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44-451: In Chinese philosophy , a taijitu ( Chinese : 太極圖 ; pinyin : tàijítú ; Wade–Giles : tʻai⁴chi²tʻu² ) is a symbol or diagram ( 圖 ; tú ) representing taiji ( 太極 ; tàijí ; 'utmost extreme') in both its monist ( wuji ) and its dualist ( yin and yang ) forms in application is a deductive and inductive theoretical model. Such a diagram was first introduced by Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhou Dunyi of

88-690: A common yin-yang symbol in the first half of the 20th century. The flag of South Korea , originally introduced as the flag of Joseon era Korea in 1882, shows this symbol in red and blue. This was a modernisation of the older (early 19th century) form of the Bat Quai Do used as the Joseon royal standard. The symbol is referred to as taijitu , simply taiji (or the Supreme Ultimate in English), hetu or "river diagram", "the yin-yang circle", or wuji , as wuji

132-453: A diameter equal to the radius of the outer circle. One keeps the line that forms an "S", and one erases or obscures the other line. In 2008 the design was also described by Isabelle Robinet as a "pair of fishes nestling head to tail against each other". The Soyombo symbol of Mongolia may be prior to 1686. It combines several abstract shapes, including a Taiji symbol illustrating the mutual complement of man and woman. In socialist times, it

176-417: A retransmitter of Zhou values. His philosophy concerns the fields of ethics and politics, emphasizing personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, traditionalism, and sincerity. The Analects stress the importance of ritual, but also the importance of ren , which loosely translates as "human-heartedness", Confucianism, along with Legalism , is responsible for creating one of

220-1040: A taijitu, is available in Unicode as the sequence U+11A9E 𑪞 + U+11A9F 𑪟 + U+11AA0 𑪠. Chinese philosophy Confucianism Persons Topics Neo Confucianism New Confucianism Daoism Persons Topics Legalism Mohism Military and Strategy Han Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism Maoism General topics Vedic philosophy Mimamsa Vedanta Samkhya Yoga Nyaya Navya-Nyāya Vaisheshika Nāstika (heterodox) Tamil Other General topics Jainism Buddhism Traditions Topics Japanese Buddhism Japanese Confucianism Kokugaku Modern Thought Statism Kyoto School Korean Buddhism Korean Confucianism Persons Topics Donghak Modern Thought Persons Topics Chinese philosophy originates in

264-475: A thoroughly Chinese religious philosophy dominated by the school of Zen Buddhism . Neo-Confucianism became highly popular during the Song dynasty and Ming dynasty due in large part to the eventual combination of Confucian and Buddhist and even Taoist Philosophy. Zhu Xi Zhu was a scholar with a wide learning in the classics, commentaries, histories and other writings of his predecessors. In his lifetime, he

308-524: A thousand brave people attended his funeral. After the death of Han Tuozhou, Zhu's successor Zhen Dexiu , together with Wei Liaoweng , made Zhu's branch of Neo-Confucianism the dominant philosophy at the Song Court. In 1208, eight years after his death, Emperor Ningzong of Song rehabilitated Zhu Xi and honored him with the posthumous name of Wen Gong ( 文公 ), meaning "Venerable gentleman of culture". Around 1228, Emperor Lizong of Song honored him with

352-593: Is Non-Polar". Non-polar ( wuji ) and yet Supreme Polarity ( taiji )! The Supreme Polarity in activity generates yang ; yet at the limit of activity it is still. In stillness it generates yin ; yet at the limit of stillness it is also active. Activity and stillness alternate; each is the basis of the other. In distinguishing yin and yang , the Two Modes are thereby established. The alternation and combination of yang and yin generate water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. With these five [phases of] qi harmoniously arranged,

396-764: Is also said to have used try squares and wrote the Zhoubi Suanjing with his astrologer. Several early beliefs might be found in the Guicang and perhaps the earliest Chinese book, the small calendar of the Xia in Da Dai Liji, though debated to exist the Xia dynasty is said to be its origin. Confucianism developed during the Spring and Autumn period from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BCE), who considered himself

440-576: Is an intellectual fashion of Neo-Confucianism during the Song period (11th century), and it declined again in the Ming period, by the 16th century. During the Mongol Empire and Yuan dynasty , Taoist traditions and diagrams were compiled and published in the encyclopedia Shilin Guangji by Chen Yuanjing . The original description of a taijitu is due to Song era philosopher Zhou Dunyi (1017–1073), author of

