One Yin, One Yang

Could today's low point just be the shady side of the same hill?

Original

一陰一陽之謂道。繼之者善也，成之者性也。仁者見之謂之仁，知者見之謂之知，百姓日用而不知，故君子之道鮮矣。……富有之謂大業，日新之謂盛德。生生之謂易。

In plain words

One yin, one yang, alternating and working together: that is called the Dao. To carry it on is good; to bring it to completion is nature. The kind see it and call it kindness; the wise see it and call it wisdom; ordinary people use it every day without knowing, so few understand the way of the noble person. ... Abundance is called the great work; renewal each day is called full virtue. Life giving rise to life is called change.

Key words

陰陽yīn yángOriginally the shady and sunny sides of a hill; then the receiving and the initiating forces. Not “female” and “male.”
繼jìTo carry on. Letting life and change continue is where “good” begins.
日新rì xīnRenewed each day: not novelty, but starting the right thing over again daily.

Reading it step by step

Yesterday we said that reading the Changes is like consulting an elder. Before you consult anyone, you need to know their language. The first word of the Changes is yin and yang.

First: yin and yang began as two sides of one hill. The earliest "yang" was the side of a hill that gets the sun; "yin" was the side that doesn't. The hill stays put; the sun moves, and the sunny side and the shady side change places. Only later did the words come to mean the two forces behind every change: the force that starts and initiates is yang, the force that receives and completes is yin. One caution: they are not "male" and "female." When a woman manager hands you a task, she is yang to you. When you go home and look after your child, you are yang to the child. Yin and yang are roles in a relationship, not labels stuck on people.

yang

the sunny side

starts · initiates · firm

yin

the shady side

receives · completes · yielding

One hill: when the sun moves, the two sides change places

Second: "to carry it on is good." The alternation of yin and yang is, in itself, neither good nor bad; the way of Heaven has no good luck or bad luck in it. "Good" is what happens when a person sees this movement and chooses to continue it: helping a person, a project, a life to exist and grow. Life giving rise to life also includes endings. A sea turtle lays hundreds of eggs, and only a handful of hatchlings ever reach the sea. Everything comes and goes inside this great round. Once you see that, a single gain or loss stops looking like the end of the world.

Third: "used every day without knowing" and "renewal each day is full virtue." We live inside yin and yang daily: day and night, busy and idle, speaking and listening, going out and coming home. We are simply too used to it to notice. The noble person turns that noticing into daily renewal. An ancient king is said to have carved on his washbasin: "renew yourself today, and every day, and again each day." Each morning's wash reminded him: a new day. Virtue works the same way. You were kind to your family yesterday; today, a little more.

In today's terms: work has busy and slow seasons, relationships have warm and cool spells, the body has good days and tired ones. If every low point is a failure, the worry never ends. If it is the sun moving to the other side for a while, the question changes: what should I prepare while I'm in the shade?

Every hexagram ahead is made of yin and yang lines. For now, remember: they are not two opposing camps, but two sides of the same hill.

One line to carry

Yin and yang: not two camps, but one hill's two sides.

Today's question

Which part of your life is on the shady side right now? What could you prepare there for when the sun comes round?

Quick check

A woman manager gives you a task. By this page's reading, what is she in relation to you?

Next pageHeaven and Earth, Mountain and Lake: the Eight TrigramsPage 3

I · How to Consult the I Ching — Yin and yang, trigrams, six lines, and how to ask a reading sincerely

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