Yin and Yang

“ The symbolic representation of Yin and Yang is a circle divided by two arcs with opposite centres, while the symbol of Ta Ki adds a third arc from above uniting these two.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
It is possible that these symbols are of late origin, devised to express the ideas above named. One Chinese scholar (Mr. S. Culin) tells me that it is doubtful if they occur earlier than the twelfth century, A. D., and that they were probably introduced for purposes of divination. ”

“ In October, 1860, on Sen’s repeated invitation, his former teacher, the missionary Roberts of Nankin, arrived and was immediately made minister for foreign affairs. The Shanghai missionaries, several of whom visited Nankin, had interesting interviews with Yin in 1860, but not with the emperor, as they refused to go on their knees before him. They were encouraged by Yin to hope for a future much needed purifying of Taeping Christianity. Yang’s revelations, however, held their ground after as well as before, and were increased by further absurdities. ”

“ water is Yin and fire is Yang; ”

“ It is constantly being drained off, yet it is never empty. Spring and autumn bring no change; floods and droughts are equally unknown. And thus it is immeasurably superior to mere rivers and brooks,—though I would not venture to boast on this account, for I get my shape from the universe, my vital power from the Yin and Yang. In the universe I am but as a small stone or a small tree on a vast mountain. ”

“ The superstition is connected with the ancient Chinese philosophic doctrine of the Yang and the Yin—the complementary forces and qualities which pervade all nature, such as male and female, light and dark, warmth and cold, activity and passivity, positive and negative, life and death. It was supposed that all evergreens must have a greater store of the yang element (life, vitality) than other trees, because they retain their foliage through the winter; and of evergreen trees those prized most by the Chinese for their life-giving qualities were and are the fir and the cypress. ”

“ Now it happened that Guan Yin had also gone to the peach banquet in the garden, and had found out what Sun Wu Kung had done. When she went to visit the Lord of the Heavens, Li Dsing was just coming in, to report the great defeat which he had suffered on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits. Then Guan Yin said to the Lord of the Heavens: "I can recommend a hero to you who will surely get the better of the ape. It is your grandson Yang Oerlang. He has conquered all the beast and bird spirits, and overthrown the elves in the grass and the brush. ”

“ A more common arrangement of them is according to the points of the compass, and enclosing another ancient device, the Yin-yang, a circle bisected by a wavy line, which symbolises the duality of Nature, yin being the female and yang the male element. ”

“ Bad chemicals and bad ideas were the Yin and Yang of madness. ”

“ It is interesting to examine Mao’s strategical and tactical theories in the light of his principle of "unity of opposites." This seems to be an adaptation to military action of the ancient Chinese philosophical concept of Yin-Yang. Briefly, the Yin and the Yang are elemental and pervasive. Of opposite polarities, they represent female and male, dark and light, cold and heat, recession and aggression. Their reciprocal interaction is endless. ”

“ The Chinese belief with regard to the souls of the dead (or rather the ancient beliefs on which the ancestral ceremonies are based) are rather complicated. According to one doctrine every man has no less than ten souls, of which three are yang and seven are yin ”

“ Now, there were a number of things about this cicada which the poor scholar did not know and probably never would know, since he was a mere learner of words and not an ethnologist.
In ancient China a body was not embalmed. Instead, it was stuffed with jade—for jade was the essence of the yang, or male principle of the universe, which would keep the body from corruption by the yin or female forces of the earth. ”

“ It remains with us to deal with Chinese ideas regarding the soul which was protected by jade, the concentrated form of “soul substance”.
The Chinese believed that a human being had two souls. One was the Kwei, that is the soul which partook of the nature of the element Yin and returned to the earth from which it originally came;69 the other soul was the shen which partook of the element Yang. When the shen is in the living body, it is called Khi or “breath”; after death “it lives forth as a refulgent spirit, styled ming”. The other soul, called Kwei, is known as the pʼoh during life ”

