Yin and Yang in Everything

[Guest tanukioh]

I've been thinking heavily lately on how right or wrong the Yin and Yang principals are. >.> Then it hit me. o.o Everything is based on Yin and Yang. ^_^ Right down to your personallity! o.O of course that's just my openion. What's yours? Is Yin and Yang in everything?

[The13thMan]

[FONT=Century Gothic] [COLOR=DarkOrange]No, i don't think it is at all.

Yin and yang balance each other out making things neutral. Are you saying that Hitler was nuetral? Or was he mostly evil? Sure, there could have been some good in the guy, but not enough to make up for all of his acts of evil.

You should back up your statement a little more, i really don't have much to say to you other than i disagree.

Haha, like in family guy, the drive by arguments.

I disagree!! ::drives off::

Funny stuff.

Later.

[/COLOR] [/FONT]

[Fasteriskhead]

Well, err, this isn't really my area, but I'll see if I can clear up the discussion a little.

First of all, its crucial that yin and yang should [I]not [/I] be understood as energy types or substances of a certain kind, at least as far as something like a "substance" is usually thought of. It's totally missing the idea to think of taking a certain amount of each, mixing them together as if following a cookbook, and getting a particular thing as a result. Rather, the interaction of yin and yang (and it always has to be an interaction - neither is complete without the second) is understood as a [I]precondition[/I] for anything to exist at all, in the same way as you couldn't have any particular object without it being situated in time and space. Yang and yin together ground the complimentary movements of heaven and earth, man and woman, hot and cold, etc. - again, it's not that everything that is is a "mix" of them, but that [I]to exist at all[/I] means existing in the field created by the interaction between the two. I say again: they are not substances or objects, they are preconditions for [I]any[/I] substances or objects to appear, and also ways of measuring and understanding those things. Properly understood, it makes no more sense to say that yin and yang don't "exist" than it does to say that centimeters or hours don't exist - it's just the wrong kind of question to ask.

[quote name='The13thMan][FONT=Century Gothic] [COLOR=DarkOrange]Yin and yang balance each other out making things neutral. Are you saying that Hitler was nuetral? Or was he mostly evil? Sure, there could have been some good in the guy, but not enough to make up for all of his acts of evil.[/COLOR'] [/FONT][/quote]Well, this is inaccurate in two ways.

First, yin and yang are not always "balanced," although even using this word is to fall back into the idea of a "mix" which can either be equal or unequal. It's not a question of whether something is balanced or imbalanced (the gods are [I]supposed[/I] to be yang-heavy, for instance), it's whether how the forces in play on a thing (or, if you like, "how it acts") accord in a stable way with that thing's own nature and the nature of the world around it. How Hitler is "structured" by yin, yang, and various other forces (which I won't get into) is only "good" or "bad" in terms of whether that structure is basically unstable and dangerous in the context of where it's placed. In Hitler's case, "danger" and "instability" are understatements.

Second, and maybe I should've mentioned this earlier, the absolute [I]last[/I] thing that yin and yang are are "evil" and "good." Again, this would be like assigning a moral category to a yardstick. And no, "good" isn't balance and "evil" imbalance, as if the people concerned with yin and yang were AD&D-style druids; absolute moral judgments of that kind just don't enter into this. Rather, the purpose of keeping track of yin and yang is stability, harmony, everyday reliability, and keeping things running for the purposes of keeping a healthy community (think Miyazaki). When you get instability, mismatches, and other screw-ups, on the other hand, bad things happen. The idea is similar to what happened to the Mars Climate Orbiter when it crashed because no one remembered to convert one little English measurement to metric: this isn't "evil," it's just unfortunate, a poor miscalculation, and a complete waste.

Well, I hope that helps a little, anyways!

[Guest Metal Dragon]

Of course ying and yang are in everything. You judge your actions by seeing if it would hurt anybody, then again your actions are also determined by what would be good/bad 4 you.

[Albert Flasher]

[QUOTE=Fasteriskhead]Well, err, this isn't really my area, but I'll see if I can clear up the discussion a little.

First of all, its crucial that yin and yang should [I]not [/I] be understood as energy types or substances of a certain kind, at least as far as something like a "substance" is usually thought of. It's totally missing the idea to think of taking a certain amount of each, mixing them together as if following a cookbook, and getting a particular thing as a result. Rather, the interaction of yin and yang (and it always has to be an interaction - neither is complete without the second) is understood as a [I]precondition[/I] for anything to exist at all, in the same way as you couldn't have any particular object without it being situated in time and space. Yang and yin together ground the complimentary movements of heaven and earth, man and woman, hot and cold, etc. - again, it's not that everything that is is a "mix" of them, but that [I]to exist at all[/I] means existing in the field created by the interaction between the two. I say again: they are not substances or objects, they are preconditions for [I]any[/I] substances or objects to appear, and also ways of measuring and understanding those things. Properly understood, it makes no more sense to say that yin and yang don't "exist" than it does to say that centimeters or hours don't exist - it's just the wrong kind of question to ask.

