Yin < * ʔəm compares with Burmese ʔum C 'overcast cloudy', Adi muk-jum 'shade', and Lepcha so'yǔm 'shade' and is probably cognate with Chinese àn < * ʔə̂mʔ 黯 'dim gloomy' and qīn < * khəm 衾 'blanket'. Schuessler gives probable Sino-Tibetan etymologies for both Chinese words.

' im ʔjəm ˑiəm Reconstructions of Old Chinese have illuminated the etymology of modern Chinese words.Ĭompare these Middle Chinese and Old Chinese (with asterisk) reconstructions of yīn 陰 and yáng 陽: Sinologists and historical linguists have reconstructed Middle Chinese pronunciations from data in the (7th century CE) Qieyun rhyme dictionary and later rhyme tables, which was subsequently used to reconstruct Old Chinese phonology from rhymes in the (11th-7th centuries BCE) Shijing and phonological components of Chinese characters. The Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation of 陰 is usually the level first tone yīn 'shady cloudy' or sometimes the falling fourth tone yìn 'to shelter shade' while 陽 'sunny' is always pronounced with rising second tone yáng. In the latter, yáng 昜 'bright' features 日 'sun' + 示 + 彡 'The rays of the sun'. The Chinese characters 陰 and 陽 for the words yīn and yáng are both classified as Phono-semantic characters, combining the semantic component 'mound hill' radical 阝(graphical variant of 阜) with the phonetic components jīn 今 (and the added semantic component yún 云 'pictographic: cloud') and yáng 昜. ' Yin-yang' in seal script (top), Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters 2nd century BC), a moral dimension is attached to the idea of yin and yang. In the ethics of Confucianism on the other hand, most notably in the philosophy of Dong Zhongshu ( c. In Taoist metaphysics, distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral judgments, are perceptual, not real so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole. taijitu symbol) shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the opposite element in each section. Either of the two major aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the observation. According to this philosophy, everything has both yin and yang aspects (for instance, shadow cannot exist without light). Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. The term 'dualistic-monism' or dialectical monism has been coined in an attempt to express this fruitful paradox of simultaneous unity and duality. The notion of duality can be found in many areas, such as Communities of Practice. This duality lies at the origins of many branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy, as well as being a primary guideline of traditional Chinese medicine, and a central principle of different forms of Chinese martial arts and exercise, such as baguazhang, taijiquan (t'ai chi), and qigong (Chi Kung), as well as appearing in the pages of the I Ching. Many natural dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, expanding and contracting) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. It is believed that the organization of qi in this cosmology of Yin and Yang has formed many things. In the cosmology pertaining to Yin and Yang, the material energy, which this universe has created itself out of, is also referred to as qi. There are various dynamics in Chinese cosmology. Yin is the receptive and Yang the active principle, seen in all forms of change and difference such as the annual cycle (winter and summer), the landscape (north-facing shade and south-facing brightness), sexual coupling (female and male), the formation of both men and women as characters and sociopolitical history (disorder and order).

In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of Yin and Yang and formed into objects and lives. 'dark-light', 'negative-positive') is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes how obviously opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. In Ancient Chinese philosophy, yin and yang ( / j ɪ n/ and / j ɑː ŋ, j æ ŋ/ Chinese: 陰陽 yīnyáng pronounced, lit.

Yin and yang symbol and information