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Oriental (of the East) and Occidental (of the West) in a Yin/yang symbol designed by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.

If Asians are called oriental, then Europeans and Westerners can be called occidental. The term “oriental” has been classified as a politically incorrect term for “Asian.” Correct usage of “oriental” has been identified as best used as an adjective for things (inanimate objects) and not human beings. Whereas, the term “Occidental” has been used to refer to Western, as opposite of “oriental.”

In Chinese philosophy, yin-yang (also 陰陽 yīnyáng, or “dark-bright”) describe how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent within the natural world; they may actually give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. Yin-yang perceives components holistically within nature and the environment as with sky and earth, night and day, water and fire, male and female, and active and passive.