This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from KU Center for East Asian Studies.

According to ancient Chinese philosophy, there are two opposite states of being: yin and yang. Yin is darkness; yang is light. Yin is female; yang is male. The first mention of yin and yang was made in the I Ching, the book of changes where yin is represented by a broken line and yang, by a solid line. In this way of thinking, all ills can be traced back to a yin-yang imbalance. In fact, the fall of many dynasties has been blamed on this imbalance and, in some legends, these events were heralded by unnatural behaviors such as hens crowing like roosters: a yin imbalance – totally! The two states are fluid, never static. Thus the very moment anything approaches absolute yin-ness, it begins flowing right back into yang-ness and vice versa. Which is really good when it comes to comedy: If you’re not finding this Postcard as funny as usual, give it a moment: it’ll flow right back into hilarity.

With thanks to Megan Greene for help with this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.