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• Ricardo Mendoza

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Origen de los símbolos del Yin y del Yang

Con la observación del cielo, registrando las posiciones de la Osa Mayor (conocida como Big Dipper en inglés) y observando la sombra del Sol marcada por un poste de 8 pies (aproximadamente 2.44 metros) de altura, los antiguos Chinos determinaron las cuatro direcciones. La dirección del amanecer es el Este; la dirección del ocaso es el Oeste; la dirección de la sombra más corta es el sur y la dirección de la sombra más larga es el Norte. Durante la noche, la direción de la estrella Polaris es el Norte. También notaron los cambios estacionales. Cuando la Osa Mayor apunta al Este, es primavera; cuando apunta al Sur, es verano; cuando apunta al oeste es Otoño; cuando la Osa Mayor apunta al Norte, es invierno. La Osa Mayor Para observar el ciclo del Sol, los antiguos chinos simplemente usaban un poste de 2.44 metros de largo anclado en el terreno y registraban las posiciones de la sombra. Se dieron cuenta que la longitud del año es de 365.25 días. Inclusive divieron el ciclo del año en 24 Segmentos, incluyendo los Equinoccios Vernal y de Otoño, y los Solsticios de Verano e Invierno, utlizando la posición de la ascensión del Sol y la posición de la Osa Mayor. Los chinos utilizaron seis círculos concéntricos, marcaron los puntos de 24 segmentos, dividieron los círculos en 24 sectores y registraron la longitud de la sombra cada día. La sombra más corta se encuentra el día del Solsticio de Verano, mientras que la sombra más larga se ve el día del Solsticio de Invierno. Después de conectar las líneas y oscurecer la Parte YIN que va del Solsticio de Verano al solsticio de Invierno, la carta Solar luce como se muestra abajo. El ángulo de la eclíptica (camino aparente del Sol en el 1

Cielo) a 23 26' 19'' del ecuador de la Tierra se puede ver en la carta. La Eclíptica es el camino aparente del Sol alrededor de la Tierra. Está inclinada en relación con el Ecuador terrestre. El ángulo de la separación era alrededor de 23 26' 19'' en el año 2000. Rotando la carta Solar y posicionando el Solsticio de Invierno en el fondo, lucirá así . El área clara que indica mayor cantidad de luz solar, se llama Yang (Sol). El área oscura que cuenta con menos luz solar (y más luz lunar) es llamada Yin (Luna). Yang es como el hombre. Yin is como la mujer. El Yang no crecería sin el Yin. El Yin no podría hacerlo sin el Yang. El Yin nace (comienza) en el Solsticio de Verano y el Yang nace (comienza) en el Solsticio de Invierno. Por tanto se marca un pequeño círculo Yin en la posición del Solsticio de Verano. Otro pequeño círculo se marca Yang en la posición del Solsticio de de Invierno. Estos dos circulitos semejan dos ojos de pez. En general, el símbolo Yin Yang una representación china de todo el fenómeno celestial. Contiene el ciclo del Sol, las cuatro estaciones, Chi de 24 Segmentos (24-Segment Chi), el fundamento del I Ching y del calendario Chino. The Chinese calendar combines the lunar and solar systems together. The Year and Day cycles use the solar system. However, there are two different Month cycles in the Chinese calendar. One uses the lunar system and the other uses the solar system. In the lunar system of Month, the new moon day is the first day of a lunar month. The length of a lunar month is the length of time between two new moon days. The name of a lunar Month is taken from the solar system. The Chinese solar months are not like the months of a modern calendar. The Chinese calendar divides the year into 24 solar segments according to the sun positions on the tropical zodiac (Similar to western astrology). Each segment's name was given for ancient Chinese farmers' use. To understand the whole picture view the following chart.

