IN ADDITION TO RELIGION, SEVERAL ANCIENT BELIEFS HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN SHAPING CHINESE CULTURE AS WELL. IN FACT, EACH OF CHINA'S TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS HAVE THEMSELVES BEEN DEEPLY INFLUENCED BY THESE ANCIENT BELIEFS. UNDOUBTEDLY, ONE OF THE MOST BASIC AND WIDESPREAD OF THEM IS THE CONCEPT OF YIN AND YANG. IN THE SYMBOL OF THE TAOIST RELIGION SEEN HERE, THE MYSTICAL TAO IS REPRESENTED AS CONSISTING OF TWO BALANCED BUT OPPOSING ENERGIES. ONE IS CALLED YANG, AND THE OTHER IS CALLED YIN. YIN IS THE ENERGY ASSOCIATED WITH... WHILE IN CONTRAST, YANG IS THE ENERGY ASSOCIATED WITH... EACH MORNING IN THE PARKS AND PUBLIC PLACES OF CHINA, OLDER PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS SEEN PRACTICING TAI CHI, AN ANCIENT ART THAT SEEKS TO BALANCE YIN AND YANG ENERGIES WHILE BUILDING STRENGTH AND AGILITY. AND THE APPROACH OF BALANCING ENERGY IS EMPLOYED IN TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE AS WELL. THE ANCIENT CHINESE ART OF FENG SHUI IS ALSO FOUNDED ON THE CONCEPTS OF YIN AND YANG. IN CHINA, FENG SHUI EXPERTS HAVE LONG BEEN CONSULTED FOR HELP IN SELECTING A HARMONIOUS LOCATION FOR A NEW HOUSE OR TEMPLE. FENG SHUI PRINCIPLES ARE USED FOR PLANNING THE LAYOUTS OF ROOMS AND FOR DECIDING ON HOW FURNITURE CAN BE PLACED TO OBTAIN THE BEST ENERGY FLOW. FOR IT IS BELIEVED THAT WHEN THE FENG SHUI OF A HOUSE IS CORRECT -- MEANING THAT THE FORCES OF YIN AND YANG ARE PROPERLY BALANCED -- THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN IT WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND PROSPEROUS. ANOTHER FASCINATING ASPECT OF ANCIENT CHINESE THINKING IS FOUND IN THE GROUPINGS OF LINES ARRANGED ALONG THE OUTSIDE OF THE YIN-YANG SYMBOL. THEY ARE CALLED THE EIGHT TRIGRAMS AND REPRESENT DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF THE YIN AND YANG ENERGIES. A BROKEN LINE IN A TRIGRAM STANDS FOR YIN. AND ONE THAT IS UNBROKEN REPRESENTS YANG. THE THREE UNBROKEN LINES OF THIS TRIGRAM REPRESENT A COMPLETELY YANG QUALITY, AND SO THE TRIGRAM SYMBOLIZES STRENGTH, CREATIVITY, HEAVEN, AND FATHER. IN ANCIENT TIMES, PEOPLE BEGAN TO PAIR THE TRIGRAMS WITH ONE ANOTHER TO CREATE SIX-LINE HEXAGRAMS. PEOPLE DREW STRAWS OR TOSSED COINS TO REPRESENT THE YIN AND YANG LINES OF THE HEXAGRAMS, THUS THE HEXAGRAMS COULD BE DETERMINED PURELY BY CHANCE. AND SOMEHOW, OVER TIME, THE HEXAGRAMS CAME TO BE SEEN AS POSSESSING A DEEP SPIRITUAL MEANING AND POWER OF THEIR OWN. THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, A MYSTICAL BOOK CALLED THE "I CHING," OR "BOOK OF CHANGES," WAS COMPILED. IT SOUGHT TO EXPLAIN THE HIDDEN MEANING OF EVERY LINE IN EACH ONE OF THE 64 POSSIBLE HEXAGRAMS. AND TODAY, THAT ANCIENT AND MYSTERIOUS BOOK IS STILL CONSULTED BY MILLIONS OF CHINESE PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR SPIRITUAL ADVICE AND GUIDANCE.