Yin-Yang philosophy

Culture & Society of Asian countries Ying – Yang philosophy 1) The nature and process of the formation of the Ying-Yang philosophy 2) The two laws of the Ying Yang philosophy 3) The Ying Yang characteristics of the 2 types of culture 4) The Ying Yang features of the right/left couple 5) The southern origin of the Ying Yang philosophy and the features of the Viet/Han Han represents 90% of the Chinese population The last Chinese emperor who was Han is Ming and the last one came from Manchuria. 1) The nature and process of the formation of the Ying-Yang philosophy: The first concern of the Asian farmer is the abundance of the harvest and of the people. This worry is even more evident among the rice growing people because this culture depends heavily on the seasons. It requires a large workforce. However the multiplication of mankind depends on two elements: The father & the mother / the male & the female. On the other hand the abundance of the harvest depends on 2 other elements: The earth & the heaven. The earth which gives birth and the heaven which brings food. In other words the same nature for these 2 kinds of multiplication, the earth is assimilated to the mother and the heaven to the father. The merger of these 2 couples is the 1st symphasies of the Ying Yang way. Among the Asian farmers we can find not only the opposite couples such as earth-heaven / mother-father and the consequential worries but also other couples (because the farmers with their jobs in the fields are in permanent contact with) flood-drought / sun-rain / water-fire (because the farmers dive in the cold water and get sunburned). Rice itself is a vegetal which has its roots in the earth and in the water Ying. But its top is in the wind and under the sun Yang. Exposé (Elsa): The tea culture in Japan I) The origin of tea Introduced by a Chinese Buddhist monk in the IVth century, at first cultivation of tea locally and maximum in the 16th century. II) The tea ceremony The ceremony called Chanoyu, spiritual universe of the Chanoyu, requires years of training and practice. Most prefect, politeness, gracefulness, charming manners, a uniform called kimono, drink in a special position called seiza position kneel III) The different sorts of tea Black & green tea gyokuro, Tamayokucha, Gabalong Tea drinking in Japon just like other tradition or institutions, for exemple, the Sumo, or Geisha is in danger of disappearing. The question is, how can Japan meet the challenge? On the social demographic front Japan has an aging society. On the economic front, they’ve been many scandals because of corruption, at the same time there has been growing competition from China, Korea, the Dragons and the Tigers of South East Asia. On the cultural front the consequences of globalization especially borderless technology. Therefore the real question is, can Japan re-invent itself? The same question for the multinational Sony? It is from these notions of Ying – Yang, with at the beginning the 2 opposite couples Mother/Father and Earth/Heaven, that the people have drawn a number of other opposite couples. For instance: Cold/Hot we can deduce from the cardinal viewpoints the North (Ying) is cold, the South (Yang) is hot. For the climatic viewpoint the winter is cold therefore is Ying and the summer is hot so it’s Yang. For the viewpoint of the time, the evening is Ying and the day is Yang. If we continue this process we find that the night is dark therefore the color black is Ying, but the day because the sun is red so the color red is Yang. Because of the capacity of the female to give birth (one gives two), the even numbers are Ying. The male because of its incapacity to give birth is represented by the odd numbers they are Yang. In the past because of the non existent writing system, the Ying is represented by two short dashes (- -) and the Yang is symbolized by a long dash (_). Regarding to the shapes and the volumes, the cube because of its stability and is calmness is Ying. But the spherical volume because it can move easily is Yang. The question is, what is the specific feature of the Ying-Yang principles? 2) All the characteristics of the Ying Yang principles can be summarized by 2 fundamental laws: - The law on the nature of the constituents, nothing is totally Ying or totally Yang because inside the Ying there is Yang and inside Yang there is Ying. For example at the core of the earth (Ying) there is the heat (Yang) the more we penetrate the hotter it becomes. The volcanoes are a manifestation of this heat which projected outside, the rain is hidden in the sun rays, and the nice weather is hidden in the rain. In the masculine there is the feminine. Exposé (Simon): The Chinese Triads I) History: The triads are the Chinese secret societies originated in the 17th century. Mafia in the organization is different from the original triad. Led by a Kung-Fu monk of the Chaolin famous temple. The Triad members recognize each other by a coded language. II) The economic and political dimension: Although involved in the underground economy (prostitution, drugs, and illegal arms dealing) the triads have also political connections (for instance the founder of the Chinese republic after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, Mr. Sun Yat-Sen was revealed as a member of the 3 Harmony Triad). And much corruption is today linked with the triads. III) The different triads: - Sun Yee One (the most important triad) - The Wo federation The linked Bamboo - 14K - The bank of the 4 seas - The large circle Exposé (Camille): Samurai I) What is a samurai? Contrary to popular believes the samurai includes warriors, farmers, politicians, poets… 4 characteristics define the samurai warrior - Highly efficient skilled and trained - Extremely loyal to their masters - Members of the elite - Follow the Bushido code. “Do”= voie “bushi”=guerrier II) Bushido, the samurai code of honor: The warriors Bushi respect duty, honor, code of the conduct, devotion, duties of vengeance, and the suicide if these are not respected. III) The end of samurai: With the opening of Japan to foreign influences (the Meiji era) and the defeat of Japan in the 2nd world war followed by its occupation the samurai spirit can only be found today in the Dojos of martial arts, nether the less the increasing role played by Japan overseas led to a revival of the samurai sprit. Man is more vigorous and therefore young but he lives less long than the women and