Taijitu seen in Tripilja culture in Ukraine, displayed in the Ukraine pavilion at the Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China. Also, the interlocking design is found in artifacts of the European Iron Age. While this design appears to become a standard ornamental motif in Iron-Age Celtic culture by the 3rd century BC, found on a wide variety of artifacts, it is not clear what symbolic value was attached to it. Unlike the Chinese symbol, the Celtic yin-yang lack the element of mutual penetration, and the two halves are not always portrayed in different colors. Comparable designs are also found in Etruscan art.
Taijitu the 16th century. The original description of a "taijitu" is due to Song era philosopher Zhou Dunyi (1017–1073), author of the "Taijitu shuo" "Explanation of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate", which became the cornerstone of Neo-Confucianist cosmology. His brief text synthesized aspects of Chinese Buddhism and Taoism with metaphysical discussions in the "Yijing". Zhou's key terms Wuji and Taiji appear in the opening line , which Adler notes could also be translated "The Supreme Polarity that is Non-Polar". Non-polar ("wuji") and yet Supreme Polarity ("taiji")! The Supreme Polarity in activity generates "yang"; yet at the limit of activity it