Taijitu during the Qing period for their possible connection with Zhou Dunyi's "taijitu". Ming period author Lai Zhide (1525–1604) simplified the "taijitu" to a design of two interlocking spirals. In the Ming era, the combination of the two interlocking spirals of the "taijitu" with two black-and-white dots superimposed on them became identified with the "He tu" or "Yellow River diagram" (河圖). This version was reported in Western literature of the late 19th century as the "Great Monad", and has been widely popularised in Western popular culture as the "yin-yang symbol" since the 1960s. The contemporary Chinese term for the modern symbol
Zhou Dunyi natural world. Many Confucians believed that he embodied the virtue of "authenticity". He had great insight into the Way of Heaven. The first major popularization of the taijitu symbol is also credited to Zhou Dunyi; this symbol (in an altered form) is now known worldwide as the commonly accepted symbol for the Chinese concepts of yin and yang. Zhou Dunyi Zhou Dunyi (; 1017–1073) was a Song dynasty Chinese Neo-Confucian philosopher and cosmologist born during the Song Dynasty. He conceptualized the Neo-Confucian cosmology of the day, explaining the relationship between human conduct and universal forces. In this way, he emphasizes