he is less resistant (Ying) than the women. This law shows to us that the Ying Yang determination of an object is very relative in the comparison with another object. This is why the opposite couples such as Mother/Father, the determination of the Ying Yang characteristic is relatively easy but for other isolated elements the determination is much harder. Therefore there are 2 corollaries to determine the feature of Ying Yang object we must determine 1st the object with which we wish to compare. For instance the color white in relation to the color black is Yang, but in relation to the color red is Ying. The pentagon in relation to the square is Ying but in relation to the circle is Ying. Thanks to this comparison we can establish a scale of degree of Ying and Yang for each domain. For instance for the color from Ying to Yang we have the black, whiten green, yellow, red. Because out of the dark there is black where there comes the white which absorbs the light of the day and becomes gradually green, the leaf becomes yellow and then red. Exposé (Vincent) : Yakuza I) The origin and the structure of the Yakuza II) The role and the characteristic of the Japanese mafia III) The hindrances of Yakuza era The Yakuza also structural in a hierarchical manner functions as a family with the principle of the godfather & godmother Ya = 8 – Ku=9 – Za=3 Hachikusan Also known as the “robin hoods”, the Yakuza because of the aggressive behavior have terrorized the population. Yakukuza’s structure came from a Chinese typical hierarchy: Ojabun (foster parent) – Kabun (foster child). The Yakuza is surrounded with emblems and rituals but they do have a front office they are intimately connected with the underground economy especially the scandals involving the stock markets and the industrial political communities. Exposé (Zafer) : The Chinese horoscope I) About the Chinese horoscope II) The origin of the Chinese horoscope III) Influence of the Chinese horoscope Sign represented by animals under the five elements (fire, water, earth, wood, metal). The horoscope is a reflection of Ying Yang principles, the 12 animals are connected to the heaven by 10 celestial trunks which consist of the 5 elements each positive and negative. For instance, the fire burning & the fire smoking. Superstition is a fundamental characteristic of Asian people who whether in private or in a business life often consult the horoscope before taking a decision. Second corollaries: To determine the Ying Yang characteristic of an object we must also determine the basis of comparison, for example a lady in relation to a gentleman is biologically different (Ying) but she has possible behavior characteristics which are Yang. Water which is Ying when in movement becomes stronger and is Yang (Tsunami). The law concerning the relation between the constituents. Both the Ying and Yang are intimately connected they are in permanence in movement and they transmute with each other: an extreme Ying produces Yang. And an extreme Yang produces Ying. For instance the day & the night, the shadow & the light, the rain & the sun, the summer & the winter are all continually changing. From the dark earth grows the leaves which matured and yellowed then become red and finally black to go down and penetrate the earth. This law of transmutation of indefinite Ying Yang is reflected by the Taoist principle: “Vo Thuy Vo Chung” = No beginning, no end. Buddhism has a teaching which reflect the vacuity and the impermanence: “ Sac Sac Khong Khong / Khong Khong Sac Sac” = Everything is an illusion but illusion is illusory. Exposé (Arnaud): Manga I) Origin and History Created by the famous painter Katsushika Hokusai under the golden Edo era. 2 paintings: the 36 site of Mont Fuji, The wave characterize Manga as the derisory image. From the Nara period the Japanese painted roller emakimono is closely associated with calligraphy, and then from the 12thcentury the priority was given to the image. The comic stripes develop with the American occupation of Japan where the Mangaka (Manga illustrators) produced and diffused in the Japanese daily press. Tezuka Osamu influenced by Walldisney gave birth to the popular manga of today. II) The distribution The Mangas are not destined as a niche market product in Japan, it is a social, cultural phenomenon for the Japanese and represents a massive economic impact. In Europe the French market with almost 22% of the market share occupied by mangas represents a huge interest (10 million copies a year). III) Particular techniques 3 aspects differentiate the mangas from the western comic stripes - the reading sense is often in the inverse sense to the western comic stripes - drawn in black and white with recycled paper - the feelings are expressed throw the big eyes of the different characters 3) The Ying Yang characteristics of the 2 types of culture: From the basic of the Ying Yang philosophy, we can observe better how this philosophy is applied to the 2 types of cultures. According to the law of the relation between the 2 elements on other words the Ying and Yang are always intimately connected and are in movement permanently, transmute themselves continually one extreme Ying produces a Yang and vice & versa, for example water in movement becomes Yang. The climate hot of the region South East (Yang) obviously produces a culture of agricultural origin with the characteristics Ying, in other words a preference for a stable life sedentary in accordance with nature suppleness with the others and the society. Attachment to the sentiment, priority given to the hot and the literature tolerance and easy to live with. On the contrary the cold climate of the North West region gives birth evidently to a culture of pastoral origin with the Yang characteristics. A taste for the movements, changing easily addresses jobs, family or tendency to conquer and to dominate nature. Hardness with the others and the society, radicalism in the reasoning, a taste for the force. But under the influence of the law on the nature of the components, it means nothing is totally Ying and nothing is totally Yang. In the Ying there is Yang and vice & versa. The culture of agricultural origin which is initially Ying adopts a manner of thinking based on the symphasis, favorising the relation and a lifestyle with the characteristics Yang, on the other hand the culture which is analytical and which favor the elements and a lifestyle which are Ying in characters.