Where does the Yin Yang symbol come from?
Everyone knows the Yin Yang symbol, and for each of us it has a different meaning. Some might associate alternative healing with it, others associate martial arts with it and then there are those that think of spirituality whenever they see it. We see this symbol almost every day in different places, and it’s good to see that a symbol like the Yin Yang can be so universally accepted by people for different reasons.
Yin Yang
People use it as tattoos, on martial art clothing, in jewelery, and website logos. And each time you see it, you can bet that it has a different meaning to the person that used it than to the person that created it.
Where does the Yin Yang symbol originate from though? I searched and researched a bit and found the answer to be quite fascinating. It stems from ancient Chinese Astrology.
After observing the universe for quite some time, they found that it is changing every day. Based on this they were also able to observe seasonal and annual changes and cycles happening.
They decided to start measuring and recording these changes. They observed the sky at night, and recorded the position of the Dipper. During the day they would watch the shadow off a 8 foot pole.
Dipper
8 Foot Pole
With this they were able to determine four directions. Sunset in the direction of West, sunrise in the direction of East, the shortest shadow is South and the longest shadow is North. During the darkness of night, the direction of the Polaris star would be North.
While determining the four directions, they noticed the seasonal changes as well. Whenever the Dipper points towards the East, it would be spring, and when it points to the West, it would be fall. When the Dipper’s point shows towards South, it is summer and when it’s North, it’s winter.
Using the 8 foot pole at a right angle to the earth’s surface, they were also able to determine that a year’s length is 365.25 days. This was done by recording the positions of the shadows.
Now it becomes a bit more complicated. Using the year’s cycle, they divided it into 24 equal segments. Some of the segments include the Vernal Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice. Then with six concentric circles they divided the segments into 24 sectors. On this diagram they marked the length of shadow every day using the 8 foot pole.
Marking it in different colors for the Summer Solstice (Yin) and the Winter Solstice (Yang) you were left the following image:
Yin Yang
You will see the ecliptic angle of 23 26’19″ marked on the image. This is the apparent path of the Sun around the Earth. Not saying that the Sun rotates around the Earth! Perhaps this image will provide a clearer understanding of what I mean to say:
Ecliptic Angle