Barry Fishman: Yin Yang and the 10,000 Things
Many people are surprised to find out that the I Ching is not a Taoist work, and that yin and yang are only briefly mentioned in the Tao Te Ching or Chuang Tzu. They are better described as yet older elements of Chinese culture, that the original Taoists were clearly familiar with.
Any bit of wisdom that ancient has a lot of depth worth plumbing, though, and worth using as a lens with which to view the modern world. Artist Barry Fishman has created 80 paintings based on the I Ching. I’m drawn to the bold lines and graphic elements; frankly, I feared the type of derivative imitations of older Chinese paintings that haunt anything labelled Taoist these days. If you want to analyze them, Fishman describes the history and symbolism of the paintings, and you could read the review on Artezine. I recommend just looking at them, though.
About the Author
msalt Mark Saltveit is a writer, standup comedian, skimboarder and dad based in Middlebury, Vermont. His improv show "Palindrome Fight!" will be at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Aug. 5-29th 2022 at the Kilderkin Pub, 67 Canongate, at 7:30pm each night except Tuesdays.
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