“ She wanted them to say, "How lovely was Yang Yuhan, who walked with the grace of willow flowers. For her beauty, men would build cities, or lay them low. She was the most artful woman of China."
5.
Not long after sunrise the next morning, for the Chinese Court day begins early, the retinue of the young Prince Shou came for Yuhan. Outwardly the house of Yang was quiet and austere; within all was turbulence. Hearts were fluttering, tears were falling, though also there were smiles. Yang Yuan-kuei was proud of Yuhan, proud that he had played so important a part in her upbringing. ”

“ In the quietude of sheltered flower-paths, the two eunuchs wept. Lan Jen believed that his faithfulness to the Emperor had been unfaithfulness to the Empire.
2.
Yuhan, who while she had been the Prince's concubine had gone by the name of Princess Yang, was elated. She was re-enforcing her dreams with a firm foundation of jade and jewels. There was no height beyond the reach of her stupendous ambition. Entrance into court meant not only personal power but riches for her family. Even now her uncle was a high official in a distant province. In the stakes of Empire, she had won China. ”

“ Yan Wang, or Yan Lo Wang, is the Indian god Yama. There are in all ten princes of the nether world, of whom the fifth is the highest and most feared. “Obstinacy,” literally; his real offense is reticence, or the keeping secret of a thing. This quality belongs to the Yin, the dark or feminine principle, and determines Du Dsi Tschun’s [115] reappearance on earth as a woman. “Purple flames rose wildly from the oven”: Though Du Dsi Tschun had overcome his other emotions, so that fear and terror did not affect him, love, and love in its highest form, mother-love, still remained in him. ”

“ His crimes (accumulated) in the capital of Shang; and though the extinction of the dynasty (was imminent) , this gave him no concern, and he wrought not that any sacrifices of fragrant virtue might ascend to Heaven.* The rank odour of the people's resentments, and the drunkenness of his herd of creatures, went loudly up on high, so that Heaven sent down ruin on Yin, and showed no love for it,—because of such excesses. There is not any cruel oppression of Heaven; people themselves accelerate their guilt, (and its punishment.) ”

“ His friends tried to appease him by advising him to try at the further examination of the rejected, and when he urged that he had no money, they subscribed ten ounces of silver and started him on his way.
That night he dreamt that a man appeared to him and said, “Ahead of you there is one who can cure your complaint: beseech him to aid you.” The man then added—
“A tune on the flute ’neath the riverside willow:
Oh, show no regret when ’tis cast to the billow!” Next day, Mr. Yang actually met a Taoist priest sitting beneath a willow tree ”

“ Tzŭ see line 11.
Ming is composed of 夕 hsi evening (line 266) and 口 k'ou mouth as radical. It is explained thus: "In the evening it is dark and one cannot see, so that it is necessary for a man to call out his name." The word ming (see title) is now mostly used of a man's personal name, which is taboo except to parents and to the sovereign. Tou's five sons all rose to high office.
Chü is composed of 人 jen man as radical, with 具 chü (line 84) as phonetic.
Yang is composed of 手 shou hand as radical, with a common phonetic which must be distinguished from 昜 i (line 126) . ”

“ When Yat Huang reached the end of the matter which it was his duty to disclose, Yin for some time pondered the circumstances before replying. In spite of a most engaging reverence for everything of a sacred nature, he could not consider the inspired remark of the well-intentioned hermit without feelings of a most persistent doubt, for it occurred to him that if the person in question had really been as wise as he was represented to be, he might reasonably have been expected to avoid the unaccountable error of offending the enlightened and powerful Emperor under whom he lived. ”

“ Tung Fel was engaged with brush and ink when Yang Hu entered. Round him were many written parchments, some venerable with age, and a variety of other matters, among which might be clearly perceived weapons, and devices for reading the future. He greeted Yang with many tokens of dignified respect, and with an evidently restrained emotion led him towards the light of a hanging lantern, where he gazed into his face for a considerable period with every indication of exceptional concern. ”

