These are two opposite extremes that branch out through space and time via the universal activity, and in relation to the middle line, pole, or “centre” they are centripetal and centrifugal forces, pulling and pushing, collecting and dispersing, creating and destroying.

This division is a very widespread concept in various traditions, as in the case between the Hindu/Dharmic “Gunas”, the tendencies or qualities of existence, of Tamas (“darkness”) and Sattva (“purity”), with a third being Rajas, “activity”; “heaven and Earth were joined in a mutual embrace.” It is unavoidable. Of clear note, within the symbol of Yin-Yang, there is a white dot of Yang within the black Yin half, and so too is there a black Yin dot within the white field of Yang, which is further representation of their interdependence and relationship, but further still in metaphysical terms it is a sign of the Presence of the Real within the shadow of ignorance, and of darkness or the illusion within the universal and light of true-knowing (Gnosis). The wavy line that divides the sides shows in itself a path, or Tao, between and unifying the dualism and extremes, and as a whole it is in a spiraling motion, representing the “active”, cyclical nature of creation and of individual destiny in this world, with an entrance and an exit – life and death. Here in this centre of “activity” within creation is where we find ourselves. Beyond and between space and time, earth and Heaven, in an eternal present, in the nature of Wu-Wei (無為) – an “Unmoved-Mover” in Aristotelian terms, at the centre of the great wheel of the world.

Although Yin and Yang stand for opposites, they never actually conflict in absolute terms, because there is always a period of change lying between them and this allows for continuity. All things, individuals, times and spaces are at some stage Yin and at another Yang, such as in the law of cycles, as well that all things have in themselves a bit of Yin and Yang in various degrees. All things partake of both through their future states and their dynamism with its potential for evolution and involution. Creation is a constant, changing, ebb and flow of Yin and Yang, and as one quality reaches its zenith, it then begins to reflect its opposite, as grain that fully grows in summer (Yang), produces its seeds and then withers away in winter (Yin). Likes the waves of the ocean, as they rise, they then fall again, and so on and on.

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Japan has a similar symbol to the Yin-Yang called the Mitsu-Tomoe, although it originated in Korea, and it is a more dynamic form of the revolving cycle with its three “Tomoe”, or “commas”. In this form, the representation of cosmic tendencies in triple form become even more similar with the Gunas of Hinduism/Sanatana Dharma. The significance of the number three in relation to the Mitsu-Tomoe in Shintoist thinking is that it represents the three aspects of the four mitama or ‘souls’. The Koyasan Shingon sect of Buddhism uses the Mitsu-Tomoe as a visual representation of the cycle of life. The spiral too is more pronounced, showing the ever-flow of created existence and its tripartite nature.