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[Yin-Yang Diagram]

The *Suwen: Yin-Yang Yingxiang Dalun* (Great Treatise on the Correspondence of Yin and Yang) states: Yin and Yang are the Way of Heaven and Earth, the guiding principles of all things, the parents of change, the origin of life and death, and the residence of divine spirit.

The way of substance and manifestation proceeds from non-being to being. Non-being refers to the pre-heavenly Qi (vital energy); being refers to post-heavenly form. Shao Yong said: Heaven relies on form, Earth attaches to Qi; Qi creates form, and form houses Qi. Therefore, that which opens up things is pre-heavenly, and that which completes things is post-heavenly; Wuji evolving into Taiji is pre-heavenly, while Taiji differentiating into Yin and Yang is post-heavenly; the generation of numbers is pre-heavenly, and the completion of numbers is post-heavenly; that without sound or odor is pre-heavenly, and that with substance and image is post-heavenly. Pre-heavenly is the single Qi of Taiji; post-heavenly is the Yin and Yang of Liangyi (Two Modes). When Yin and Yang separate, Heaven and Earth are established; this is the ancestor of substance and manifestation, and the greatest of all things. From Liangyi come Sixiang (Four Images), and from Sixiang come Wuxing (Five Phases). Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi said: Sixiang refers to Yin, Yang, Gang (Firmness), and Rou (Softness). Yin and Yang generate Heaven; Gang and Rou generate Earth. Zhu Xi said: The Sixiang of Heaven are Sun, Moon, Stars, and Chen (Celestial bodies); the Sixiang of Earth are Water, Fire, Earth, and Stone. Shao Yong said: Heaven arises from motion, and Earth arises from stillness. At the beginning of motion, Yang is born; at the extreme of motion, Yin is born. At the beginning of stillness, Rou is born; at the extreme of stillness, Gang is born. Within Yin and Yang, there is again Yin and Yang, hence there are Taiyin (Greater Yin), Taiyang (Greater Yang), Shaoyin (Lesser Yin), and Shaoyang (Lesser Yang). Within Gang and Rou, there is again Gang and Rou, hence there are Taigang (Greater Firmness), Tairou (Greater Softness), Shaogang (Lesser Firmness), and Shaorou (Lesser Softness). Taiyang corresponds to the Sun, Taiyin to the Moon, Shaoyang to Stars, and Shaoyin to Chen; the interplay of Sun, Moon, Stars, and Chen constitutes the entirety of Heaven. Tairou corresponds to Water, Taigang to Fire, Shaorou to Earth, and Shaogang to Stone; the interplay of Water, Fire, Earth, and Stone constitutes the entirety of Earth. It is also said: Among all things, none are greater than Heaven and Earth. The vastness of Heaven is encompassed by Yin and Yang; the vastness of Earth is encompassed by Gang and Rou. When Yin and Yang are exhausted, the Four Seasons are formed; when Gang and Rou are exhausted, the Four Corners (directions) are formed. Once Sixiang are distinguished, Wuxing emerge as Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth. Within each of the Five Phases, there are again Five Phases; Yin roots in Yang, and Yang roots in Yin. When Yin and Yang combine, myriad phenomena arise. Those rooted in Yang tend upward; those rooted in Yin tend downward. In Heaven, they manifest as Wind, Cloud, Thunder, and Rain; in Earth, as Rivers, Seas, Mountains, and Streams; in directions, as East, South, West, and North; in climate, as Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. In the East is the Azure Dragon corresponding to Wood; in the West is the White Tiger belonging to Metal. The Red Bird of the South rises due to Fire Qi; the Black Turtle of the North dives due to Water Qi. Humans inherit the central Qi of the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, Humanity), making them the most spiritual of all beings. Eyes receive the colors of all things; ears receive the sounds of all things; noses receive the Qi of all things; mouths receive the flavors of all things. Thus, humans possess all aspects of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases; humans can master all skills of existence. The Sixiang of Heaven correspond to human ears, eyes, mouth, and nose; the Sixiang of Earth correspond to human Qi, Blood, Bone, and Flesh. The 360 bone joints correspond to the 360 degrees of the celestial sphere; the 13,500 breaths per day correspond to the tides of day and night. Thus, Shao Yong said: The head is round like Heaven, the feet are square like Earth; facing South and back to North, left to East and right to West, standing upright between Heaven and Earth, occupying precisely the Zi-Wu position. He also said: Heaven has Four Seasons, Earth has Four Directions, Humans have Four Limbs. Finger joints allow one to observe Heaven; palm lines allow one to examine Earth. Those who receive clear and pure Qi become Sages and Worthies; those who receive biased and turbid Qi become foolish and unworthy. Those near the Southeast are often soft and benevolent; those near the Northwest are often firm and righteous. Barbarians are also human but are violent and unrefined because regions have bias and correctness, and Qi has purity and impurity; this is due to endowment, happening naturally. Zuo Qiuming believed that the good and evil of people stem from the Six Qi, stating that those with abundant Yang are firm and fierce, while those with abundant Yin are cowardly and soft; impulsive and violent traits are the evil within Yang, and cunning and dangerous traits are the deviation within Yin. Therefore, Water nature is active, but when biased, it floods; Fire nature is urgent, but when biased, it burns fiercely; Wood nature is harmonious, but when biased, it becomes weak; Metal nature is firm, but when biased, it becomes cruel; Earth nature is quiet, but when biased, it becomes dull. As for birds, beasts, grasses, and trees, whether moving, stationary, flying, or diving, sentient or insentient, none are not subject to this. Animals