“THE WORLD IS NOT A PLACE BUT THE VASTNESS OF THE SOUL”: YIN AND YANG SYMBOLS IN AMY TAN’S “THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES””

Abstract

In her third novel The Hundred Secret Senses Amy Tan explores a half-sisters’ relationship against the broad cultural background making use of traditional Chinese beliefs and symbols. The image of yin-yang hologram presented in Tan’s novel highlights the coexistence and interaction of two perspectives that express simultaneously the various contents of the worlds within a single work. The novel recognizes the nature of yin/yang multiplicity and balance. By juxtaposing both rational and irrational elements of life Tan seems to tell us that“the world is not a place but the vastness of the soul”