<P> Ming period author Lai Zhide ( 1525 -- 1604 ) simplified the taijitu to a design of two interlocking spirals . In the Ming era , the combination of the two interlocking spirals of the taijitu with two black - and - white dots superimposed on them became identified with the He tu or `` Yellow River diagram '' ( 河 圖 ) . This version was reported in Western literature of the late 19th century as the `` Great Monad '' , and has been widely popularised in Western popular culture as the `` yin - yang symbol '' since the 1960s . The contemporary Chinese term for the modern symbol is 太极 兩 儀 图 `` two - part Taiji diagram '' . </P>
<P> Ming period author Lai Zhide ( 1525 -- 1604 ) simplified the taijitu to a design of two interlocking spirals . In the Ming era , the combination of the two interlocking spirals of the taijitu with two black - and - white dots superimposed on them became identified with the He tu or `` Yellow River diagram '' ( 河 圖 ) . This version was reported in Western literature of the late 19th century as the `` Great Monad '' , and has been widely popularised in Western popular culture as the `` yin - yang symbol '' since the 1960s . The contemporary Chinese term for the modern symbol is 太极 兩 儀 图 `` two - part Taiji diagram '' . </P>
what is the yin and yang symbol called
what is the yin and yang symbol called
the taijitu
the taijitu