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Solar Segment

Sun Longitude

Start of Spring

315

Rain Water

330

Excited Insects

345

Vernal Equinox

0

Clear and Bright

15

Grain Rains

30

Start of Summer

45

Grain Fills

60

Grain in Ear

75

Summer solstice

90

Slight Heat

105

Great Heat

120

Start of Autumn

135

Still Hot

150

White Dew

165

Autumnal Equinox

180

Cold Dew

195

Frost Descends

210

Start of Winter

225

Light Snow

240

Heavy Snow

255

Winter Solstice

270

Little Cold

285

Severe Cold

300

Month Name 1-

Tiger

Astrology Name Aquarius Pisces

2-

Rabbit Aries

3-

Dragon Taurus

4-

Snake Gemini

5-

Horse Cancer

6-

Sheep Leo

7-

Monkey Virgo

8-

Chicken Libra

9-

Dog Scorpio

10 -

Pig Sagittarius

11 -

Rat Capricorn

12 -

3

Cow

Aquarius

The solar months are defined by the sun longitudes. The first month, Tiger month, begins from the Start of Spring segment or when the sun enters the 315th degree on the tropical zodiac. The second month, Rabbit month, begins from the Excited Insects segment or when the sun enters 345th degree. The beginning of a solar month is called the Segment Point. In the middle of a solar month is called the Center Point. For example, the segments of Rain Water and Vernal Equinox are Center Points. The astrology names of Pisces and Aries apply to these Center Points. The lunar month name is derived from the Solar Center Point. For example, If a lunar month contains the Rain Water Center Point, then it is the first month of the lunar calendar, as known as the Tiger month. If a lunar month does not contain any Solar Center Point, that month is known as a Leap Month. The name of this leap month is the same as previous lunar month. The reason to assign leap months is that we want the moon cycle to harmonize with the sun cycle. Because one year has about 365.2425 days and one month has about 29.53 days, one year has about 12.3685 months. 12.3685 is about 12 and 7/19. If we put seven extra months in 19 years, sun and moon should be back to the same sky position. "Seven Leap Months in 19 years" is easy for people to remember. However, 12.3685 is almost equal to 12 and 144/391. That means "144 Leap months in 391 years" is a more accurate way to assign Leap months. So far, no one has lived long enough to observe the entire cycle. Anyway, the principles of the Chinese Calendar use the following four rules which the ancient Chinese made them thousand years ago.    

The new moon day is the first day of a lunar month The name of a lunar name is named by the Solar Center Point The first lunar month of the year is the Tiger month, which contains Rain Water center point The lunar month without a Center Point is a Leap month ( Intercalary Month )

In the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the new moon day is the first day of a lunar month and the length of a lunar month is the length between two new moon days. In the Chinese Fortune-Telling (Astrology) Calendar, the first day of a month is the day on a Solar Segment Point and the length of a month is the length between two Solar Segment Points. Therefore there is no Leap Month in the Chinese Fortune-Telling System. Without this knowledge, above-mentioned, most people will be confused about the solar months and lunar months. They may think all Chinese Fortune-Telling system use lunar months. Actually, the Fortune-Telling system called Eight Characters only uses the solar month, not the lunar month. The other popular system called Dipper uses solar month and lunar month together. The counting system of Day is the Stem-Branch 60-day cycle system. No one knows who invented the Stem-Branch for Day counting system, but legend has it that characters of Day Stem-Branch were found on Oracle bones. The Animal names of StemBranch were applied into the Month system around 206 B.C. (between the Chin and Han dynasties). The Stem-Branch was applied into the Year system around 164 B.C.. 4

Almost every Chinese dynasty had its own calendar. One reason was that the new emperor needed to announce the new rules including the new calendar to the public. The other reason was that the astronomer's officers had to make some adjustments on the calendar in order to match the sun and moon in the sky. The first day of a year has been changed many times in Chinese calendars. The current Chinese calendar uses the first day of the first month of Tiger month as the first day of a year, which was initially adopted by the Shiah dynasty (2183-1752 B.C.). Today, some people consider the Winter Solstice as the first day of a year in the Chinese Fortune-Telling System, because that makes more sense from the astronomy view. The Chinese Lunar Calendar system is not perfect, because the length of solar month is not always greater than the length of a lunar month. As a result, a lunar month might contain two solar Center Points. Those months are found in the winter of 1548, 1680, 1700, 1719, 2053, 2072 and so on. This imperfection causes the trouble in the assignments of the Chinese Lunar Leap Month. That's why there is no simple formula for Chinese Lunar Calendar conversion. Because this imperfection, we need to add a new rule to adjust the Chinese Calendar system.

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