In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1, The Bible
Heaven and earth. Light and darkness. High and low. Good and evil. Two forces, bold enough to go head to head directly, but at the same time, find a sort of opposed union.
In this blog post, I would like to discuss what yin-yang is and how it can be used to qualify entities in the cosmos.
Heaven and earth
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1:4-5, The Bible
The best way to analyze yin-yang is to look at heaven and earth. The properties of heaven and earth give us a lot of clues as to how entities manifest themselves in nature.
I would go as far as to say that Genesis 1:1 is one of the most condensed scriptures in the Bible. I say that because breaking the universe down into heaven and earth is pretty much like breaking a house down into building blocks.
Don't believe me? Let's make a table of the differences between heaven and earth:
Heaven | Earth |
---|---|
Lightweight | Heavy |
Easy to move through | Hard to move through |
Exists freely | Exists under constraint |
Tries to expose | Tries to hide |
No distinguishable parts | Distinguishable parts |
Mobile | Static |
Simple and therefore abstract | Difficult and therefore concrete |
Difficult to grasp | Easy to grasp |
Transparent | Opaque |
Spacious | Tight |
Lasts forever | Lasts ephemerally |
Essential | Optional |
This is by no means a comprehensive list; I just list a few of the property differences between heaven and earth. Because both entities appear in our physical world and are easily observed, they are easy to confirm by just looking at the world around us.
The yin-yang symbol has an important detail; the inclusion of a little black on the white side, and a little white on the black side. This distinction is subtle but must not be overlooked. It symbolizes that heaven can behave like earth sometimes, and earth like heaven.
This truth is what makes life the roller coaster that it is. Everything has a pattern, but can deviate from the pattern and throw you off.
How? Let's look at heaven, for instance. As much as it is difficult to grasp physically in your hand and seems to have no effect on the world, it can still show up as strong winds in nature, for example. We all know the dangers of a tornado! 🌪️
Earth is no different. As much as it has a hard exterior and can easily be grasped, under certain conditions, some solids can become liquid and sometimes directly gas. This is a clear transition of earth to heaven. A perfect example of this would be dry ice, which is a white solid in a fire extinguisher but quickly becomes gas when released into the atmosphere.
As is above, so is below
Heaven and earth are pretty much the foundations of the cosmos. Every other existing entity follows that fundamental principle, sometimes in a subtle way. Let's explore, shall we?
Light vs darkness
Light is:
- Lightweight: Not applicable in this context, since darkness is no heavier.
- Easy to move through: It's easier to move around in the morning than at night.
- Exists freely: In the presence of light, we can move freely.
- Tries to expose: Light tries to enter every corner of a dark room.
- No distinguishable parts: This is actually the opposite, an example of an exception.
- Mobile: Once again, you have the freedom to move in light without fear or ignorance.
- Simple and abstract: When under the light, the structure of things are exposed and they become easy to analyze.
- Difficult to grasp: Not applicable in this context, since both light and darkness cannot be grasped.
- Transparent: Everything can be seen under the light.
- Spacious: Available space can be seen under the light.
- Lasts forever: It's easy to survive under light.
- Essential: To ensure easy survival, light is needed.
Darkness is:
- Heavy: Not applicable in this context, since light is no lighter.
- Difficult to move through: It's harder to move around at night than in the morning.
- Exists under constraint: In the absence of light, we cannot move freely.
- Tries to hide: Darkness masks the reality of what's in existence.
- Distinguishable parts: This is actually the opposite, an example of an exception.
- Static: You don't want to move around because of fear and ignorance.
- Difficult and concrete: It's harder to understand things in the darkness, and you have to touch things to get through.
- Easy to grasp: Not applicable in this context, since both light and darkness cannot be grasped.
- Opaque: Nothing can be seen in darkness.
- Tight: No available space can be seen without light, so you feel trapped.
- Lasts ephemerally: It's harder to survive in the dark.
- Optional: In darkness, survival is harder and more risky.
High vs low
Let's talk of high vs low in terms of melody (high) and harmony, or accompaniment (low), on the piano.
Melodies are:
- Lightweight: Easy on the ear, since the are played in the middle to high range on the piano.
- Easy to move through: Melodies are usually a sequence of single notes, so they are easy to play.
- Exists freely: Melodies have a proper sequence, but can be improvised without throwing the music off.
- Tries to expose: Melodies stand out in a song; it exposes itself and the song's essence.
- No distinguishable parts: Melodies are not as distinguishable as accompaniment or chord changes.
- Mobile: Melodies can be simple or all over the place in constant motion.
- Simple and abstract: Melodies are easier to understand than chords and harmony.
- Difficult to grasp: Melodies are less patterned than the accompaniment i.e. there is more variation in melodies.
- Transparent: Everything about the song is in the melody.
- Spacious: Melodies tend to sound like they are floating, because there is no bass.
- Lasts forever: The melody is remembered and preserved from generation to generation and even when porting a song to different genres of music.
- Essential: The melody is the identity of the song, and therefore most important.
Harmonies are:
- Heavy: Heavy on the ear, since the are played in the bottom range of the piano.
- Difficult to move through: Chords and bass notes can easily get muddied, especially with the sustain pedal pressed.
- Exists under constraint: The harmony section has to stick to the chord progression.
