Bazi Daily - 10/11/2010

The categorization of things according to yin and yang

Fire and water are the evidences used to categorize things because they are the signifiers of yin and yang.

Generally speaking :-

YANG     =    the things and the phenomena that bear the properties of being warm,

                      bright, active, rising and dispersing

Yin          =    the things and the phenomena that bear the properties of being cold, dim,

                      static, descending and astringing

According to such criteria, all things and phenomena can be categorized into either yin or yang group. However, the yin and yang properties of things are relative, not absolute. In the categorization of things according to the nature of yin and yang, two points have to be taken into consideration.


The yin or yang properties of things may vary with the change of time and application.

Take spring and summer for example. It is comparatively hot in summer and cold in spring, so summer pertains to yang and spring to yin. Take spring and winter for another example. It is comparatively cold in winter and warm in spring, so winter pertains to yin while spring to yang.


Any aspect of yin and yang in an object can be further and infinitely divided. In this case there exists yin within yang and yang within yin (阴中有阳，阳中有阴).

Take daytime and night for example. Daytime pertains to yang while night to yin. However, daytime can be further divided into two phases: morning and afternoon. Since yang-qi ascends in the morning and descends in the afternoon, morning pertains to yang (yang within yang) and afternoon to yin (yin within yang).


Similarly, night can be divided into anterior within yang posterior night. Since yin-qi increases in the anterior night and decreases in the posterior night, anterior night pertains to yin (yin within yin) while posterior night to yang yang within yin).


 
 
 

It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth -- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up --

that we will begin to live each day to the fullest,

as if it was the only one we had.

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross