| The Sam-ak [3 Sacred Peaks] |
| the Korean-style Sam-Taegeuk [three-part Grand Ultimate] Symbol, used in Korean Shamanism, Neo-Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism Blue = Heaven Red = Earth Yellow = Humanity Heaven influences Earth, which influences Humanity, which influences Heaven... or, in other interpretations, Blue = Heaven, Yellow = Earth and Red = Humanity (depending whether Red is seen as the color of Chinese farming-soil or of human blood, and Yellow is seen as the color of soil or of human skin; the Chinese Emperor wore yellow robes in representing Humanity as the "Son of Heaven".) |
The Korean Sam-Taegeuk symbol above is
related to but quite different from the better-
known Chinese Yin-Yang 陰陽 yīnyáng 阴阳 symbol
(right), also called the Taijitu 太極圖 Taìjí tú 太极图 or
T'ai-chi, literally "Diagram of the Supreme
Ultimate", most frequently used in Chinese Taoist
and Neo-Confucian philosophy and cultural arts.
related to but quite different from the better-
known Chinese Yin-Yang 陰陽 yīnyáng 阴阳 symbol
(right), also called the Taijitu 太極圖 Taìjí tú 太极图 or
T'ai-chi, literally "Diagram of the Supreme
Ultimate", most frequently used in Chinese Taoist
and Neo-Confucian philosophy and cultural arts.
Stained-glass-mosaic window in the Hyehwa Catholic Church in Seoul