grow horizontally, plants grow vertically; horizontal animals have heads facing East and tails facing West, vertical plants have branches pointing to Heaven and roots in Earth; all have differences in Five Qi and Four Directions. Regarding animals: receiving Wood Qi results in horns and soft benevolence; receiving Metal Qi results in teeth and sharp firmness; Fire-natured creatures fly and tend upward; Water-natured creatures dive and tend downward; Earth-natured creatures are quiet and like to hide. Insects in the Northwest have scales and hibernate; insects in the Southeast have feathers and fly constantly. Regarding plants: those receiving East Qi are long and elegant; those receiving South Qi are lush and dense; these two flourish in Spring/Summer and wither in Autumn/Winter. Those receiving West Qi are strong and tough; those receiving North Qi are hard and curved; these two wither in Spring/Summer and flourish in Autumn/Winter. All living things originate from the Two Qi. Those receiving the Dao of Qian are male among humans and male among objects; those receiving the Dao of Kun are female among humans and female among objects. Qian types, belonging to Yang, are mostly active; Kun types, belonging to Yin, are mostly quiet. Directions and years differ in Qi; all things encounter their specific Qi and form their nature accordingly. When Qi is balanced and neutral, Heaven is supremely pure, Earth is supremely refined, Humans are supremely virtuous, Flying birds are Luan and Feng, Running beasts are Qilin and Xielin, Shelled creatures are Tortoises and Dragons, Grasses are Iris and Orchid, Trees are Pine and Cypress, Stones are Jade and Gold. When Qi is biased and mixed, Heaven has disasters, Earth has darkness, Humans have perversity, Flying birds are Owls, Running beasts are Wolves and Tigers, Shelled creatures are Vipers and Geckos, Grasses have thorns, Trees have Buckthorn and Thorns, Stones are gravel and rocks. Are any of these not manifestations of Yin and Yang? Furthermore, regarding the presence or absence of traces: Day and Night, Dawn and Dusk, New Moon, Full Moon, Waxing and Waning, Yin and Sunny, Cold and Hot, Large and Small, Round and Square, High and Low, Ascending and Descending, Left and Right, Front and Back, Husband and Wife, Male and Female, Speaking and Silence, Breathing, Exterior and Interior, Floating and Sinking, Entering and Exiting, Bending and Stretching, Facing and Backing, Blood and Qi, Zang and Fu Organs, Heavy and Light, Thick and Thin, Front and Back, Head and Tail—all are tangible forms of manifestation. Similarly, Movement and Stillness, Obscurity and Clarity, Fullness and Emptiness, Growth and Decline, Sound and Pitch, Will and Good/Evil, Ghost and Spirit, Soul and Po, Change and Transformation, Subtle and Ultimate—all are intangible forms of manifestation. However, where there is this, there must be that; where there is a pair, there must be dependence. All things have parents, distinguishing male and female even in mayflies; all things contain one Taiji, encompassing Liangyi even in a grain of millet. Though a mosquito's proboscis is minute, it can connect to blood and Qi; though a louse's eye is tiny, it can distinguish East and West. By deducing from this, we see that from the extremely vast to the extremely subtle, from the extremely refined, things gather according to Qi and arise upon contact. The great cannot be measured, the small cannot be fathomed. Are these not the highest virtue of Yin and Yang, the exquisite wonder of natural creation? How could they be described by artificial fabrication? Consider odd and even numbers linking, hiding within each other; One and Two sharing a root, with divine transformation beyond measure. Heaven is Yang, yet half its body resides underground; Earth is Yin, yet the Five Sacred Mountains pierce the sky. High things belong to Yang, yet at the highest places, winter cold persists; low things belong to Yin, yet in muddy depressions, spring warmth remains. Water is inherently Yin, yet hot springs in valleys emit heat; Fire is inherently Yang, yet flames in Xiaoqiu are cold. Yin should be dark, yet water is dark outside but bright inside; Yang body should be bright, yet fire is bright outside but dark inside. Sound originates in the East but responds in the West; Form exists here but shadow appears there. Bathing in heavenly light in the water palace, reflecting earthly shadows in the moon palace. During intense summer heat, delicate grass dies in the fifth month; during extreme winter cold, shepherd's purse and wheat sprout in mid-winter. Can the way of such changes ever reach an end? Indeed, Yin cannot generate without Yang, and Yang cannot complete without Yin. The Qi of Yin and Yang is fundamentally one entity. The *I Ching* says: "Great indeed is the Primal Power of Qian, whereby all things begin; Supreme indeed is the Primal Power of Kun, whereby all things grow." Beginning is the mind-set of Heaven and Earth; Growing is the function of Heaven and Earth. Because it uses a heartless heart to achieve effortless action, its root comes from one source while its transformations are infinite. Therefore, having such an image implies having such principle; having such principle implies having such function. Are these not what our Way of investigating things to extend knowledge should silently recognize and intuitively understand? I once heard Hua Borén say: The most subtle is Principle, the most apparent is Image; Substance and Function share the same origin, with no gap between the subtle and the apparent. Grasping the Principle allows one to deduce the Image. If one can open the source to reach the stream, and know the other through this, then the mechanisms of all transformations reside in one's heart, meeting the source on both sides, with every path leading correctly. Who would say that the principles of Yin-Yang substance and manifestation are remote and empty, worthy of being ignored?