ABSTRACT
One school of thought saw the movements of the world of nature as the advance and decline of Yang, followed by that of Yin, in a total of several phases. In the foregoing scheme, each of the several Phases is seen as an integral part of the major process of nature. The order of the symbols cannot immediately be reconciled with the overriding rhythm of Yin and Yang's pulsation; if the order is interpreted in terms of nature, it implies a perpetual conflict among the elements of the material world. In whatever order the several Phases were understood to operate, the theory admirably suited the Chinese love of classification and hierarchy. The several Phases and Yin-Yang feature in the statements of view of a variety of writers of the Han period, whether they were of the persuasion that stressed the importance of nature, the duty of man or the essential role of the state.
