What is the meaning of the yin and the yang?

Question: "What is the meaning of the yin and the yang?"

Answer: The concept of yin yang (often called “the yin and the yang”) is a Chinese philosophical idea used to explain how opposite forces are interconnected and interdependent upon each other. In other words, black could not exist without white, dark without light, cold without heat, etc. The yin yang concept is the basis of many branches of classical Chinese science and philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine, and different forms of Chinese martial arts and exercise, including tai chi.

As with much of Chinese philosophy and culture, the concept of yin yang is mysterious and complex and a full treatment of it is not possible here. The connection between yin yang and Taoism, however, is undeniable. Tao deals with the flow of the universe, or the force behind natural order that keeps all things balanced and in order. It is considered to be a source of existence and "non-existence." Most adherents of Taoism believe anything from polytheism (belief in many gods) to ancestor worship. Taoists tend to worship mostly on holidays in their calendar when food is set out as a sacrifice to the gods or the spirits of departed ancestors. Other forms of sacrifice include burning paper money so it will rematerialize in the spirit world for a departed ancestor to use. A number of martial arts disciplines such as T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Bagua Zang have their roots in Taoism.

While Taoism is directly contradictory to biblical Christianity, dichotomies (divisions into two, especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities) abound in the Bible. Jesus Christ is at one time fully God and fully man, also known as the hypostatic union. Death is necessary for life (John 12:24). Christians are new creations in Christ, but live in the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 7:18-25). We are at one time both God’s children and His slaves (John 1:12; Ephesians 6:6). We have died, but now we live (Galatians 2:20).

In the sense that opposites exist in relation to one another, yin yang does relate to scriptural truth. Evil, for instance, would not exist without goodness, and grace would not exist without the Law, from which grace frees us. In its relation to Taoism, however, yin yang is definitely not biblical.