Yin and Yang › Namazu » Ancient origins

Articles and Definitions › Contents

  • Yin and Yang › Ancient History
  • Namazu › Who Was

Ancient civilizations › Historical and archaeological sites

Yin and Yang › Ancient History

Definition and Origins

by Mark Cartwright
published on 16 May 2018
Yin and Yang (Dan Carter)

The principle of Yin and Yang is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example, female-male, dark-light and old-young. The principle, dating from the 3rd century BCE or even earlier, is a fundamental concept in Chinese philosophy and culture in general. The two opposites of Yin and Yang attract and complement each other and, as their symbol illustrates, each side has at its core an element of the other (represented by the small dots). Neither pole is superior to the other and, as an increase in one brings a corresponding decrease in the other, a correct balance between the two poles must be reached in order to achieve harmony.

ORIGIN

The concept of Yin and Yang became popular with the work of the Chinese school of Yinyang which studied philosophy and cosmology in the 3rd century BCE. The principal proponent of the theory was the cosmologist Zou Yan (or Tsou Yen) who believed that life went through five phases ( wuxing ) - fire, water, metal, wood, earth - which continuously interchanged according to the principle of Yin and Yang.

WHAT IS YIN?

Yin is:
  • feminine
  • black
  • dark
  • north
  • water (transformation)
  • passive
  • moon (weakness and the goddess Changxi)
  • earth
  • cold
  • old
  • even numbers
  • valleys
  • poor
  • soft
  • and provides spirit to all things.
Yin reaches it's height of influence with the winter solstice. Yin may also be represented by the tiger, the colour orange and a broken line in the trigrams of the I Ching (or Book of Changes ).

WHAT IS YANG?

Yang is:
  • masculine
  • white
  • light
  • south
  • fire (creativity)
  • active
  • sun (strength and the god Xihe)
  • heaven
  • warm
  • young
  • odd numbers
  • mountains
  • rich
  • hard
  • and provides form to all things.
Yang reaches it's height of influence with the summer solstice. Yang may also be represented by the dragon, the colour blue and a solid line trigram.

IN MYTHOLOGY & RELIGION


IN CHINESE MYTHOLOGY YIN & YANG WERE BORN FROM CHAOS WHEN THE UNIVERSE WAS FIRST CREATED.

In Chinese mythology, Yin and Yang were born from chaos when the universe was first created and they are believed to exist in harmony at the centre of the Earth. During the creation, their achievement of balance in the cosmic egg allowed for the birth of Pangu (or P'an ku), the first human. In addition, the first gods Fuxi, Nuwa and Shennong were born from Yin and Yang. In Chinese religion, the Taoists favour Yin whilst Confucianists favour Yang in keeping with the prime focus of their respective philosophies. The Taoists emphasize reclusion whilst Confucianists believe in the importance of engagement in life.
As expressed in the I Ching, the ever-changing relationship between the two poles is responsible for the constant flux of the universe and life in general. When there is too great an imbalance between Yin and Yang, catastrophes can occur such as floods, droughts and plagues.

Namazu › Who Was

Definition and Origins

by Mark Cartwright
published on 12 June 2017
Namazu (Unknown Artist)

Namazu (aka Onamazu) is the giant catfish of Japanese mythology held responsible for creating earthquakes. The creature was thought to live under the earth, and when it swam through the underwater seas and rivers there, it caused earthquakes.Subdued by the thunder god Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto, Namazu, nevertheless, remains a force to be reckoned with, even if he can, on occasion, bring good fortune and a redistribution of wealth as well as devastation.
The Japanese archipelago has suffered periodic and devastating earthquakes throughout its history (10% of the world's seismic activity occurs in Japan ), and the creation of a monster which personified these terrible events was a mechanism which allowed people to explain and justify their seemingly random occurrence. The catfish Namazu swimming in the waters deep beneath the earth is thus an answer to the cause of the movement of the earth. Closely associated with the thunder gods, Namazu is seen as their counterpart below the earth. There was also another earthquake god, Nai-no- kami, who appears around the 7th century CE and later became identified with Namazu. In the Meiji Period (1868-1912 CE) Nai-no-kami was separated again and given his own personification.
Although Namazu was capable of great destruction, help was at hand from the heroic thunder and warrior god Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto (aka Kashima Daimyojin), for it was he who had a special stone, the kaname - ishi ('pinning rock'), and digging down into the earth he used the stone to weigh down Namazu's head, restricting his movements and so limiting the frequency, or at least the intensity, of earthquakes. The 15 cm tip of this massive stone which still projects through the earth's surface can be seen at the Kashima shrine of Hitachi, to the northeast of Tokyo. Thus, there is a popular saying: “Even if the earth moves, have no fear, for the Kashima kami (spirit) holds the the kaname - ishi in place” (Ashkenazi, 220).

NAMAZU'S EFFORTS MIGHT BRING DESTRUCTION & DESPAIR BUT HE DOES HAVE A POSITIVE SIDE: THE REGULAR RENEWAL OF THE WORLD KNOWN AS YO-NAOSHI.

One legend recounts that Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1700 CE), perhaps in a fit of scepticism, attempted to excavate the kaname - ishi stone and see just how deep it went, but he gave up after seven days of digging and after he still hadn't found the bottom of the stone. Unfortunately, Namazu is not always pinned down for when Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto has to attend the annual conference of all the gods at Izumo, the catfish can squirm a little more than usual and cause an earthquake or two by thrashing his tail. Nevertheless, the idea spread of placing stones similar to the kaname - ishi at shrines to try and prevent or minimise earthquakes.
Namazu's efforts might bring destruction and despair but he does have a positive side. The catfish represented the regular renewal of the world known as yo- naoshi which was welcomed by the poor as an opportunity to shake up the wealthy classes, redistribute their accumulated riches, and make a new start. This idea became especially popular following a series of earthquakes in the Edo Period (1600-1868 CE) which many times reduced the haves to the level of the have-nots and provided the poor with a momentary opportunity to improve their lot in the chaos that immediately followed such disasters. The yo- naoshi idea includes the hope that the poor will inherit the wealth of the rich and this role-reversal has meant that Namazu is sometimes associated with good fortune, or more specifically a temporary fortune. This is manifested in shrines or depots sacred to a local deity with an aspect of Namazu. Known as kuramay a, people may borrow bowls and utensils from them, but Namazu will bring personal misfortune if they are not cared for and returned after use.
Takemikazuchi and Namazu were popular subjects in Japanese paintings, especially ukiyo-e prints, when they were used during the Edo Period as talismans in people's homes to prevent serious earthquakes from striking and invoke Takemikazuchi's help should they do so. Images of Namazu are still around today, too, and seen, for example, on the digital warning devices produced by Japan's Meteorological Agency.
This article was made possible with generous support from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.

LICENSE:

Article based on information obtained from these sources:
with permission from the Website Ancient History Encyclopedia
Content is available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. CC-BY-NC-SA License