The Tai Chi is probably the most important concept
in Feng Shui. And, nothing makes a well trained Traditional Feng Shui
Consultant more irritated than seeing the revered Tai Chi symbol misused. -- editor
This is the famous T’ai Chi symbol, representing many of the
basic ideas of Taoist philosophy, some of which are outlined below. However, one
question that often arises is "Which way should one draw the T’ai Chi?"
Taking a look at the wide range of books, magazines, internet
sites and other publications, one soon finds a whole host of different
orientations of the T’ai Chi, such as those shown here:
So, which is the correct one ? Or indeed, is there a correct
one ? To understand the answer we must first find out what the T’ai Chi is
intended to represent. The following sections outline some of the meanings
inherent in the symbol.
Yin and Yang Yin is the dark, cold, female, introvert, passive side
of life, shown as the Black area. Yang is the light, warm, male, extrovert, active
aspect, shown as the White area.
The T’ai Chi symbol means that everything in the Universe (the
"Ten Thousand Things" of the Tao Te Ching) contains both light and dark, good
and evil. These are complementary aspects rather than conflicting. The two small
dots within each area indicate that Yin contains the seed of Yang, and Yang
contains the seed of Yin.
The Cycles of Life
Much of Taoist philosophy is
based on the idea that everything goes in cycles - the years, the months, the
seasons, even human life itself. These cycles are represented by the Circle of
the T’ai Chi, and the flow of time is indicated by the way the Yin and the Yang
areas increase and decrease as they progress around the symbol.
The Seasons
The four seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter -
are not only part of the Cycles, but are also linked to Yin and Yang.
Spring
the time of new growth
increasing Yang
Summer
the time of greatest heat
highest Yang
Autumn
as the year cools
increasing Yin
Winter
the coldest time
highest Yin
In the T’ai Chi symbol, the seasons are mapped to the
appropriate areas of Yin and Yang:
The Chinese Compass Directions.
Like the Western magnetic
compass, the Chinese compass is based on the four main directions - North,
South, East and West. In Chinese philosophy each direction is linked to a
season:
East
to the Spring
the time of new growth
South
to the Summer
the time of warmth
West
to the Autumn
the time of coolness
North
to the Winter
the time of cold and snow
The T’ai Chi symbol is linked to the compass directions,
through the seasons:
In China the South is considered to be the main direction and
is shown at the top of their compasses, unlike in the West where we place North
at the top of our maps and compasses.
The T’ai Chi Orientation
If we agree that the T’ai Chi
symbol is a representation of all the aspects discussed above - the Yin and
Yang, the Cycle of Seasons and the Compass Directions - there is only one
‘Correct’ orientation of the T’ai Chi, being the one used here. Any other
orientation may well represent the Yin and the Yang, but does not properly
represent the philosophy behind the symbol.
