Taijitu Taijitu A taijitu () is a symbol or diagram ( "tú") in Chinese philosophy representing Taiji ( "tàijí" "great pole" or "supreme ultimate") representing both its monist ("wuji") and its dualist (yin and yang) aspects. Such a diagram was first introduced by Song Dynasty philosopher Zhou Dunyi (周敦頤 1017–1073) in his "Taijitu shuo" 太極圖說. The modern Taoist canon, compiled during the Ming era, has at least half a dozen variants of such "taijitu". The two most similar are the "Taiji Primal Heaven" (太極先天圖 "tàijí xiāntiān tú") and the "wuji" (無極圖 "wújí tú") diagrams, both of which have been extensively studied
Taijitu and called the "River Chart spontaneously generated by Heaven and Earth". By the end of the Ming period, this diagram had become a widespread representation of Chinese cosmology. The dots were introduced in the later Ming period (replacing the droplet-shapes used earlier, in the 16th century) and are encountered more frequently in the Qing period. The dots represent the seed of yin within yang and the seed of yang within yin; the idea that neither can exist without the other. Lai Zhide's design is similar to the "gakyil" ("dga' 'khyil" or "wheel of joy") symbols of Tibetan Buddhism; but while