484-658: Is found in artifacts of the European Iron Age . Similar interlocking designs are found in the Americas: Xicalcoliuhqui . While this design appears to become a standard ornamental motif in Iron-Age Celtic culture by the 3rd century BC, found on a wide variety of artifacts, it is not clear what symbolic value was attached to it. Unlike the Chinese symbol, the Celtic yin-yang lack the element of mutual penetration, and

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528-440: Is referred to as "the two-part Taiji diagram" ( 太極兩儀圖 ). Ornamental patterns with visual similarity to the "yin yang symbol" are found in archaeological artefacts of European prehistory ; such designs are sometimes descriptively dubbed "yin yang symbols" in archaeological literature by modern scholars. The taijitu consists of five parts. Strictly speaking, the "yin and yang symbol", itself popularly called taijitu , represents

572-564: Is similar to the gakyil ( dga' 'khyil or "wheel of joy") symbols of Tibetan Buddhism ; but while the Tibetan designs have three or four swirls (representing the Three Jewels or the Four Noble Truths , i.e. as a triskele and a tetraskelion design), Lai Zhide's taijitu has two swirls, terminating in a central circle. The Ming-era design of the taijitu of two interlocking spirals was

616-590: The Han dynasty due to the efforts of Confucians in establishing their views as political orthodoxy. The Six Dynasties era saw the rise of the Xuanxue philosophical school and the maturation of Chinese Buddhism , which had entered China from India during the Late Han dynasties. By the time of the Tang dynasty five-hundred years after Buddhism's arrival into China, it had transformed into

660-644: The Song Dynasty in his Taijitu shuo ( 太極圖說 ). The Daozang , a Taoist canon compiled during the Ming dynasty , has at least half a dozen variants of the taijitu . The two most similar are the Taiji Xiantiandao and wujitu ( 無極圖 ; wújítú ) diagrams, both of which have been extensively studied since the Qing period for their possible connection with Zhou Dunyi's taijitu . Ming period author Lai Zhide simplified

704-635: The Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period , during a period known as the " Hundred Schools of Thought ", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developments. Although much of Chinese philosophy begun in the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), elements of Chinese philosophy have existed for several thousand years. Some can be found in the I Ching (the Book of Changes ), an ancient compendium of divination , which dates back to at least 672 BCE. The Han dynasty Records of

748-555: The Taijitu shuo ( 太極圖說 ; "Explanation of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate"), which became the cornerstone of Neo-Confucianist cosmology. His brief text synthesized aspects of Chinese Buddhism and Taoism with metaphysical discussions in the Yijing . Zhou's key terms Wuji and Taiji appear in the opening line 無極而太極 , which Adler notes could also be translated "The Supreme Polarity that

792-562: The taijitu to a design of two interlocking spirals with two black-and-white dots superimposed on them, became synonymous with the Yellow River Map . This version was represented in Western literature and popular culture in the late 19th century as the "Great Monad", this depiction became known in English as the "yin-yang symbol" since the 1960s. The contemporary Chinese term for the modern symbol

836-459: The thought of ancient Chinese masters should be called philosophy has been discussed since the introduction of this academic discipline into China. See Legitimacy of Chinese philosophy for details. Early Shang dynasty thought was based on cycles like the 10 stems and 12 earthly branches . This notion stems from what the people of the Shang dynasty could observe around them: day and night cycles,

880-578: The Four Seasons proceed through them. The Five Phases are simply yin and yang ; yin and yang are simply the Supreme Polarity; the Supreme Polarity is fundamentally Non-polar. [Yet] in the generation of the Five Phases, each one has its nature. Instead of usual Taiji translations "Supreme Ultimate" or "Supreme Pole", Adler uses "Supreme Polarity" (see Robinet 1990) because Zhu Xi describes it as

924-525: The Grand Historian by Sima Tan looked back on the Warring States era and grouped the thinkers into the major philosophical schools, Confucianism , Legalism , and Taoism , along with philosophies that later fell into obscurity, like Agriculturalism , Mohism , Chinese Naturalism , and the Logicians . Even in modern society, Confucianism is still the creed of social behaviour. The debate over whether

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968-548: The Shang were overthrown by the Zhou a new political, religious and philosophical concept was introduced called the Mandate of Heaven . This mandate was said to be taken when rulers became unworthy of their position and provided a justification for Zhou rule it is said that the Duke of Zhou made the early solar terms by measuring with a gnomon that was added to make the complete solar terms . He