- Tries to hide: Harmony stays in the background. Also, could possibly mask the melody if too loud.
- Distinguishable parts: Harmony changes the mood of the melody and is therefore more distinguishable.
- Static: Tries not to move around a lot (though there are exceptions).
- Difficult and concrete: Chords can get very complex and voicing them could even be more of a problem.
- Easy to grasp: Harmony usually has a consistent pattern with less variations, making it easier to learn.
- Opaque: You may not remember a song from hearing the chord progression alone; you may need the melody.
- Tight: Lower tones sound like they take up more space in the sound spectrum when played.
- Lasts ephemerally: Chord progression and harmony is secondary to the melody and may not last in your head as long.
- Optional: The harmony can be left out of a song and the song will still be recognizable as long as the melody is played.
Those are some rough examples. As you can see, they are not perfect, but you can see the similarities. They are not arbitrary either; the universe has a clever design to it.
With all that being said, how is yin-yang defined?
Yin: the glass half empty
Yin translates more to earth. According to Wikipedia:
yin (jɪn) Also Yin, Yn. [Chinese yīn shade, feminine; the moon.]
a. In Chinese philosophy, the feminine or negative principle (characterized by dark, wetness, cold, passivity, disintegration, etc.) of the two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy divides and whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being. Also attrib. or as adj., and transf. Cf. yang.
b. Comb., as yin-yang, the combination or fusion of the two cosmic forces; freq. attrib., esp. as yin-yang symbol, a circle divided by an S-shaped line into a dark and a light segment, representing respectively yin and yang, each containing a 'seed' of the other.
Wikipedia
Yin also represents:
- female, passive, negative principle in nature
- The moon
- Shaded orientation
- Covert; concealed; hidden
- Female genitals
- Of the netherworld
- Overcast
- Sinister; treacherous
Yang: the glass half full
Yang translates to heaven. According to Wikipedia:
yang (jæŋ) Also Yang. [Chinese yáng yang, sun, positive, male genitals.]
a. In Chinese philosophy, the masculine or positive principle (characterized by light, warmth, dryness, activity, etc.) of the two opposing cosmic forces into which creative energy divides and whose fusion in physical matter brings the phenomenal world into being. Also attrib. or as adj. Cf. yin.
b. Comb.: yang-yin = yin-yang s.v. yin b.
Wikipedia
Yang represents:
- Male/active/positive principle in nature
- The sun
- Male genitals
- In relief
- Open, overt
- Belonging to this world (or natural, as opposed to artificial)
- Masculine
It's all the same ying
For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
Job 33:14, The Bible
If yin-yang truly embodies the foundational truth of the cosmos, then we should see the patterns repeat all throughout nature. After all, nature should know that human beings learn through repetition, and if there was a message out there for us, it should be repeated multiple times. Here are a few of my observations (excluding any explanations):
Animals
- Lean meat (yang) vs fat (yin)
Electronics
- Modulating wave (yang) vs carrier wave (yin) in radio transmission
Computers
- 0s (yin) vs 1s (yang) for binary messages
- plaintext (yang) vs cipher (yin), used in encryption
- On vs off (yin) for screen pixels
Web Development
- HTML (yang) vs CSS (yin), two most important languages on the web
Physics
- Action (yang) vs reaction (yin), equal but opposing forces (Newton's Third Law)
Poetry
- Stressed syllables (yang) vs unstressed syllables (yin), used for meter
- A vs B (yin and yang can be interchanged here) in popular rhyme schemes (e.g. ABAB or ABBA)
Figurative language
- Metaphors (aka the powerhouse of figurative language)
- Tenor (yang) vs vehicle (yin)
- Oxymorons
- cold sweat
- Hyperboles
- Antimetabole
- The Sabbath vs man, in "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath"
- Holonymy vs metonymy
- Parent (yang) vs child (yin) relationship (i.e. is-a relationship)
- Hypernymy vs hyponymy
Music
- Black keys (yin) vs white keys (yang) on piano
- Legato (yang) vs staccato (yin)
- Stressed beats (yang) and unstressed beats (yin)
Christianity
- The creation of the world
- The heavens (yang) vs the earth (yin) (Genesis 1:1)
- The flaming sword (yang) vs the Cherubims (yin) (Genesis 3:24)
- The laws
- Clean animals (yang) vs unclean animals (yin) (Leviticus 20:25)
- The gospel
- Faith in God for salvation (yang) (John 3:16) vs working for your salvation (yin) (Matthew 7:21-23)
- The servant (yin) vs the son (yang) (John 3)
- Psalms in the Bible
- The righteous (yang) vs the wicked (yin) (Psalm 1)
- Proverbs in the Bible
- The righteous (yang) vs the wicked (yin)
Other symbols
- The power icon: 0 (yin) vs 1 (yang)
- The tree (yang) and the snake (yin)
Maybe someday I could discuss them all along with many more.
The bottom line
Understanding the symbol of yin-yang can be very helpful in analyzing the cosmos since it is the very atoms of creation. There are even deeper connections that can be made with yin-yang (like God vs man, love vs indifference, poetry vs music) and hopefully I can study and talk about more in the future.
Observations like this remind me to pay attention to the world around me and to look for similarities and differences to connect the universe. Understanding patterns is a skill that can translate to all fields of life, so it's definitely a skill worth acquiring.