I Ching Divination Basics: Foundations Part 1: Yin and Yang

👤 By Fiona

📅 November 28, 2025

⏱️ 4 min read

📂 Uncategorized

Read the pair, sense the turn, act in balance. This mindful approach is at the heart of I Ching Divination.

I. Foundations

Part 1: Yin and Yang

Yin and yang describe a relationship, not two fixed substances. We read every phenomenon through paired qualities that only make sense in relation to each other: bright and dark, movement and rest, warmth and coolness. What counts as yin or yang depends on context.

Four core dynamics.

Mutual dependence. No day without night, no inside without outside.
Wax and wane.
Transformation. Cloudy becomes clear, illness becomes recovery.
Mutual containment. Yin holds a seed of yang and yang holds a seed of yin. Deep rest prepares action, excess activity creates the need for rest.

Yin and yang are the foundation of tai chi and the Eight Trigrams. Laozi writes, “The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to the ten thousand things.” In the classical reading, “One” points to tai chi. Meanwhile, “Two” points to yin and yang. This provides the basic architecture of the Zhouyi symbol system and shows how the two qi of yin and yang unfold.

Read this ladder as a practical workflow for judgment. The Two Forms are the primary polarity signaled by yin and yang lines. Across the tradition, the Two Forms can be glossed as yin and yang or as Heaven and Earth. The Four Symbols can correlate with seasons, directions, or the Four Symbols in cosmology (Azure Loong, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, Black Tortoise).

Use the levels to guide timing and proportion. The skill is to see which side is primary now, supply what is lacking, and refrain from what is already in excess. Reading this way turns theory into action: you identify the current polarity, gauge its degree, place it in an image, and decide the smallest step that restores balance.

Read the pair, sense the direction of shift, and act to rebalance. Over time this turns knowledge of opposites into a practical art of timing.

Common mistakes to avoid.

Forgetting context. Water is yin against fire, yet yang against stillness.
Chasing absolutes. What matters is the current tilt and the next turn, not a permanent label.

Micro-exercise（2 minutes）.
Pick something around you and name its pair: sound and silence, motion and stillness, warmth and coolness. Ask which side dominates and what signs would show a turn. This builds the reflex you will use in real casts.

Key takeaways.

Yin and yang are relational and situational.
Extremes invite reversal, balance restores function.
Good practice adds what is missing and avoids what is already excessive.

Next in Foundations.
Part 2.1: Interactions of the Five Elements (generation and overcoming)
Part 2.2: Peer Harmony of the Five Elements
Part 2.3: Applications of the three (generation, overcoming, harmony)

I. Foundations

Part 1: Yin and Yang

Further reading: English Editions of I Ching Divination Classics