Yin & Yang

"The Yang having reached its climax retreats in favour of the Yin;
The Yin having reached its climax retreats in favour of the Yang."

From the very early times, the two archetypal poles of nature were represented not only by bright and dark, but also by male and female, firm and yielding, above and below. Yang, the strong, male, creative power was associated with Heaven, whereas Yin, the dark, receptive, female and maternal element, was represented by Earth. Heaven is above and full of movement; the Earth - in the old geocentric view, is below and resting. Thus Yang came to symbolize movement and Yin rest. In the realm of thought, Yin is the complex, female intuitive mind; Yang the clear and rational male intellect. Yin is the quiet, contemplative stillness of the sage, Yang the strong, creative action of the king.

The diagram ('Tai Chi Tu' which means 'The diagram of the Supreme Ultimate') is a symmetric arrangement of the dark Yin and the bright Yang, but the symmetry is not static. It is rotationally symmetric, suggesting, very forcefully, a continuous cyclic movement.

"The Yang returns cyclically to its beginning, the Yin attains its maximum and gives place to the Yang."

The two dots in the diagram symbolize the idea that each time one of the two forces reaches its extreme, it contains in itself already the seed of the opposite.

The pair of Yin and Yang is the grand leitmotif (the spelling is correct!) that permeates Chinese culture and determines all features of the traditional Chinese way of life.

"Life", says Chuang Tzu, "is the blended harmony of the Yin and the Yang."

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If anyone is interested, I'm ready to give some more details...