Translated from Chinese by Sherwin Lu
(Including all quotations from classics with copy right)
● YIN vs. YANG
Yin and Yang originally only referred to the backside and sunny side of a mountain. This dualization did not assume any philosophical connotation until the “Spring and Autumn”—“Warring States” period.
The dual concepts in Chinese philosophy are not, like those in Western tradition, based on mutually exclusive dichotomies, i.e., a division into two absolutely opposing parts. On the contrary, the two sides of a duality in Chinese philosophy are not only mutually restraining but are mutually complementary and are always transforming into each other as well. Therefore, in the long history of Chinese philosophy before the introduction of Western ideas, there had been no debates or discussions about the mind-body dichotomy or about whether it is mind or it is matter that is primary in origin. With the development of researches in psychology and in complex systems, we already have enough evidence to prove that human perception of the world is the result of interaction between the subjective and the objective, not the result of the observer’s “objective” mirroring of the world.
Recognizing the existence of interaction between the subject and the object is important to the functioning of such complex systems as, among other things, the stock market. The famous investor George Soros calls it “reflexivity”, which means that not only does the market influence the behavior of investors, but investors are also changing the market: for instance, if your investment total on the stock market is huge enough, every sum you put in will alter the general tendency of the market. Soros noticed that the reflexivity may stem from the fact that his quantum funds are in a position capable of controlling huge amounts of investments.
The Chinese notion about the mutual complementariness and restraint between Yin and Yang shows its special relevancy in quantum physics. A photon can change the track of an electron, though not of a bus. When you are observing an electron, that electron as you see is the result of the interaction between you the observer and the cosmic time-space. Though not a direct origin of the quantum theory, the Yin-Yang notion was found by the quantum physicist Niels Bohr to have provided a very good explanation of his thought on theoretical physics.
If the Western notion of subject-object dichotomy hardly reveals its unsoundness in the limited experience of our daily life, it has definitely failed to explain the micro and macro complex systems. The strength of classical Chinese philosophy lies not only in its recognition of the reciprocity between the subject and the object, but also in its providing a philosophical guideline for the formulation of proper goals and right methods for the regulation of huge and complex social politico-economic systems. Modern systems theory tells us that a human society would not arrive at equilibrium by itself, but on the contrary, whether in the economical or in the political arena, regenerative feedbacks are inevitable and would inevitably lead to serious disequilibrium of the social system. In modern Western or Westernized societies, the regenerative feedback finds expression in the Matthew effect in world economic life, i.e., the accelerating polarization between the rich and the poor, and in the monopolization of state political power by the capitalist class.
This notion of mutual transformation of opposites into each other is discussed, for instance, in the first chapter “The Tao and the Law” of Yellow Emperor’s Four Canons. In addition to that, it also lays out the principles and approaches for dealing with changes with a view to achieving a dynamic balance of the whole society. It points out that unusual means need to be resorted to whenever a society happens to be out of balance. It says:
“What has stopped short can be continued; what has perished can be revived – Who knows the miraculous power behind all this? What is dead comes back to life again; Misfortune is converted into a blessing. Tracing back from the extreme opposites to the formless, one gets to know where bad and good fortunes come from and that the way to cope with changes is to guide them towards balance. If the opposites are not balanced, this is said to be ‘going against the Tao’.
‘There are constant laws between Heaven and Earth, constant work arrangements among people, constant distinction in status between the superior and the inferior, constant ways of using one’s subordinates, and constant standards for governing the people. The constant laws are those of the four seasons, those of darkness and light, of life and death, and of the receptive and the assertive. The constant work arrangements are for men to do farming and women spinning and weaving. The constant distinction between the superior and the inferior is their different positions for their different worthiness. The constant way of using one’s subordinates is to fit their duties to their capabilities, never to assign them anything beyond their strengths. The constant standard for governing the people is to place public interests above private ones. If any change goes too far beyond the constant standard, unusual measures have to be taken to curb it. When the measures, conventional or unconventional, fit the situation, what is represented by the name remains.” [6]
According to the author of the Four Canons, differences and conflicts exist inherently in any society and independently of anybody’s personal will. In order to bring about social harmony and justice, it is necessary first of all to balance the interests of all people in accordance with the law. The Four Canons illustrates this principle with a dialogue between the Yellow Emperor and his minister Guo Tong (果童), in a chapter entitled after the name of the minister:
“The Yellow Emperor asked his ministers: ‘I am the one person running all the affairs under heaven. Now I would like to cultivate uprightness and bring about fairness among people. What should I do? ‘
“Guo Tong answered: ‘Without the threat of getting punished by law for unfair acts, there would be no fairness. Without a ranking system consistent with the truly existing disparities among people in character and ability, there would be no uprightness. We need to look up and down for the supreme law between heaven and earth and apply it to human affairs. There indeed exists such a constant law, by virtue of which we get to know the distinction between darkness and light, between Yin and Yang. We see on earth high mountains and low-lying waters; we see the black and the white, the vicious and the virtuous. The Earth nourishes life in a non-assertive way while the Heaven keeps everything in dynamic balance. Non-assertiveness vs. dynamics, nourishing vs. restraining – each complements and promotes the other. While each side has an identity, put together, they make a whole. With both Yin and Yang co-existing, all changes become possible. As to humans, some are too weak to do one single job, whereas some others are strong enough for more than one hundred. People vary in moral character and capabilities, just as all things do in constitution. To manage them accordingly is the sure way leading to success.” [7]
The idea of balancing the interests of different social groups towards a harmonious co-existence, instead of the domination of all others by one class, has had a long history in China. The Chinese classic Shangshu (or The Classic of History, 尚书) in its chapter “The Cannon of Yao” (尧典) considers the achievement of harmony under heaven as Yao’s major contribution. It says:
“Tracing back to the past, Emperor Yao was named Fang Xun. He was respectful and gentle, perceptive and thoughtful, and managed to have brought about peace and order under heaven. He was dedicated and assiduous, and fair and unpretentious, and finally yielded his seat of authority to the virtuous, setting a brilliant example for all people, high and low, and shining in all directions. Self-restrained, sensible, and aiming high morally, Emperor Yao first brought about closeness and harmony within his clan and then, on familiarizing himself on the affairs of other clans and coordinating with their chieftains, extended the harmonious closeness from his own clan to all others under heaven.”
