the Yin Yang school, as well as the Five Agents. Both acknowledge that the universe has forces working within it that need to be used harmoniously, rather than in opposition. Whether or not man and Nature are opposing forces or are one force combined is a theme that recurs throughout the theory of yin yang. The Five Agents as well as the Ying Yang school both rely heavily on the forces of nature and the changes that occur. The constant and fluid motion of the yin yang symbol implies this natural transformation. Wing-Tsit Chan says that “both operate in cycles of rise and fall, and in a universal pattern, thus uniting man and nature”14. The seasons change, and with every motion there is a natural response to it. In Chuang Tzu there is a story of the death of Chuang Tzu’s wife. Rather than sadness for his loss, he becomes aware of the fact that she came from nothing and returns to nothing. Being is in the middle, and to be sad for what is part of the natural cycle of life is to deny the existence of that nature. He says only “this is like the mutual cycling of the Four Seasons”15. The changing of the seasons and the changing of the self is an important concept. Without change there is a static existence, and with that comes little room for growth or personal enlightenment. Chuang Tzu advocates change in the self in order to find personal virtue. In a tale, he is asked where he stands on being useful and useless. Rather than be somewhere in the middle he tells the knights that question him that in the middle they can get drawn in, but:That’s not the case if you just get to the chariot of the Tao and the power of its virtue. Then you’ll drift or ramble where there is neither praise nor blame. Be a dragon. Be a worm. Change with the season. No need to specialize in anything. You may rise or go down, making harmony your measure16. In changing the self as the seasons change, there...
