Yin and Yang
 Yin and Yang are central to both Taoist philosophy and Chinese medicine and both regard the balance of these opposing forces as the key factor in all life processes and natural phenomena.
Yin symbolizes the negative, passive force. Its nature is female, dark, low-lying, contractive, descending, and it is symbolized by water.
Yang represents the positive, active force. It is male in nature, bright, high-flying, expansive, ascending, and is represented by fire.
The nature of the symbolizing elements fire and water clearly exemplify the nature of yin and yang: fire flares up quickly with great power, but it is extinguished easily by water. Water, on the other hand, is indestructible, fills everything, and wears down even the hardest rock. It can absorb and retain the powerful but short-living yang energy for a long time (water keeps the heat of fire).
The Yin and Yang forces depend on each other, one cannot exist without the other. In order to maintain health a harmonious balance is the ideal state for both nature and man. When yang is in excess, yin tends to recede. When yin overflows, yang tends to retreat. The net total, however, is always the same. Both yin and yang contain the germ of their own opposite within themselves, as symbolized by the white and black dots. Everything depends on the relative balance of yin and yang.
All vital parts of the body, every plant, all phenomena in the universe are divided into yin and yang (for instance, the moon is yin, the sun is yang; the sun is very powerful and active but lives in short day periods, the moon in monthly cycles). The body is balancing yin and yang automatically within certain limits, making medication necessary only if the imbalances should reach critical levels. However, this can be avoided with preventive care such as proper diet and exercise combined with careful attention to changes in season, weather, and geography (all these factors mentioned belong to either yin or yang thus influencing the human bodies yin-yang balance). Imbalances of yin and yang are redressed with foods and herbal medicines by supplementing components from the category of the deficient element.
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