“阴”“阳”解

On the Ying and Yang

考其本义,“阳”为山南水北之谓,“阴”为水南山北之谓也。这种解释表明古人注意到了我国地势的特点。“阴”和“阳”由其本义,各产生了较多的引申义,这些意义几乎都能对举。“阴”“阳”组合而成双音词“阴阳”也有较多的含义。

Yang originally means the location southern to the mountains and northern to the rivers while Ying means the opposite. The explanations suggest that the Chinese ancient people noticed the characteristics of China’s topography. And these two characters derive many corresponding means from their original means. The word Yingyang composed of Ying and Yang has many means, too.