Glossaries (Resources)

易經 Literal meaning: ‘sutra’ or ‘scripture’ of ‘change’ Commentary: This classical Chinese 900BCE text of the Zhou dynasty (1045–771 BCE), is commonly known as ‘The Book of Changes’. It is the oldest Chinese text known in the west primarily as a system for divination, it has influenced western intellectual scholarship on Eastern thought in areas…… Continue reading Yìjīng

阴阳 Literal meaning: ‘dark’ or ‘negative’ and ‘light’ or ‘positive’ Commentary: Yīn and Yáng are polarities of the same unified whole of existence—of Dào (道)—which is represented in the easily recognisable black and white circular symbol. This symbol is known asTàijítú (T’ai Chi-T’u; 太極圖). Yīnyáng does not signify duality, but rather polarity. The Chinese character for Yīn represents the shaded side…… Continue reading Yīnyáng