4 | Yin and Yang
The Far-Eastern tradition in its strictly cosmological branch attributes a fundamental importance to the two principles, or 'categories', which it calls yang and yin. Everything active, positive or masculine is yang; everything passive, negative or feminine is yin.
In a symbolic sense these two categories are associated with light and shade: the bright side of anything is yang, the dark side yin. But as neither can ever be found without the other, they are far more commonly presented as complementary rather than opposed.[1] This connotation of light and darkness occurs for example at a literal level in the determination of geographical sites.[2] As for the more general and extensive significance of the terms yang and yin which identifies them with the two components of every complementarity, this has countless applications in all the traditional sciences.[3]
Inasmuch as all complementarities-however specific or particular-derive from the two primary complementarities, Heaven and Earth, it will be obvious from what has already been said that yang is whatever proceeds from the nature of Heaven.