Dualistic cosmology Confucianism, beliefs that divide the universe into the complementary oppositions of yin and yang. In traditions such as classical Hinduism, Zen Buddhism or Islamic Sufism, a key to enlightenment is "transcending" this sort of dualistic thinking, without merely substituting dualism with monism or pluralism. The opposition and combination of the universe's two basic principles of yin and yang is a large part of Chinese philosophy, and is an important feature of Taoism, both as a philosophy and as a religion, although the concept developed much earlier. Some argue that yin and yang were originally an earth and sky god, respectively.
Yang Yin Yang Yin Yang Yin (楊愔) (511–560), courtesy name Zhunyan (遵彦), nickname Qinwang (秦王), was a high-level official of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi. Yang Yin came from a clan that produced many officials of Northern Wei. His father was Yang Jin, and his mother was Yang Jin's wife Lady Yuan, who came from a noble lineage herself, being the granddaughter of the famed official Yuan He. In his youth, he studied the histories, the "Shi Jing", and the "I Ching", but particularly favored the "Zuo Zhuan" version of the "Spring and Autumn Annals". In 526, during the reign of Emperor