The hidden meanings of yin and yang - John Bellaimey

4,839,540 views ・ 2013-08-02

TED-Ed


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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You might have seen this symbol before,
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whether it's as a temporary tattoo
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or at a Chinese temple.
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It's called the yin-yang symbol.
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It comes from Taoism,
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a religion born in China
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and it has far more meaning than you probably realize.
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The yin is the dark swirl,
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and the yang is the light one,
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and each side has a dot of the opposite color,
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which gives a clue to the meaning of yin and yang.
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Everything contains the seed of its opposite.
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Darth Vadar has the seed of goodness,
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and Luke has the potential to follow
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his father to the dark side.
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Like Luke and his father,
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yin and yang are not total opposites,
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they are relative to each other.
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Taoists believe that the universe is made up
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of energies, vibrations, and matter,
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which behave differently
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in different contexts.
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Something can be yin or yang
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depending on,
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well, depending on lots of things.
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So, while wheat that's growing is yang,
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when it's being reaped, it's yin.
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A wave's crest is yang,
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and the trough is yin.
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Villages on the sunny side of a valley in China
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have names like Liuyang or Shiyang,
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but on the shady side, for example,
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of the Yangtze River Valley,
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there's Jiangyin.
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The brake is yin to the gas pedal's yang.
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An eggshell is yang,
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the egg inside is yin.
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You think you're getting it?
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Yang is harder,
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stronger,
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brighter,
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and faster,
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but one can turn into the other
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or are two sides of the same coin.
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The sunbeams are yang
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in comparison to the shadows.
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The pitch is yang,
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the catch is yin.
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The yang starts an action,
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and the yin receives it,
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completes it.
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Yin is the inside space of a cup;
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it wouldn't be a cup without it.
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Yang is the cup.
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The coffee's heat, however, is yang,
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and its blackness is yin.
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Yang goes berserk sometimes,
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but there's some very powerful yins, too,
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if they don't quite go berserk.
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Yin is the darker swirl, the female,
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but there is a white dot in it.
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And yang is the lighter, the male,
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but it has a black dot.
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Water flowing calmly in a river is yin,
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but when it goes over the waterfall,
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it's very yang.
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Toothpicks are yin
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compared with a telephone pole.
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The back of a person is more yang
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than the front.
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The top of a person is the yang end.
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Taoism teaches that there is a power in the universe.
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It's higher, deeper, and truer than any other force.
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They call it the Tao.
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It means the way.
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Like the Force in Star Wars,
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the Tao has two sides.
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Unlike other religions where the higher power is all good,
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and perhaps has an all-evil rival,
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Taoism teaches that we need to learn
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from both yin and yang.
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And unlike religions with gods that are personal,
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the higher power in Taoism is not.
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Taoists believe that living in harmony with the way,
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a person will not have to fight
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against the universe's natural flow.
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So, for example, listen more,
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argue less.
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Be ready to back up or undo something,
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and you will make even faster progress.
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Don't worry about being the best,
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be who you are.
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Live simply.
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Complications take you away from the Tao.
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"The wise person is flexible," Taoists say.
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Learning to use the Tao
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is what Taoism is all about,
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and that's why you should know
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your yin from your yang.
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