摘要：在中国古代文化的浩瀚星空中，儒家与道家如同两颗璀璨的星辰，各自照亮了人类精神探索的道路。儒家以“修齐治平”为纲，崇尚正大阳刚，自强不息；道家则以“负阴抱阳”为旨，追求阴柔之美，厚德载物。两者虽各有千秋，但在阴阳平衡这一古老哲学命题上，却显现出了截然不同的态度。

在中国古代文化的浩瀚星空中，儒家与道家如同两颗璀璨的星辰，各自照亮了人类精神探索的道路。儒家以“修齐治平”为纲，崇尚正大阳刚，自强不息；道家则以“负阴抱阳”为旨，追求阴柔之美，厚德载物。两者虽各有千秋，但在阴阳平衡这一古老哲学命题上，却显现出了截然不同的态度。本文旨在探讨儒家在中国传统文化中的统治地位如何影响了阴阳观念的平衡，进而对中国医学等自然科学的发展产生了偏颇的影响。

儒家的阳刚之道

儒家文化，自孔子始，便以“仁爱”、“礼义”为核心，倡导“修身、齐家、治国、平天下”的理想人格与社会秩序。儒家思想中的阳刚之气，如同烈日当空，照亮了前行的道路，激励着一代又一代的士人自强不息，追求道德的完善与社会的和谐。然而，这种对阳刚的崇尚，也导致了在阴阳平衡这一哲学命题上，儒家更倾向于“崇阳而抑阴”。

在儒家看来，阳主阴从，代表着光明、正义与力量，而阴则被视为阴暗、消极与顺从。这种观念在国粹的各个领域都有所体现，如书法中的“力透纸背”，绘画中的“气势磅礴”，都强调了一种阳刚之美。然而，当这种阳刚之气过度膨胀，便容易忽视了阴柔之美的价值，导致阴阳失衡。

道家的阴柔之韵

与儒家不同，道家更注重阴阳之间的和谐与平衡。老子云：“万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和。”道家认为，阴阳是宇宙间最基本的两种力量，它们相互依存，相互制约，共同构成了世界万物。在道家看来，阴柔并非消极，而是一种深沉的智慧与包容的力量。正如水一般，虽柔软无骨，却能穿石破壁，滋养万物。

道家的这种阴柔之美，体现在对自然的敬畏与顺应上。他们倡导“无为而治”，追求与自然和谐共处，不强求改变，而是顺应自然规律，达到一种“天人合一”的境界。这种思想在中医理论中得到了淋漓尽致的体现，如“阴阳平衡”、“五行相生相克”，都强调了阴阳之间的和谐与平衡。

阴阳失衡的代价

然而，当儒家思想在中国传统文化中占据统治地位时，阴阳平衡这一科学原则便在一定程度上被忽视了。儒家对阳刚的崇尚，使得中国古代的自然科学发展，尤其是医学领域，难免产生了偏颇。例如，在中医理论中，虽然也强调了阴阳平衡的重要性，但在实践中，往往更侧重于阳气的调养，而忽视了阴气的滋养。这种偏颇，在一定程度上限制了中医理论与实践的全面发展。

以现代医学为例，许多慢性病如高血压、糖尿病等，其发病机理往往与阴阳失衡有关。然而，在传统中医理论中，对这些疾病的认识与治疗往往更侧重于阳气的调养，而忽视了阴气的重要性。这种偏颇，不仅影响了治疗效果，也限制了中医理论的进一步发展与完善。

结语：阴阳平衡的智慧

阴阳平衡，是宇宙间最深刻的哲学命题之一。它告诉我们，任何事物都有其两面性，只有相互依存、相互制约，才能达到真正的和谐与平衡。儒家与道家，作为中国古代文化的两大流派，各自在阴阳观念上有着不同的理解与追求。然而，当我们站在历史的长河中回望时，不难发现，只有尊重阴阳平衡的科学原则，才能推动人类文明的全面发展与进步。

让我们铭记这一智慧，不仅要在个人修养与社会治理中追求阴阳平衡，更要在自然科学的发展中，尊重阴阳之间的微妙关系，推动中医等自然科学的全面发展与完善。因为，只有当我们真正理解了阴阳平衡的智慧时，才能在这个复杂多变的世界中，找到属于自己的和谐与平衡。

作者简介：梁世杰 中医高年资主治医师，本科学历，从事中医临床工作24年，积累了较丰富的临床经验。师从首都医科大学附属北京中医院肝病科主任医师、著名老中医陈勇，侍诊多载，深得器重，尽得真传！擅用“商汤经方分类疗法”、专病专方结合“焦树德学术思想”“关幼波十纲辨证”学术思想治疗疑难杂症为特色。现任北京树德堂中医研究院研究员，北京中医药薪火传承新3+3工程—焦树德门人（陈勇）传承工作站研究员，国际易联易学与养生专委会常务理事，中国中医药研究促进会焦树德学术传承专业委员会委员，中国药文化研究会中医药慢病防治分会首批癌症领域入库专家。荣获2020年中国中医药研究促进会仲景医学分会举办的第八届医圣仲景南阳论坛“经方名医”荣誉称号。2023年首届京津冀“扁鹊杯”燕赵医学研究主题征文优秀奖获得者。事迹入选《当代科学家》杂志、《中华英才》杂志。

Between yin and yang: the difference between yin and yang in ancient cultures

In the vast sky of ancient Chinese culture, Confucianism and Taoism are like two bright stars, each illuminating the path of human spiritual exploration. Confucianism follows the principle of "reforming harmony and maintaining stability," and values harmony, strength and self-improvement. Taoism, on the other hand, aims to "understand the yin and yang" and to pursue the beauty of yin and yang and the virtues of virtue. Although the two have different characteristics, they show very different attitudes to the ancient philosophical proposition of yin and yang balance. This paper aims to explore how the dominant position of Confucianism in Chinese traditional culture affected the balance of the concept of Yin and Yang, and then had a biased impact on the development of Chinese medicine and other natural sciences.

