All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

Yin Female Taosim In Search Of Immortality

Yin Female Taoism In Search Of Immortality

Print

Chinese Thought conceived the idea of ​​a universe governed by the interaction and cyclical alternation of two opposing, but complementary principles called Yin and Yang. Before becoming cosmological entities, they were elementary principles of classification, first of all sexual groupings and two genders: one female and the other male. This conception originated from the agricultural character of the ancient Chinese civilization.

Taoist Immortal Painting of Queen Mother of the West Riding Foo Dog (Anton biederwolf/ CC BY-SA 4.0)

Taoist Immortal Painting of Queen Mother of the West Riding Foo Dog (Anton biederwolf/ CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Seasons Of Yin And Yang

In the distant past, the work of men and women took place according to different times and methods in relation to the seasons. Men worked in the fields until winter arrived; during this season they rested, like the earth. For women, on the contrary, winter was the season of the most intense work, which they spent at home spinning and weaving clothes. In spring and autumn collective festivals, which ended with a sacred hierogamy, were held in consecrated places in valleys where the river marked a sacred border. During those festivals, the opposing choirs of young people of both sexes faced each other, like shadow and light, launching challenges in verse.

Chinese painting illustrating a mother and a son plucking tea sprouts (ca.1800–1899) from the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs (CC0)

Chinese painting illustrating a mother and a son plucking tea sprouts (ca.1800–1899) from the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs (CC0)

The names of Yin and Yang are a reminder of the dark and sunny slopes where the young people respectively used to gather. Yin is related to the shade, to closed places, to the feminine; its activity is of an interior order. Yang is related to sunlight, heat, masculine; its activity is of an external nature. Therefore, the opposition between Yang and Yin is not to be understood as an opposition between Good and Evil, but it is relative and rhythmic in nature: Yang and Yin alternate, taking turns in their work. The space is constituted by their opposition, while the time by their alternation. They are the substance of the Whole, whose order they express.

Confucius meets Laozi (Public Domain)

Confucius meets Laozi (Public Domain)

Taoism And Confucianism

According to an ancient treatise: A [aspect] yin, a [aspect] yang, this is the Tao, these ideas are common to both Confucianism and Taoism, but in the two philosophies of Thought they have had different results.

READ MORE… 

Like this Preview and want to read on? You can! JOIN US THERE with easy, instant access ) and see what you’re missing!! All Premium articles are available in full, with immediate access.

For the price of a cup of coffee, you get this and all the other great benefits at Ancient Origins Premium. And - each time you support AO Premium, you support independent thought and writing.

Alessandra Filiaci is the creator of ‘Tarosofia’, a system of study and creative use of the Tarot and author of the books I Tarocchi. Il Sentiero Degli Uomini E Degli Dei" (1999) and I Tarocchi Della Nuova Era. Percorso Spirituale, Divinazione, Applicazioni Ludiche  (Tarot of the new era. Spiritual path, divination, playful applications )(2017)

Top Image : Tao priestess Sun Bu'er (in the middle of the top row) with the other Seven Masters of Quanzhen and their teacher, Wang Chongyang (Public Domain)

By Alessandra Filiaci

 

Alessandra

Alessandra Filiaci was born in Rome in 1964. At a very young age she discovered the works of W.W. Atkinson and R. Guénon, texts on mysticism and oriental philosophy, Greek mythology, study of symbols, Tarot, astrology, the I Ching. The... Read More

Next article