Poster Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

To Understand Well-Being In Chinese “Yin Yang” Philosophy (#546)

Hongli Chen 1
  1. Hongli Institute of Positive Psychology, Irvine, CA, United States

What is the perfect shape? You may say circle. In Chinese tradition, circle(Yuan in Chinese) symbolizes perfection. Taichi Yin-yang image is a circle with black and white in it. The black means Yin and the white means Yang. The Yin-Yang image means if everything keeps balanced,harmonious and peaceful,it is a perfect state of wellbeing.

One approach typically taken to understand psychological well-being :Distinguishing positive and negative effects, and defining optimal psychological well-being and happiness as a balance between the two. My proposal is to use Yinyang (yin-yang), one of the dominant concepts of Chinese philosophy to say what is wellbeing, how keep wellbeing status not only in individual and group condition, but also globally. One basic theme concept of yinyang is that it is a process of harmonization ensuring a constant, dynamic balance of all things. As the Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu) claims, “Yin in its highest form is freezing while yang in its highest form is boiling. The chilliness comes from heaven while the warmness comes from the earth. The interaction of these two establishes he (harmony), so it gives birth to things. Yinyang is emblematic of valuational equality rooted in the unified, dynamic, and harmonized structure of the cosmos.