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YinYang Principle
Path: PhilosophyAndGo · Prev: TheZenWayToGo · Next: WhatIsGoAbout
Keywords: Theory, Culture & History
Tamsin The basic idea behind the Daoist concept of "Yin Yang" is to divide the things of nature into two fundamental categories: Yin (陰) and Yang (陽). These are complementary opposites, such as male (yang) and female (yin), water (yin) and fire (yang) and so on. My purpose here is not to construct an elaborate philosophical conceit using go and the Yin/Yang division, but simply to express in a memorable way a view one might want to adopt while playing. Consider the following situations: A) Thickness versus Territory. This is a frequent dilemma: do you choose the move that provides thickness or the one that claims or solidifies territory? The Yin Yang Principle might come into play here: if you take one thing, then you are likely to cede the opposite but complementary thing to the opponent. If you defend your territory against, say, a shoulder hit, you will probably help the opponent to build thickness; if you fight for thickness, you will likely lose some territory. Unreasonable players try to take both, but stronger ones recognise that some kind of exchange is required. Granting the opponent territory while taking thickness is not worth it if that thickness cannot be used; taking profit is a bad deal if the price is giving the opponent thickness that can be used effectively; at other times, the thickness and territory will match one another. B) Defending versus Tenuki. Do you reply to the opponent's attack or seek to claim sente by playing elsewhere (tenuki)? You cannot do both, so you need to make a choice. Seizing or preserving one thing will result in the loss of the other. I think that trying to divide go techniques into Yang and Yin categories is of little value, but I would contend that it is vital to realise that most actions produce negative as well as positive results. The important thing is to choose the way that produces the most positive effects at the cost of the fewest negative ones. Too often people think only of gain or loss; it must be better to be aware of both gains and losses. Please note that there are other perfectly good ways of expressing this idea than Yin Yang - for instance, one might use one of the three Newtonian laws of motion that "For every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction". Whatever you use does not in itself matter, so long as it helps you to see both sides of an exchange. Please feel free to add your thoughts here: Timber: This is one of the lessons for life one can learn by playing go. Sadly I cannot say that I really consistently apply this insight in either. Velobici: Does that Newtonian law of motion apply? If a move on the goban has an equal and opposite reaction, each game would end in a tie due to equal gains and losses by each side. Before each move the set of possible paths for the game is larger than afterward. Trimming the possible responses of ones that are nonsensical leaves a narrow set of possibilites. It seems a minimax problem (disclaimer, I know nothing of game theory). Finding the move/response that minimizes the maximal possible gain left to your opponent.
Sebastian: That Newtonian law probably does apply, but it does not govern the game, and can not explain it. (Moved my misleading text "If it were sufficient ...", the diagram and SirLyric's reply to Compost Heap.) It matters substantially if you choose Newton's law of action or the Yin/Yang concept to explain Go. It is exactly this difference that makes Go such an interesting game. I hope, someone can contribute to this wiki by writing about what Yin/Yang can offer that Newton can't. -- 2003-09-11 victim: Of course both images are simplistic. There are always more than two options in go. With the tenuki example this should be obvious - where is that tenuki? Also, there are different ways of playing for influence - building a moyo out of loose stones, building thickness threatening the opponent's moyo, securing your groups before they are attacked... And you can build own territory or reduce the opponent's. Forcing a complex situation into the yin-yang two-way pattern or comparing it to simple physics may help one begin to understand it, but the whole thing seems to me to be a somewhat convoluted way of saying "you can't have everything". If you deviate from the thin "line" of balance (simplistic again) you will have to pay for it. As an aside, the allocations of concepts (hot, female, dark etc.) to yin or yang always seemed to me to be pretty arbitrary. That's what happens when you try to force complex things into simple patterns. Often it smells just like numerology with the number two. Maybe I'm a bit harsh because I saw too many misapplications of things like that... Sebastian: OK, you convinced me. I was going to write that you dismiss it too easily. My argument was like this:
But then it occurred to me: The Yin/Yang concept and Go have grown up together for two milennia, and in all these years there seems to have emerged no such practical concept. So I would be surprised. -- 2003-09-12 Tamsin: I did not really mean such direct relationships as you are talking about here. If a move has, for instance, a "yin" quality, then it is conceivable that it would take the whole game for its "yang" qualities to become apparent. Suppose I take definite territory on the inside with a move which allows my opponent to perfect thickness on the outside. My opponent's move may appear to be yielding (yin) something (territory), but later on the thickness will enable him to fight hard (yang), thereby recouping points. Indeed, his thickness might not even affect any fights at all in a simple sense; I might be deterred from playing in a certain way because of the presence of that thickness, which means that it gains points in what you might call an "invisible" way. It is this kind of thinking I meant: when you choose one objective or group of objectives, you have to consider the possible drawbacks and side effects that it may lead to (as far as you can). Again, put in "Newtonian" terms, an action will generate "opposite reactions", but these may be small ones that accumulate in seemingly disconnected ways over time. I hope that's helpful. Path: PhilosophyAndGo · Prev: TheZenWayToGo · Next: WhatIsGoAbout This is a copy of the living page "YinYang Principle" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |