Explore Taoism

The ying-yang symbol has bee around for centuries but its very difficult to determine the exact date of origin of the symbol or who created it and no one has ever laid claim to the symbol either. In spite of this there is a rich history, both textual and visual behind this one symbol.

Keeping in mind visions of cosmic harmony many Chinese thinkers have sought to codify this symbol is various intellectual constructions. Whether this pattern is to be formulated in words, concepts, number or visual designs is something that has been debated since the time of the Han dynasty.

This question was first asked in the interpretation of the Yijing which was constructed around sixty four hexagrams, each made of six parallel line segments. Each of the sixty four segments has a unique design and its image relates to a particular natural object and conveys the meaning of human activities and events. Thus the Yijing has given a different approach to the way the universe is deciphered and it incorporates three elements xiang (image), shu (numbers) and li (meanings).

The school of Xiangshu has given a different way to interpret the classics and according to them it is to produce a figurative and numerological representation of the universe through images and numbers.  What this school did was to draw diagrams and this was meant as a means of articulating the basic patterns that govern the various phenomenons that take place in the universe.

The school of Yili focuses more on new theories than explaining the classics.

Thus many schools have tried to interpret the ying-yang symbol in their own way but there has never been one claimant to it. Even so it remains one of the foundation stones of Taoism and will continued to be revered by followers of the religion.