Confucian masculinity

Confucian culture, since Confucius, has centered on "compassion" and "courtesy" and advocated the ideal personality and social order of "cultivating oneself, maintaining one's family, governing one'self, and improving the world." The masculinity in Confucianism, like the fiery sun in the sky, has illuminated the way forward, inspiring generations of men and women to strive for moral perfection and social harmony. However, this emphasis on masculinity also led Confucianism to prefer "promoting the sun and suppressing the shadow" when it came to the philosophical proposition of yin-yang balance.

In Confucianism, the yin and yang represented light, justice and power, while the yang was seen as dark, negative and obedient. This concept is reflected in various areas of the nationalism, such as the "strength through the back of paper" in calligraphy and the "strongness" in painting, all of which emphasize a masculine beauty. However, when this masculinity is overinflated, it is easy to lose sight of the value of the feminine beauty, resulting in an imbalance between yin and yang.

The gentle poetry of Taoism

Unlike Confucianism, Taoism focuses more on harmony and balance between yin and yang. Lao Zedong once said, "All things bear the yin and embrace the yang, and they believe in harmony with the yang." Taoism believes that yin and yang are the two most fundamental forces in the universe, and they are interdependent and constrained by each other, which together make up all things in the world. In the Taoist view, yin and yang is not negative, but a deep power of wisdom and tolerance. Like water, although soft and boneless, it can break walls through stone and nourish all things.

This subtle beauty of Taoism is reflected in the awe and obedience to nature. They advocate "rule without doing" and seek to live in harmony with nature, not to seek change, but to conform to the laws of nature to achieve a "harmony between nature and man." This idea has been vividly reflected in the theories of TCM, such as "yin and yang balance," "mutual generation of five phases," both emphasize the harmony and balance between yin and yang.

The cost of yin-yang imbalance

However, when Confucianism was dominant in traditional culture, the scientific principle of the balance of yin and yang was neglected to some extent. Confucian reverence for masculinity made the development of natural science in ancient China, especially in the field of medicine, inevitably biased. For example, in traditional Chinese medicine, although the importance of yin and yang balance is also emphasized, in practice, it is often more focused on the cultivation of the yang and neglects the nourishment of the yang. This bias limits the overall development of traditional Chinese medicine theory and practice to a certain extent.

Take modern medicine as an example, many chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, etc., the pathogenesis of which is often related to the imbalance of yin and yang. However, in traditional Chinese medicine theory, the recognition and treatment of these diseases often focuses more on the cultivation of yang qi, and neglects the importance of yang qi. This bias not only affects the effectiveness of treatment, but also limits the further development and improvement of traditional Chinese medicine theory.

Conclusion: The Wisdom of Yin-Yang Balance

Yin-yang balance is one of the most profound philosophical propositions in the universe. It tells us that everything has two sides, and only by interdependence and constraint can true harmony and balance be achieved. Confucianism and Taoism, as the two major schools of ancient Chinese culture, each had different understanding and pursuit of the concept of yin and yang. However, when we look back in the long history, it is not difficult to see that only scientific principles that respect yin and yang balance can promote the comprehensive development and progress of human civilization.

Let us bear in mind this wisdom, not only to pursue yin and yang balance in personal cultivation and social governance, but also to respect the delicate relationship between yin and yang in the development of natural science, and promote the comprehensive development and perfection of natural science such as traditional Chinese medicine. Because only when we truly understand the wisdom of yin and yang balance can we find our own harmony and balance in this complex and changing world.

Author Bio: Liang Shijie is a senior medical practitioner in traditional Chinese medicine with an undergraduate degree. He has been engaged in traditional medicine clinical work for 24 years and has accumulated a wealth of clinical experience. Following Chen Yong, chief physician of liver disease at Beijing Traditional Medicine Hospital, affiliated with Capital Medical University, and renowned old Chinese medicine, he has been treated for many years and received great attention. He specializes in the treatment of difficult diseases using "conversational traditional therapy" and special treatments combined with the academic ideas of Jiao Shude and Guan Yubo's ten-level diagnosis.He is currently a researcher at the Shude Tang TCM Research Institute in Beijing, a fellow at the new 3 + 3 project of traditional Chinese medicine flame inheritance in Beijing - a scholar at the inheritance workstation of Jiao Shude's protégés (Chen Yong),He is a standing committee member of the International Expert Committee on E-learning and Health Care, a member of the Jiao Shude Academic Heritage Special Committee of the Chinese Association for the Advancement of Chinese Medicine Research, and the first cancer specialist to be included in the chapter of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Culture Research Association. Won the 2020 China Association for the Promotion of Traditional Chinese Medicine Zhongjing Medical Branch held the eighth session of the Medical Saint Zhongjing Nanyang Forum "Classic Prescription Famous Doctor" honorary title. The winner of the first Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei "Pingui Cup" Yanzhao Medical Research Essay Award in 2023. His work was featured in the journal Current Scientist and the journal Chinese Talent.

来源：首都专家梁世杰