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
Yin and yang it were, at a deeper level in Nature, and were the most ultimate principles of which the ancient Chinese could conceive. But it so happens that we know a good deal more about the historical origin of the Five-Element theory than about that of the Yin and the Yang, and it will therefore be more convenient to deal with it first." He then discusses Zou Yan (鄒衍; 305 – 240 BC) who is most associated with these theories. Although Yin and Yang are not mentioned in any of the surviving documents of Zou Yan, his school was known as the