Yin & Yang are two terms that play a very important role in Chinese philosophy and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Yin & Yang stand for the two polar opposing and yet related forces or principles. Yang in this case stands for masculine, activity, hard, bright and hot. Yin for feminine, calm, soft, cold and dark. Yin & Yang does not stand for good and bad. Rather, it is the relative opposition that exists between two rival groups that do belong together. In TCM in particular, Yin & Yang also stand for the relationship between emptiness and abundance and between inside and outside and between cold and heat. In this case one speaks of the diagnostic categories, whereby Yin & Yang also form a pair. Yin is by its nature passive or receiving and Yang is warming and active.

Yin and Yang are usually shown as Taijitu, with the Yang shown in white and the Yin in black in this circle. Even if the Celts, the Etruscans and the Romans had similar symbols, the Yin & Yang symbol appeared for the first time in the 4th and 5th centuries BC. Chr. On.

In the context of TCM, Yin & Yang appeared for the first time more than 2500 years ago, in the old Book of Changes. The organs of the human body are called according to Yin, especially the nutrients or the energy-storing organs such as the spleen, and according to Yang, all hollow organs that can establish a connection to the outside, such as the stomach. Of course, Yin & Yang ideally work together here, with too much or too little activity of the organ affecting the partner's functions.