One of the major Chinese classics in political economy Guan Tzu (《管子》), while noticing the existence of disparities among people, also points out the importance of working towards a dynamic balance of the whole society, i.e., a society in which “the ten thousand things are balanced and all people live in harmony”. It says in its 38th chapter “Bai Xin” (白心第三十八):
“Heaven, by taking its Heavenly course, benefits ten thousand things; likewise, a sage ruler, by acting in a sage manner, benefits all his people. Thus, the ten thousand things are kept in constant balance and all people in harmony. That is because in managing things a sage does not assert himself but just stands ready for things to happen and then check the things against their names. If the names are correct, then everything will be correctly managed; if distorted, they will die out by themselves. If only names are commensurate with the things behind them and the system of law is complete, the sage ruler does not have to bother about anything. Names and laws should not stay unchanged nor keep changing all the time. Judgments and decisions should be based on recognition of changes of time and occasion, and adjustments made in various degrees for various things to tackle the unevenness of their changes, of which some might be too much while some too little.”
The succinct but profound Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu also discussed the Yin-Yang relationship and principles for its adjustment. In its 2nd chapter, it illustrates the mutual complementariness and restraint between Yin and Yang as follows:
“When all people see the beautiful as beautiful, they are actually regarding other things as ugly; when they see the good as good, they are regarding others as evil at the same time. So, being and non-being presuppose each other; the difficult and the easy define each other; the long and the short set off each other; the high and the low contrast each other; sound and voice echo each other; and the front and the back follow each other – this is the eternal way things are.”
In its 42nd chapter, Tao Te Ching explains how the interaction between Yin and Yang brings about balance and harmony:
“From Tao emerges One. From One emerge Two. From Two emerge Three. From Three emerge all things. All carry the opposites Yin and Yang, approaching harmony through moderation.”
In its 77th chapter, Tao Te Ching applies the philosophical principle of Yin-Yang moderation to the balancing of interests among people in society:
“The Tao of Heaven works like drawing a bow: bending down the higher end while bringing up the lower one; or cutting excesses and making up for deficiencies. The Heavenly way is to take from those who have too much and give to those who have too little; but humans go the other way round: take from those who are suffering from insufficiency to give to those who already have overabundance. Only those who are aware of the Tao would disperse the excesses among all under heaven.”
To maintain a balance of interests among different groups of people by restraining the rich from profiting too much and helping the needy reap enough (损有余，补不足) – this is a fundamental principle running through the whole body of classical Chinese political economy. Its implementation during the long years of Chinese history successfully prevented such terribly sharp splits of people into antagonistic classes as witnessed by European history.
The Chinese civilization has been an organic whole with its way of government and, among other areas of social functioning, way of medical treatment as well originating from the same philosophical insight. The theoretical classic of Chinese medicine The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine: Plain Questions (《黄帝内经·素问》) in its 5th chapter “A Treatise on Bodily Manifestations of Yin and Yang” ( 阴阳应象大论篇第五) considers the Yin-Yang antithesis as the fundamental of all cosmic phenomena:
“Yin-Yang is the fundamental law of the universe governing everything, the originator of all changes, of all births and deaths, and the source of all wisdom. To cure an illness, one must trace it to its origin – the working of Yin and Yang. When Yang, which is pure and clear, so to speak, rises, it ascends to heaven; when Yin, murky and turbid, accumulates, it settles on earth. Yin is passive while Yang active; Yang generates while Yin nourishes; Yang is aggressive and destructive while Yin receptive and preservative; Yang provides essence while Yin gives form. When cold reaches its height, it turns into heat; when heat culminates, it changes into cold. Coldness produces murky turbidity (the Yin attribute); heat pure clearness (Yang). If what is pure and clear stays downward, it triggers diarrhea; if what is murky and turbid forces its way upward, it bloats. This is how the Yin-Yang inversion causes the aberration manifested as an illness.”
