This is why in from Tai Chi, there arises in the Two Elements - yin and yang. Take a look at the Tai Chi diagram, which is better known as the 2-Fishes diagram in Chinese. It is a circle divided into 2 sections in proportion. The circle is representing Tai Chi, or the Universe Whole, and within this wholeness, there’s the Two Elements.
The division of the yin and yang in Tai Chi means that there are 2 opposing elements, represented by the black section and white section respectively. Yet, the division is not a straight division, but a curved division – meaning that the 2 opposing elements actually accommodate each other in order to form the complete circle.
Firstly, this means that while it is divided as opposing elements – it is united in a way to form the complete wholeness. The opposing yet united forces of yin and yang became the basis of the thinking in I-Ching. And Tai Chi uses the concepts in the I-Ching, the yin and yang elements as the core concepts to explain the both physical and meta-physical aspects of the world.
Secondly, the curved division gives a sense of balance. Here, we are talking about balancing the yin and yang elements here. There's this statement in I-Ching: "When the yin goes to the extreme, the yang is born. And when the yang goes to the extreme, the yin is born".
Look at the 2-fishes diagram again. If you go in counter-clock wise along the diameter of the Tai Chi circle, you will find that as one element grows more and more and reach its peak, the other elements will begin to grow in replacement. For example, if you move along the diameter on the black side, you will see that the ‘half’ represented by the black will become bigger and bigger and then suddenly shrink and the white ‘half’ will begin to grow instead. This means that if one element goes to the extreme, the other will begin to set in.
What does this mean to us then?
Simple: we have to balance our life in every aspect, and do not just focus only on one or a few. We have to balance between work and personal life, between family and friends, between material and spiritual, and the list goes on. Otherwise, there will be disharmony in our lives.
Thirdly, the movement growing or shrinking of the yin and yang elements within the Tai Chi diagram suggests that life changes constantly to and from between good and bad, joy and sorrow, happiness and sadness, high and low and between any two extreme qualities. This is the dualistic principles in I-Ching.
In any events or things, there are two qualities within. There's no such thing as complete good or perfectly bad things. It is the degree of good, or bad that matters.
Take for example, can we say that a person is good because there's no bad quality in him, or a person is bad because he or she have never done any 'good' at all??? A good person may at times been guilty of small bad deeds, and a bad person may at times have some good in him or her. Isn't it?
A good thing may have some negative side in it. And vice versa, a bad thing may have some positive side in it. It depends on how we perceive the issue. That’s the dualistic principles in I-Ching.
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