Well, this is inaccurate in two ways.

First, yin and yang are not always "balanced," although even using this word is to fall back into the idea of a "mix" which can either be equal or unequal. It's not a question of whether something is balanced or imbalanced (the gods are [I]supposed[/I] to be yang-heavy, for instance), it's whether how the forces in play on a thing (or, if you like, "how it acts") accord in a stable way with that thing's own nature and the nature of the world around it. How Hitler is "structured" by yin, yang, and various other forces (which I won't get into) is only "good" or "bad" in terms of whether that structure is basically unstable and dangerous in the context of where it's placed. In Hitler's case, "danger" and "instability" are understatements.

Second, and maybe I should've mentioned this earlier, the absolute [I]last[/I] thing that yin and yang are are "evil" and "good." Again, this would be like assigning a moral category to a yardstick. And no, "good" isn't balance and "evil" imbalance, as if the people concerned with yin and yang were AD&D-style druids; absolute moral judgments of that kind just don't enter into this. Rather, the purpose of keeping track of yin and yang is stability, harmony, everyday reliability, and keeping things running for the purposes of keeping a healthy community (think Miyazaki). When you get instability, mismatches, and other screw-ups, on the other hand, bad things happen. The idea is similar to what happened to the Mars Climate Orbiter when it crashed because no one remembered to convert one little English measurement to metric: this isn't "evil," it's just unfortunate, a poor miscalculation, and a complete waste.

Well, I hope that helps a little, anyways![/QUOTE]
[COLOR=Sienna]
For something that isn't really your area-of-expertise, you can sure write one hell of an essay on it... that said, I agree with everything you said... I think.[/COLOR]

[The13thMan]

[QUOTE=Fasteriskhead]Well, err, this isn't really my area, but I'll see if I can clear up the discussion a little.

First of all, its crucial that yin and yang should [I]not [/I] be understood as energy types or substances of a certain kind, at least as far as something like a "substance" is usually thought of. It's totally missing the idea to think of taking a certain amount of each, mixing them together as if following a cookbook, and getting a particular thing as a result. Rather, the interaction of yin and yang (and it always has to be an interaction - neither is complete without the second) is understood as a [I]precondition[/I] for anything to exist at all, in the same way as you couldn't have any particular object without it being situated in time and space. Yang and yin together ground the complimentary movements of heaven and earth, man and woman, hot and cold, etc. - again, it's not that everything that is is a "mix" of them, but that [I]to exist at all[/I] means existing in the field created by the interaction between the two. I say again: they are not substances or objects, they are preconditions for [I]any[/I] substances or objects to appear, and also ways of measuring and understanding those things. Properly understood, it makes no more sense to say that yin and yang don't "exist" than it does to say that centimeters or hours don't exist - it's just the wrong kind of question to ask.

Well, this is inaccurate in two ways.

First, yin and yang are not always "balanced," although even using this word is to fall back into the idea of a "mix" which can either be equal or unequal. It's not a question of whether something is balanced or imbalanced (the gods are [I]supposed[/I] to be yang-heavy, for instance), it's whether how the forces in play on a thing (or, if you like, "how it acts") accord in a stable way with that thing's own nature and the nature of the world around it. How Hitler is "structured" by yin, yang, and various other forces (which I won't get into) is only "good" or "bad" in terms of whether that structure is basically unstable and dangerous in the context of where it's placed. In Hitler's case, "danger" and "instability" are understatements.

Second, and maybe I should've mentioned this earlier, the absolute [I]last[/I] thing that yin and yang are are "evil" and "good." Again, this would be like assigning a moral category to a yardstick. And no, "good" isn't balance and "evil" imbalance, as if the people concerned with yin and yang were AD&D-style druids; absolute moral judgments of that kind just don't enter into this. Rather, the purpose of keeping track of yin and yang is stability, harmony, everyday reliability, and keeping things running for the purposes of keeping a healthy community (think Miyazaki). When you get instability, mismatches, and other screw-ups, on the other hand, bad things happen. The idea is similar to what happened to the Mars Climate Orbiter when it crashed because no one remembered to convert one little English measurement to metric: this isn't "evil," it's just unfortunate, a poor miscalculation, and a complete waste.

Well, I hope that helps a little, anyways![/QUOTE][FONT=Century Gothic] [COLOR=DarkOrange]
I'm not really sure what the hell you just said. And because of that i still kinda believe that i'm right...or rather i wasn't wrong. But then again i will admit to ignorance. I definitely haven't studied yin and yang, and i'm no philosophy expert....

Anyways, as i understood it yin and yang balanced each other out. Like water and fire. Water puts out the fire and the fire evapporates the water causing balance. If you use too much water you put out the fire and have a puddle of mud. If you don't use enough water you still have fire. I know water and fire are good examples because it's in the South Korean flag. Haha. ^L^

Later.[/COLOR] [/FONT]

[Doukeshi]

[SIZE=1]Okay, Yin-Yang 101.