To work towards a balance by reducing excesses in some areas while making up deficiencies in others is the key approach for regulating huge complex systems ranging from those in political economy to those treated by medicine. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine: Plain Questions in its 15th chapter “Essentials in the Jade Version” (玉版论要篇第十五) says:
“‘What about diagnosis?’ asked Yellow Emperor. Qi Bo (岐伯) answered: ‘First of all size up the patient to see if he/she is thin or fat and if he/she is suffering from Qi (气) deficiency or Qi congestion. If it is congestion, then apply purgative medication; if deficiency, apply tonics. But it is necessary to first alleviate the stagnation of blood flow before using tonics. No matter what ailment, a new balance should always be the objective in therapy.’”
The same classic says further in its 62nd chapter “On Regularizing Qi and Blood Channels” (调经论篇第六十二):
“‘I learned from Acupunctural Techniques (《刺法》) that the purgative approach should be used in case of excesses while tonifying for inadequacy. My question is,’ asked Yellow emperor, ‘What is excess and what is inadequacy?’ Qi Bo replied: ‘There are five kinds of excess and five kinds of inadequacy. Which kind are you interested in?’ ‘All five kinds.’ ‘Spiritual vigor (神) can be in excess or in defect; Qi (气) can be in excess or in defect; blood can be in excess or in defect; corporeal substance (形) can be in excess or in defect; willpower (志) can be in excess or in defect. These ten cases are all variations of the ill-functioning of Qi.”
As Western medicine, which is based on a dichotomous philosophical thought pattern, has been subjected to more and more censures for its allopathic approach, Chinese medicine, together with the philosophical principle underlying it, is being recognized by more and more people for the wonders it works. But the political economy of ancient China, though based on the same philosophical foundation as Chinese medicine, has sunk into obscurity for too long. In spite of the fact that the civil service examination system and the “regulatory granary system” (常平仓制度, used for balancing the market) have been incorporated into modern US political and economic institutions, many Chinese nationals only know about the civil service system and futures market system of the West. – This is a shame for the mainstream Chinese intelligentsia who has yielded their academic integrity in the overwhelming currents of all-round Westernization.
Eight decades ago, Hu Shi (胡适) in the preface to his A History of Chinese Philosophy: An Outline (《中国哲学史大纲·导言》) recalled the general trend of development of philosophies in the world and predicted optimistically the possible birth of a new philosophy which incorporates both the Eastern and the Western thoughts:
“The world’s philosophies can be divided into the Eastern and the Western; the former subdivided into Indian and Chinese and the latter into Greek and Jewish. Originally, they could be viewed as independent of each other. But later, Jewish philosophy was merged with Greek philosophy to become medieval European philosophy, while Indian philosophy was integrated into mid-ancient Chinese philosophy after Han dynasty. In early modern times, Indian philosophy declined in its influence while Chinese Confucianism was revived and developed into early modern Chinese philosophy, which has lasted through the Soong, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties till today. Meanwhile, European thought gradually broke loose from its tie with the Jewish tradition and changed into an early modern philosophy. Today, the two major branches of world philosophy are in close contact with and mutually impacting each other. It is not impossible that, fifty or a hundred years from now, an integrated world philosophy might be generated out of this historical encounter.”
More than eighty years have passed now since the above prediction. What we have realized today is that this new world philosophy would not come into being before a truthful comprehension of Chinese philosophy is achieved instead of arbitrarily breaking it down in terms of Western philosophical paradigms as many Chinese scholars have been doing since last century. May this essay be part of the mankind’s great intellectual endeavor towards the establishment of a new world philosophy!
NOTES:
[1] [3] Gu Bin, Zhang Huizhu, and Zheng Kai, The Yellow Emperor’s Four Canons and Tao Te Ching: A Vernacular Translation with Annotations, China Social Science Publishing House, 2004. （谷斌、张慧姝、郑开，《黄帝四经注译 道德经注译》，中国社会科学出版社，2004年9月 .）
[2] [4] [6] From Sherwin Lu’s whole-text translation of Yellow Emperor’s Four Cannons,
http://www.xinfajia.net/english/article.asp?articleid=4166
[5] From Sherwin Lu’s whole-text translation of Yellow Emperor’s Four Cannons,
http://www.xinfajia.net/english/article.asp?articleid=4262
[7] From Sherwin Lu’s whole-text translation of Yellow Emperor’s Four Cannons,
http://www.xinfajia.net/english/article.asp?articleid=4428
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