[ **up: [[Philosophy, Chinese|Chinese philosophy]]** ] --- # *Yin* and *yang* [[“The concept of yin and yang as two opposite yet interdependent elements is one of the earliest and most fundamental ideas in Chinese thought.”]][^1] A prototype of the symbol first appeared “at least five millennia ago”.[^2] [[Yin and yang were “the dyadic principle that governed the cosmos and everything in it.”]][^3] --- ## Daoism [[“During the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, Daoist philosophers developed the yin–yang concept into a complex theory to delineate the principles that lay at the foundation of the universe and the human body.”]][^4] > “It is the coexistence and codependence of the two forces that makes everything possible: ‘with *yin* alone, nothing will happen; with *yang* alone, nothing will grow.’”[^5] Something that is *yin* in one context may be *yang* in another.[^6] They are not “fixed entities or essential elements.”[^7] --- ### Confucianism > “Confucian ethicists, on the other hand, relied on the *yin–yang* concept to define social and familial relationships.”[^8] Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu (192–104 BCE), in the [[China--History#Han dynasties (202 BCE–220 CE)|Han dynasty]], for example, wrote about the [[Five Relationships (wulun)]]: > “The principle of being ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife all draws from the way of *yin* and *yang*. The ruler is *yang* and the subject is *yin*; the father is *yang* and the son is *yin*; the husband is *yang* and the wife is *yin.*”[^9] It was in the Han dynasty that the idea of *yin* and *yang* became important when discussing/interpreting gender roles/relations.[^10] The most important Confucian text of that dynasty, *[[Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall (Baihu tongyi)]]*, explained: [[“Why is it that according to the Rites the man takes his wife, whereas the woman leaves her house？It is because the yin is lowly, and should not have the initiative; it proceeds to the yang in order to be completed.”]][^11] In the [[China--History#Tang dynasty (618–907)|Tang dynasty]], the *[[Classic of Filial Piety for Girls (Nü xiaojing)]]* stated: > “The way of establishing heaven is called *yin* and *yang*; the way of establishing earth is called gentle and tough. *Yin* and *yang*, gentle and tough, are the beginnings of heaven and earth. [[“Male and female, husband and wife, are the beginnings of human social relations. … The wife is earth and the husband is heaven; neither can be dispensed with. But the man can perform a hundred actions; the woman concentrates on a single goal.”|Male and female, husband and wife, are the beginnings of human social relations. … The wife is earth and the husband is heaven; neither can be dispensed with. But the man can perform a hundred actions; the woman concentrates on a single goal.”]][^12] [^1]: Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 5. [^2]: Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 5. [^3]: Noa Hegesh, ‘[[Hegesh. ‘Mind the Gap_ Acoustical Answers to Cosmological Concerns in First-Century B.C.E. China’, 2021.|Mind the Gap: Acoustical Answers to Cosmological Concerns in First-Century B.C.E. China]]’, *Isis*, vol. 112, no. 4 (2 December 2021), p. 649. [^4]: Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 5. [^5]: Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 5. Also [[“With yin alone, nothing will happen; with yang alone, nothing will grow.’”|here]]. [^6]: Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 6. [^7]: Robin R. Wang, ‘Yingyang Gender Dynamics: Lived Bodies, Rhythmical Changes, and Cultural Performances’, in *[[Pang-White, ed. 'The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy and Gender', 2016.|The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy and Gender]]*, ed. Ann A. Pang-White (Bloomsbury, 2016), p. 223. [^8]: Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 6. [^9]: Dong Zhongshu, quoted in Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 6. [^10]: Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 6. [^11]: Ban Gu, *Baihu tong yi*, *juan* 9, quoted in Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 6. [^12]: *Classical Filial Piety for Girls (Nü xiaojing)*. Translated by Patricia Buckley Ebrey, in Ebrey, *The Inner Quarters*, p. 28. Quoted in Ping Yao, *[[Yao. 'Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China', 2022.|Women, Gender, and Sexuality in China: A Brief History]]* (Routledge, 2022), p. 7.