“ If you listen to people's discourses throughout it, you will find that they have adopted the views either of Yang or of Mo. Now, Yang's principle is "each one for himself," which does not acknowledge the claims of the sovereign. Mo's principle is "to love all equally," which does not acknowledge the peculiar affection due to a father. But to acknowledge neither king nor father is to be in the state of a beast. Gong Meng Yi said, "In their kitchens, there is fat meat. In their stables, there are fat horses. ”

“ Entirely tranquil in intellect—for the possibility of King-y-Yang’s intention being in any way other than what he had represented it to be did not arise within Sen’s ingenuous mind—the person in question cheerfully set forth on his long but unavoidable march towards the region of Yun. ”

“ The words of Yang Chu and Mo Ti fill the empire, and those who are not on the side of one will be found on the side of the other. Yang’s doctrine is Every man for himself, which means that he recognizes no ruler. ”

“ Next day, Mr. Yang actually met a Taoist priest sitting beneath a willow tree; and, making him a bow, asked him to prescribe for his malady. “You have come to the wrong person,” replied the priest, smiling; “I cannot cure diseases; but had you asked me for a tune on the flute, I could have possibly helped you.” Then Mr. Yang knew that his dream was being fulfilled; and going down on his knees offered the priest all the money he had. The priest took it, but immediately threw it into the river, at which Mr. Yang, thinking how hardly he had come by this money, was moved to express his regret. ”

“ Yang Yuan-kuei was a great statesman, for he was able to handle the heart of Yuhan, even as he handled certain affairs of the Imperial Court where he occupied a dignified position.
He was tolerant, master of etiquette and a lover of grapes from whose spirit a new type of wine had been squeezed. True, it was not as good as rice wine. It did not tickle the palate. But the fresh fruit was a passion with him. He listened, munched grapes, spat out the seeds and all offers. His rejections were not decisive. A woman grows more alluring when dangled before covetous eyes. ”

“ What can a stranger like you have to teach me? 'I have a secret,' replied Hui Yang, 'whereby my opponent, however brave or strong, can be prevented from harming me either by thrust or by blow. Would not your Highness care to know that secret?' 'Capital!' exclaimed K'ang; 'that is certainly something I should like to hear about.' Hui Yang went on: 'To render ineffectual the stabs and blows of one's opponent is indeed to cover him with shame. But my secret is one which will make your opponent, however brave or strong, afraid to stab or to strike at all! ”

“ As he had retired from business, he was able to spend nearly the whole of his time in searching the country for the spots where certain unseen forces are supposed to collect with such dominant and overmastering power that the body of any person laid to rest amongst them will be found to dispense untold riches and dignities upon his nearest relatives. Accordingly, attended by a professor of the art, whose study of this intricate science enable him to detect at a glance the places which fulfilled the required conditions, Yin made frequent excursions in the regions around his home. ”

“ Their conversation was interrupted by the opening of the door.
"It is the illustrious Yang himself, who spoke good words to the boy-correcting mandarin; may he be turned into a bamboo himself in the next world," exclaimed Chow with a writhe of remembrance.
"Thou art the son of the good merchant, my correspondent?" said Yang.
"The face of the worthy merchant, is welcome in the hour of difficulty," said Nicholas. ”

“ For without taking Yüan Yang into account, what girl does not long to rise high, or hope to exalt herself, or think of pushing herself forward above the rest as to cast away the chances of becoming half a mistress, and prefer instead being a maid, and merely becoming by and bye the mate of some servant-lad?"
"Quite so!" Madame Hsing smiled. "But let's put Yüan Yang aside. Who is there, even among the various elderly waiting-maids, who look after the house, who wouldn't be only too willing to step into these shoes? ”

“ Lady Feng dragged Yüan Yang into a seat. "Have your meal with us!" she said. "You'll thus save another fuss by and bye."
Yüan Yang readily seated herself. The matrons came up and added to the number of bowls and chopsticks, and the trio went through their meal.
"From all I see," smiled goody Liu, "you people eat just a little and finish. It's lucky you don't feel the pangs of hunger! But it isn't astonishing if a whiff of wind can puff you over!" ”