Taijitu A taijitu (太极图; 太極圖; tàijítú) is a symbol or diagram (图 tú) in Chinese philosophy representing Taiji (太极 tàijí “utmost extreme”) in both its monist (wuji) and its dualist (yin and yang) aspects. Such a diagram was first introduced by Song Dynasty philosopher Zhou Dunyi (周敦頤 1017–1073) in his Taijitu shuo (太極圖說). The modern Taoist canon, compiled during the Ming era, has at least half a dozen...
Zhuangzi Zhuangzi (traditional Chinese characters: 莊子) was a fourth-century B.C.E. Chinese thinker of startling depth and originality, and author of a text with the same name. Zhuangzi expanded the Chinese understanding of Dao (Tao), explored its relationship with Heaven (or Nature), and firmly planted human beings within this context. Further, the Zhuangzi text described in great detail the means to...
Yin And Yang Yin and yang (陰陽 yīnyáng, “dark-bright”, “negative-positive”) is a concept of dualism in ancient Chinese philosophy, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one...