1671 J. Ogilby tr. O. Dapper et al. Atlas Chinensis ii. 549 The Chineses by these Strokes..declare..how much each Form or Sign receives from the two fore-mention'd Beginnings of Yn or Yang.

a1824 Encycl. Metrop. (1845) XVI. 568/2 T'haï-kĭ (the Great Summit) the soul of the universe, when in motion..produced Yang, the living principle; when at rest, Yn, the dead principle, the one perfect and male, the other imperfect and female; from the union of which the elements sprang.

1850 Chinese Repository 19 370 The following short expression of the doctrine of the Yih King is that in which probably all the literati would agree. It is from the 49th section of Chú-fútsz's entire works. ‘All things..come only from the Great Extreme (t‘ái kíh). The Great Extreme is the primordial substance (k‘í) which, moving along, divided and made two k‘í; that which in itself has motion is the Yang, and that which had rest,..is the Yin.’

1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 68/1 The altar to the Earth is dark and square, on the north side of the city, the region of yin, the principle of cold and gloom.

1931 A. U. Dilley Oriental Rugs & Carpets ix. 210 Other primitive motives are..male and female forms called Yin and Yang.

1963 ‘R. Erskine’ Passion Flowers in Italy xi. 144 The things that woman was doing to us..More truly Yin than you could believe.

1976 H. Ferguson Confessions Long Distance Acid Head 17 Lucy was so yin, receptive and feminine, that the passions, slumbering in my bosom, were consciously aroused.

1850 Chinese Repository 19 375 The Great Extreme..is not exterior to, or separate from the Yin-yáng.

1934 A. D. Waley Way & its Power App. ii. 112 The aim of the yin-yang philosophers was not the triumph of Light, but the attainment in human life of perfect balance between the two principles.

1958 W. Willetts Chinese Art I. iv. 273 The observed behaviour of this stellar couple accorded perfectly with the yin yang theory.

1972 Y. Manaka & I. A. Urquhart Layman's Guide Acupuncture ii. 32 Their relativity and inseparability are symbolized by the inclusion, in the Chinese yin-yang symbol, of a small portion of each within the other.

1976 C. Soo Chinese Art of T'ai Chi Ch'uan iii. 19 When these [outlines] are put together, the Yin-Yang symbol is obtained.

1977 C. Miller & K. Swift Words & Women iv. 69 The ancient belief that contrasting male and female forces are at work in everything—the yin~yang of dark and light..too easily becomes an adversary concept.

1736 R. Brookes tr. J.-B. Du Halde et al. Gen. Hist. China I. 306 This Emperor [sc. Pouan Keng] changed the Name of his Family from Chang to Yng.]

1846 W. H. Medhurst tr. Shoo King x. 162 The Yin (or Shang) dynasty..was subjected to..great..calamities.

1904 F. L. H. Pott Sk. Chinese Hist. iii. 19 In consequence of this change of the seat of government, the Dynasty was thereafter known as the Yin, instead of the Shang.

1974 Encycl. Brit. Micropædia IX. 109/1 The Shang, or Yin, dynasty was formerly considered mythological by scholars; but 20th-century archaeological evidence confirmed its actual existence.