1012-825: The Song dynasty, Zhu Xi's teachings were considered to be unorthodox . Rather than focusing on the I Ching like other Neo-Confucians, he chose to emphasize the Four Books : the Great Learning , the Doctrine of the Mean , the Analects of Confucius , and the Mencius as the core curriculum for aspiring scholar officials. For all these classics he wrote extensive commentaries that were not widely recognized in his time; however, they later became accepted as

1056-423: The alternating principle of yin and yang , and: insists that taiji is not a thing (hence "Supreme Pole" will not do). Thus, for both Zhou and Zhu, taiji is the yin-yang principle of bipolarity, which is the most fundamental ordering principle, the cosmic "first principle." Wuji as "non-polar" follows from this. Since the 12th century, there has been a vigorous discussion in Chinese philosophy regarding

1100-411: The circular diagram, the introduction of "swirling" patterns first appears in the Ming period and representative of transformation. Zhao Huiqian ( 趙撝謙 , 1351–1395) was the first to introduce the "swirling" variant of the taijitu in his Liushu benyi ( 六書本義 , 1370s). The diagram is combined with the eight trigrams ( bagua ) and called the "River Chart spontaneously generated by Heaven and Earth". By

1144-616: The complementary principles, i.e. a flux or flow to achieve harmony and balance. Similarities can be seen in Neolithic – Eneolithic era Cucuteni–Trypillia culture on the territory of current Ukraine and Romania. Patterns containing ornament looking like Taijitu from archeological artifacts of that culture were displayed in the Ukraine pavilion at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China. The interlocking design

1188-635: The dominant philosophical school of China during the early Han dynasty following the replacement of its contemporary, the more Taoist Huang-Lao . Legalism as a coherent philosophy disappeared largely due to its relationship with the unpopular authoritarian rule of Qin Shi Huang , however, many of its ideas and institutions would continue to influence Chinese philosophy throughout the Han dynasty and after. Mohism, though initially popular due to its emphasis on brotherly love versus harsh Legalism, fell out of favour during

1232-500: The end of the Ming period, this diagram had become a widespread representation of Chinese cosmology . The dots were introduced in the later Ming period (replacing the droplet-shapes used earlier, in the 16th century) and are encountered more frequently in the Qing period . The dots represent the seed of yin within yang and the seed of yang within yin; the idea that neither can exist without the other and are never absolute. Lai Zhide's design

1276-524: The incompetency and corruption of some influential officials. There were several instances of receiving an appointment and subsequently being demoted. Upon dismissal from his last appointment, he was accused of numerous crimes and a petition was made for his execution. Much of this opposition was headed by Han Tuozhou , the Prime Minister, who was a political rival of Zhu's. Even though his teachings had been severely attacked by establishment figures, almost

1320-1283: The posthumous noble title Duke of (State) Hui ( 徽國公 ). In 1241, a memorial tablet to Zhu Xi was placed in the Confucian Temple at Qufu , thereby elevating him to Confucian sainthood . Today, Zhu Xi is venerated as one of the " Twelve Philosophers " of Confucianism . Modern Sinologists and Chinese often refer to him as Zhu Wen Gong ( 朱文公 ) in lieu of his name. Confucianism Persons Topics Neo Confucianism New Confucianism Daoism Persons Topics Legalism Mohism Military and Strategy Han Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism Maoism General topics Vedic philosophy Mimamsa Vedanta Samkhya Yoga Nyaya Navya-Nyāya Vaisheshika Nāstika (heterodox) Tamil Other General topics Jainism Buddhism Traditions Topics Japanese Buddhism Japanese Confucianism Kokugaku Modern Thought Statism Kyoto School Korean Buddhism Korean Confucianism Persons Topics Donghak Modern Thought Persons Topics During

1364-428: The seasons progressed again and again, and even the moon waxed and waned until it waxed again. Thus, this notion, which remained relevant throughout Chinese history , reflects the order of nature. In juxtaposition, it also marks a fundamental distinction from western philosophy , in which the dominant view of time is a linear progression. During the Shang, Ancestor worship was present and universally recognized. When

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1408-420: The second of these five parts of the diagram. The term taijitu in modern Chinese is commonly used to mean the simple "divided circle" form ( [REDACTED] ), but it may refer to any of several schematic diagrams that contain at least one circle with an inner pattern of symmetry representing yin and yang . While the concept of yin and yang dates to Chinese antiquity, the interest in "diagrams" ( 圖 tú )

1452-518: The significance of the Classic of Filiality ( Xiaojing ). As a youth, he was inspired by Mencius' proposition that anyone could become a sage. Upon his father's death in 1143, he studied with his father's friends Hu Xian, Liu Zihui, and Liu Mianzhi. In 1148, at the age of 19, Zhu Xi passed the Imperial Examination and became a presented scholar ( jinshi ). Zhu Xi's first official dispatch position

