In his book, Philosophy of Oriental Medicine, George Ohsawa gives us a head-start in determining the answers to these questions.
According to George Ohsawa's "Unique Principle," everything is made up of two opposing and complementary forces, called "Yin" and "Yang."
• Yin is an expansive, outward-moving force (centrifugal).
• Yang is a contractive, inward-moving force (centripetal).
• Yin and yang are opposites and they complement each other.
Physically speaking, everything is under the influence of these two forces. Yin is the centrifugal force in this world that is expansive. It produces silence, calmness, cold, and darkness. Yang is the centripetal force in this world that is contractive, or constrictive. Yang produces sound, action, heat, and light.
All living things—animals and plants alike—start out small and yang. As they grow and change, they become more expansive, more yin. The longer they have been growing, the more yin they are. Until finally, at their most-yin state, they die, leaving seeds that return to the earth and continue the same cycle in a new and different way.
Here are some of the basic phenomena that can be used as tools to measure the amounts of yin and yang in all living things, including food:
• Color and Temperature
• Shape, Form, and Size
• Weight, Density, and Pressure
• Chemical Composition
• Water Content
• Taste and Smell
• Point of Origin
• Direction and Speed of Growth
• Climates and Seasons
See also:
SEVEN LAWS
Related Blog Articles:
Guidelines for Classifying in Terms of Yin and Yang (1-3-2011)
Green Vegetables (2-8-2011)
The Color Classifications Of Food (4-24-2011)
Books About Macrobiotic Theory—Food For Thought (5-4-2011)
The Colors Of Yin And Yang (11-29-2011)
