Not about binaries

It has come to my attention that some people have the misconception that Daoism categories things into convenient binaries.  For the record, I would like to say how far from the truth that is.

Let’s start with the yin-yang symbol.  We know its colors are black and white.  But remember, within the black is a white dot, and within the white is a black dot.  Within the light will always be some dark.  Within the dark will always be some light.  This symbolism actually breaks the binary, as it shows the falsity of absolute categorization.

Philosophically, the white dot within the black can be divided further into its own yin and yang (the parts of which can be further subdivided into their own respective yin and yang), and the black dot within the white can also be divided further into its own yin and yang and so on.  Like fractals, the division can continue for several levels, even endlessly.  Within the brightest white will be some dark.  Within the darkest black will be some light.

The idea of further subdivision of the lights and darks within the yin-yang symbol is what gives rise to the eight trigrams, also known as bagua.  The different configurations of the trigrams show the nuances of yin yang and their possible combinations.

Let me be clear about this.  The idea of one element being inseparable from its so-called opposite is to show how binaries can’t exist and that everything is intertwined and part of a whole.

Another thing:  Let’s please not equate yang with ‘good’ and yin with ‘evil.’  Truthfully, the misapplication of contrasts has been used to justify unfair things, such as patriarchal society, where women as the ‘yin’ were considered to be inferior.  But gender binaries are also as fluid as the yin-yang symbol; however, that’s a discussion for another day.

Yin and yang are just parts of a system that just are, just as day and night just are.  They coexist with, give meaning to each other (like how ‘beauty’ and ‘ugliness’ give meaning to each other), and are part of a larger whole.  Surely we would not advocate that ‘day is good’ and ‘night is evil,’ requiring that we must have day all the time and no night!  Such a system would be unbalanced and cause great harm.  I would even call it dangerous.  Thinking in such terms would be thinking so narrowly as to miss the larger picture of how entire systems work.

A few take-away messages:  Daoism emphasizes balance, wholeness, and interconnectedness.  It’s not about binaries, dualities, or good and evil.  While I cannot possibly explain everything that is the Dao (“the Dao that cannot be explained is not the Dao”), the least I can tell you is that the conception of Daoism categorizing things into binaries is just flat out wrong.