1496-647: The standard commentaries. The Four Books served as the basis of civil service examinations up until 1905, and education in the classics often began with Zhu Xi's commentaries as the cornerstone for understanding them. The sources of Zhu Xi's new approach to the Confucian curriculum have been found in several works of the Cheng brothers. Zhu Xi "codified the Cheng brothers' teachings and reworked them into his own philosophical program," moving "from philology to philosophy." Zhu Xi maintained that all things are brought into being by

1540-482: The texts they appear in would only call the principle of taiji those names rather than the symbol. Since the 1960s, the He tu symbol, which combines the two interlocking spirals with two dots, has more commonly been used as a yin-yang symbol. compare [REDACTED] with [REDACTED] In the standard form of the contemporary symbol, one draws on the diameter of a circle two non-overlapping circles each of which has

1584-561: The two halves are not always portrayed in different colors. Comparable designs are also found in Etruscan art . Unicode features the he tu symbol in the Miscellaneous Symbols block, at code point U+262F ☯ YIN YANG . The related "double body symbol" is included at U+0FCA (TIBETAN SYMBOL NOR BU NYIS -KHYIL ࿊), in the Tibetan block. The Soyombo symbol , which includes

1628-460: The ultimate origin of Zhou Dunyi's diagram. Zhu Xi (12th century) insists that Zhou Dunyi had composed the diagram himself, against the prevailing view that he had received it from Daoist sources. Zhu Xi could not accept a Daoist origin of the design, because it would have undermined the claim of uniqueness attached to the Neo-Confucian concept of dao . While Zhou Dunyi (1017–1073) popularized

1672-429: The union of two universal aspects of reality: qi ( 氣 , sometimes translated as vital – or physical, material – force); and li ( 理 , sometimes translated as rational principle or law). The source and sum of li is the taiji , meaning the Supreme Ultimate. The source of qi is not so clearly stated by Zhu Xi, leading some authorities to maintain that he was a metaphysical monist and others to maintain that he

1716-429: The world's first meritocracies , which holds that one's status should be determined by education and character rather than ancestry , wealth , or friendship . Confucianism was and continues to be a major influence in Chinese culture, the state of China and the surrounding areas of East Asia . Before the Han dynasty the largest rivals to Confucianism were Chinese Legalism , and Mohism . Confucianism largely became

1760-755: Was able to serve multiple times as a government official, although he avoided public office for most of his adult life. He also wrote, compiled and edited almost a hundred books and corresponded with dozens of other scholars. He acted as a teacher to groups of students, many of whom chose to study under him for years. He built upon the teachings of the Cheng brothers and others, further developing their metaphysical theories in regards to principle ( li ) and vital force ( qi ). His followers recorded thousands of his conversations in writing. Zhu Xi, whose family originated in Wuyuan County , Huizhou (in modern Jiangxi province),

1804-450: Was alternatively interpreted as two fish symbolizing vigilance, because fish never close their eyes. The modern symbol has also been widely used in martial arts, particularly tai chi , and Jeet Kune Do , since the 1970s. In this context, it is generally used to represent the interplay between hard and soft techniques . The dots in the modern " yin-yang symbol " have been given the additional interpretation of "intense interaction" between

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1848-472: Was as Subprefectural Registrar of Tong'an ( 同安縣主簿 ), which he served from 1153 - 1156. From 1153 he began to study under Li Tong, who followed the Neo-Confucian tradition of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi , and formally became his student in 1160. In 1179, after not serving in an official capacity since 1156, Zhu Xi was appointed Prefect of Nankang Military District ( 南康軍 ), where he revived White Deer Grotto Academy . and got demoted three years later for attacking

1892-520: Was born in Fujian , where his father worked as the subprefectural sheriff. After his father was forced from office due to his opposition to the government appeasement policy towards the Jurchen in 1140, Zhu Xi received instruction from his father at home. Many anecdotes attest that he was a highly precocious child. It was recorded that at age five he ventured to ask what lay beyond Heaven, and by eight he understood

1936-422: Was viewed synonymously with the artistic and philosophical concept of taiji by some Taoists, including Zhou . Zhou viewed the dualistic and paradoxical relationship between the concepts of taiji and wuji , which were and are often thought to be opposite concepts, as a cosmic riddle important for the "beginning...and ending" of a life. The names of the taijitu are highly subjective and some interpretations of

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