important fact of constant proportion, rhythm and harmony in
the rise and subsidence of momentary events. Thus, to define
the yin-yang phenomenon in terms of two opposing pairs, such
as, positive and negative, man and woman, light and darkness,
etc.,  is  totally  off  the  mark.  Rather, the  phenomenon
depicts  in  very  subtle   ways  how  one  facet  dominates
without  subduing  or  destroying  the  other  and  in  turn
reverses  its role by laying  dormant  and potent  until the
next moment. This series of ascendance-dominance-descendance
in infinitesmal  scale or degrees in either direction  is an
inviolable  perpetual  course  of nature.  This is the basic
source   for  the  resiliency,  flexibility,  softness   and
viability  manifested  in each moment's existence  and it is
the challenge  to each of us to capture those traits, if not
completely  then  in  close  approximation, in our  everyday
activities.
   True, the Tao and yin-yang phenomenon are very close  to
present scientific conception of the movements of atoms and
sub-atomic elements. What is important here however is that
the Chinese have beautifully expressed the Tao and yin-yang
phenomenon in their ways of life long before any scientific
analysis and confirmation had appeared.  All the  more then
that the West must discover the  East to work in  tandem on
the essentials of human experience.
   Another key Taoist concept that has played a crucial role
in the  Chinese  metaphysical frame of mind is the seemingly
innocuous concept of  non-action (无为).  This  concept  had
given  the  Chinese mind the necessary basis for harmonizing
man's  effort  within the framework of the world, an  effort
which is not wholly and positively one-directional, nor does
it  function  within the  cause-and-effect  scheme of things.
That would be too plain and simple.   The Chinese non-action
still results in things being done or created but not in the
one-dimensional sense.  Its work is done in the total, hence
rounded, sense of taking into consideration every  aspect of
the experiential event in the making.  Thus, as the positive
nature or issue is not identified as such the event
 
　　　　　　　　　　  P.369
 
will  fulfill  itself  by integrating  everything within its
purview and leaving nothing unattended.  This  is the simple
natural way (自然); it is the way of man also.
   More significantly, this concept of non-action  laid  the
foundation for the understanding of the subtle, non-apparent
nature of experience.  In this sense, it is  affiliated with
the  concept  of  the Tao and serves as a kind of connecting
link with the concept of non-being(无).  Non-being  is not a
negative concept pitted against the positive concept of being
(有), nor does it have a separate existence.  Dimension-wise,
perhaps it is the same as being for it is always co-extensive
with  the  latter's  nature  of existence  or, from  another
aspect of things, it is larger than being for it is the very
source  of  being.  Yet, in  the  final  analysis, it  is an
immeasurable quantity. Because of its non-observable nature,
it remains subtle and elusive  to human minds but in essence
it is that which  effectuates  or produces  being, i.e., all
phenomenal  existence.  It is not possible  to go beyond  or
behind it because there is literally  nothing  there.  It is
simply  the basis of all beings.  We might go a step further
to assert that it is the basis of all beings in the becoming
process, the cyclic  process  of evolving  non-existence  to
existence  to  non-existence,  etc.  So  long  as  there  is
becoming,  non-being   will  always   be  involved   in  the
production of beings. In this respect, it is the fountain of
life and the foundation of all phenomenal life.
   The concept  of non-being  is little, if any, appreciated
in  the  West  because  of  the  overly  involvement  in the
positivistic  nature of experience  and scientific  inquiry.
Science  generally  has no room for the non-positive  nature