The principles of [B]Yin-Yang[/B] thinking was developed in the early [B]Han dynasty[/B], so we're talking roughly about [B]200 BC [/B] here. The essentials are these:

The universe is run by one [B]Ultimate or Tao[/B], this principle is then divided into two opposing ideas, opposite in each and every action i.e [B]Yin and Yang[/B]. All the opposites one therefore sees in the universe can thus be derived from one of the two opposing forces.

[B]Yin and Yang[/B] work along side the [B]five material agents - wood, fire, earth, metal and water[/b], and all changes in the universe can be boiled down to the progress of these as they produce or overcome one another respectively.

Under [B]Yang[/B] are the principles of [B]maleness, the sun, creation, heat, light, Heaven, dominance, and so on[/B], and under [B]Yin[/B] are the principles of [B]femaleness, the moon, completion, cold, darkness, material forms, submission, and so on[/B]. Each of these opposites produces the other, therefore for every action has an equal reaction, and thus eaach creates the need for the other. All opposites that one experiences?health and sickness, wealth and poverty, power and submission?can be explained in reference to the temporary dominance of one principle over the other. Since no one principle dominates eternally, that means that all conditions are subject to change into their opposites. [B]Everything is cyclical[/B].

Since one principle produces the other, [B]each state has the seeds of the other, opposite state within them[/B]. For example sickness contains the seeds of health, heat contains the seeds of cold etc. Even though an opposite may not be seen to be present, since one principle produces the other, no phenomenon is completely devoid of its opposite state. One is never really healthy since health contains the principle of its opposite, sickness. This is called [B]"presence in absence."[/B]


In essence, the whole idea is one cannot exist without its opposite. In modern terms I suppose it can be refered to as without cold, heat cannot exist for without cold to experience one cannot know heat. There is also the idea that nothing is pure in form, which I personally adhere to. Noone can be purely bad for instance, for there is always the essence of good.

Does that explain anything?[/SIZE]

[Funny Girl]

[FONT=Georgia][SIZE=2][COLOR=MediumTurquoise]Well what I think is that both Yin and Yang are all in our lives and in some of our personalities.Some of us are good and some of us are bad.Mostly I fall under the catagory of nice and always kind.I'm making this up.So Yin and Yang are a big thing in our life. For example the sun is the day and the moon is the night Yin and Yang are both light and darkness.Light and darkness are the key to us being able to live our lives freely.It would be easy if we could understand the differences between Yin and Yang.That would be why we actually need Yin and Yang in our lives.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Guest Gun Preacher]

yeah i say your right with the good theres the bad i think thats how every thing works.

[Guest tanukioh]

O.o wow...lots of posts. ^_^ Coolness to see what you all think. :) thanks for posting.

[Guest Prick Wizard]

[QUOTE=Doukeshi][SIZE=1]Okay, Yin-Yang 101.

The principles of [B]Yin-Yang[/B] thinking was developed in the early [B]Han dynasty[/B], so we're talking roughly about [B]200 BC [/B] here. The essentials are these:

The universe is run by one [B]Ultimate or Tao[/B], this principle is then divided into two opposing ideas, opposite in each and every action i.e [B]Yin and Yang[/B]. All the opposites one therefore sees in the universe can thus be derived from one of the two opposing forces.

[B]Yin and Yang[/B] work along side the [B]five material agents - wood, fire, earth, metal and water[/b], and all changes in the universe can be boiled down to the progress of these as they produce or overcome one another respectively.

Under [B]Yang[/B] are the principles of [B]maleness, the sun, creation, heat, light, Heaven, dominance, and so on[/B], and under [B]Yin[/B] are the principles of [B]femaleness, the moon, completion, cold, darkness, material forms, submission, and so on[/B]. Each of these opposites produces the other, therefore for every action has an equal reaction, and thus eaach creates the need for the other. All opposites that one experiences?health and sickness, wealth and poverty, power and submission?can be explained in reference to the temporary dominance of one principle over the other. Since no one principle dominates eternally, that means that all conditions are subject to change into their opposites. [B]Everything is cyclical[/B].

Since one principle produces the other, [B]each state has the seeds of the other, opposite state within them[/B]. For example sickness contains the seeds of health, heat contains the seeds of cold etc. Even though an opposite may not be seen to be present, since one principle produces the other, no phenomenon is completely devoid of its opposite state. One is never really healthy since health contains the principle of its opposite, sickness. This is called [B]"presence in absence."[/B]


In essence, the whole idea is one cannot exist without its opposite. In modern terms I suppose it can be refered to as without cold, heat cannot exist for without cold to experience one cannot know heat. There is also the idea that nothing is pure in form, which I personally adhere to. Noone can be purely bad for instance, for there is always the essence of good.

Does that explain anything?[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

I've always pondered whether or not elves lived by the art of the yin and yang but after reading that I don't think they did. That's not to say that they didn't practice magic though.

It has always been well known amongst humans that elven sorcerers have posessed magical powers and collected enchanted emralds and magic bracelets. Some also believe that the elven people live deep inside great forests protected by pixies and are still at war with parties of savage gnomes. People believe that there is a giant elven province called elfwood.