The complementary nature of polarity
Yin and Yang
by Reg Harris
Copyright 1999 © by Reg Harris. All rights reserved. Updated: 4 October 2007. This article may not be copied in whole or in part without my expressed written permission. Contact me for permission. Please respect my copyright.
Polar opposites express cosmic harmony
Every year I have at least one student who wears a patch,
necklace or other ornament with the ancient Chinese symbol of the
yin-yang. When this happens, I try to take the time to introduce and
explore the yin-yang and the concept of cosmic duality and harmony
which it represents.
Students usually are interested in the yin-yang
symbol and its meaning.
Moreover, the concept of polar opposites within a single "system"
(and the tension created by the interaction of these forces) can
lead to some interesting and exciting insights about literature,
film and our own lives.
Cosmic duality and balance
The yin-yang is a symbol for cosmic duality and balance, a
synthesis of mutually dependent polar forces. Each force exists only
in relationship to its opposite, each is "completed" by its
opposite, and each gains life and expression through the patterns
generated by the perpetual interplay with its opposite.
The yin-yang is composed of five elements: a circle, two tear-shaped
"opposites," and two dots within these opposites. The circle is
symbolic of the universe, of totality and completeness. We can see
this circle-as-whole archetype in images as varied as the mandala
and the oroboros (right).
Yin and Yang: Source of Existence
Within the circle are two "opposing" forces, yin and yang. Yin,
the dark half, is associated with femininity, the negative, moisture,
passivity, north, cold, shadow, even numbers, and earth. Yang, the
light half, is associated with masculinity, positive, dryness,
action, the south, warmth, and the sun.
Yin and yang swirl around each other. Each in turn grows to its
fullest expression (its largest, filling half of the circle), and
then naturally give rise to the "seed" of its opposite, the dot of
the opposite color. These dots express the mutual dependence of the
two poles, each striving for "completion" in the other. In a sense,
it is like a plant growing to its fullest expression, flowers,
producing a seed and dying, allowing the seed to continue the
process of creating life.
In Chinese philosophy, it is the interplay between yin and yang
provides the tension that creates the universe. The natural flow
created by this movement is called the Tao, and in Taosim, one's
goal is to put oneself into harmony with this flow.
Implications of the Yin-Yang
The yin-yang expresses many important concepts. Perhaps the most
important is the relative nature of all things. Darkness, for
example, can exist only in relationship to light. Good is defined
and shaped by bad, and vice versa. Tall is only tall when there is
short. (If everyone were tall, no one would be tall.)
The principle of the relativity of all things tells us that we can't
have one pole without the other. Even just acknowledging one pole
implies its opposite. To speak of light, we must imply its opposite,
the absence of light, or darkness. To speak of being, we must also
acknowledge non- being. In Chinese, this truth--that opposites arise
automatically and naturally from each other--is called hsiang shen,
or "mutually arising." In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu writes,
When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
So being and non-being create each other,
Difficult and easy produce each other.
Long and short arise from the contrast of one with the other.
High and low depend on each other for definition.
Musical notes become harmonious
through their relationship to one another.
Before and after
follow each other
Explicit duality, implicit unity
Hsiang shen occurs because what appear to be opposites are really
just two poles of the same reality, like the poles of a magnet. They
cannot be separated because they are not individual forces, but
rather two aspects of one system. This is a difficult concept for
the western mind, which has learned that opposites are in conflict
with teach other: good battles evil, light battles darkness.
Yin-yang tells us that these forces are eternally connected because
to elicit one means to elicit the entire system, and thus both
poles. They are created by each other and defined by each other:
darkness is the relative absence of light, good the relative absence
of evil. In his book, Tao: The Watercourse Way, Alan Watts calls
this "an explicit duality expressing an implicit unity."
On a more abstract level, this concept suggests that things which we
have traditionally viewed as separate may actually be one system.
For example, one cannot be an observer (that which observes) without
an object (that which is observed), nor can an object exist without
an observer. The observer, by the conditions of her observation,
defines the object observed, and the object defines the observer by
forcing her to take a position from which to observe. (Consider how
this applies in quantum physics.)
One might also say the question is shaped as much by the answer
sought as the answer is determined by the question. In a similar
sense, I do not exist outside the context of my experiences, and my
experiences cannot exist without me. We define our experiences and
our experiences define us. Each produces and fulfills the other.
Yin-Yang and polarity in literature
We can even apply the principles of yin-yang and polarity to
characters, conflict and plot in literature. An example would be
Hamlet and Laertes in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Prince Hamlet is the man of
thought without action; Laertes is the man of action without
thought. Through their contrast, they define each other, and when
they fight in the final scene, their struggle is the physical
enactment of the perpetual movement of Yin and Yang as they
neutralize each
other to restore balance and harmony.
Even King Hamlet and Claudius express a yin-yang relationship.
Claudius is the evil manipulator, while King Hamlet is the pure
idealist. Furthermore, Prince Hamlet is perplexed by the paradox
that good and evil can coexist in one being (his mother).
Another example comes to us in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. George
and Lennie are polar opposites, both in size and intellect. However,
as Lennie says, "I got you and you got me," and so they are one
system, whose poles are constantly pulling at each other, giving the
relationship life and meaning. Another yin-yang relationship exists
between Slim and Curley.
In addition, the concept of "mutually arising opposites" tells us
that when a system falls out of balance, it produces the seed of its
opposite (the dot of contrasting color in the Yin-Yang). This seed
is, in a sense, the seed of its own destruction. That is, when a
force has reached its fullest expression, it carries within that
expression an element which causes its own demise. As a government
which relies on control reaches fullest expression (absolute
control), it spawns a revolution, which generates anarchy, the polar
opposite of central control.
In literature this concept is illustrated in Romeo and Juliet. The
children of the opposing poles (the opposing dots) fall in love and,
ironically, bring about the death of the animosity between their
families. As Prince Escalus states at play's end, "heaven finds means to kill your love
with hate." And it is their love, blooming out of the families'
hatred, which ends the fighting.
Even in Jungian psychology, we see the tension between the conscious
ego and the unconscious shadow. We project our shadow onto others
and into our relationships. Eventually the shadow, like the
contrasting seed, demands expression, and drags the ego kicking and
screaming into a new stage of harmony.
Yin-Yang as Hero's Journey
One could make the case that the movement of the Yin-Yang in our lives, the tension between within the "me/experience" system, is the mechanism of the Hero's Journey. We move along in our lives until we reach a point of "untenable tension," and the "seed of the opposite" is our call to adventure, our call to seek change, to restore harmony and balance.