Expert: Jayendra Upadhye - 7/22/2009

Question
I came across (on the Internet) the fact that the Yin and
Yang symbol was discovered by Chinese astronomers during
ancient observations using a measuring stick.  I have made a
cursory search of the Internet for corroboration but have
not really found anything definitive.

Being a naturally skeptical fellow, I thought I would ask an
expert.

Here is the link I am referring to
http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/yinyang.htm

Thanks,
Mike

Answer
Hi,
Michael, we have to understand that 2000 years or 4000 years back, global society did not exist as we know it today.
Today we wonder is there life out there? How does an alien look like?
Back then the questions were more like (if you were to the west of the "wilderness"):
1 - Will the gods take my life today, have i sinned? (remember the gods were damned jealous back then).
2 - What lies in the wilderness (The israelites for some reason were terribly fascinated by this word, god knows why).
3 - where have all the centaurs and unicorns gone?
4 - Where is the land of the golden fleece and the cyclops?
5 - Will PAN get me?
6 - Sirius hath risen, the Nile will flood!! (Egypt)
and if you were on the eastern side:
7 - When can i reach Nirvana?
8 - woe betide us! Indra's thunder is upon us!
9 - Wow! The equinoxes are precessing!! (India)
10 - The dragon is swallowing the sun!! (India / China).

Society was so fragmented, that to Alexander, Elephants might as well have been aliens from outer space.
Of all things a mere BLUE dye was being traded for its weight in Gold, and Romans were grumbling about the heavy drain on the forex reserves due to it, making it a royal color (Royal purple).

Under these "trying" circumstances it is quite possible it came to pass that the chinese using a stick did what they did.

I mean many discoveries were redundantly and wastefully repeated by different cultures and played upon for all they were worth for "spiritual", "temporal" and "monetary" value.

The wheel for all we know could have been invented simultaneously in different cultures, some might have immediately taxed its use, some limited it for "vips" only, some just "prayed" to it and never used it, making it over into some divine junk!

The point is just as a savage turned a bottle dropping on his head into an object sent from heaven by the gods, people put spins on any ground breaking discovery that causes a paradigm shift in their understanding of the universe. (Cultural blinkers).

It was rather like a journey thru wonderland or thru the looking glass.

Why not let yin/yang be one such "culturally blinkered" version of the simple fact that the earth is tilted on its axis?

Hope you get the point. You are flogging a dead horse, and nothing of use will come of it.

Many "Great" episodes of most religions on earth would turn out to be depressingly ungrand if you were to possess a time machine and go back in time to, say, the time of Herod.

You would hit your head on the nearest wall, turn tail and run back to the present.

The trick, then,  is to "believe", say, in yin and yang, and enjoy the ride while things are good.

Regards
Jayen