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ID23561 - Chương : Ấn Tý
dictionaryEN : ENCYCLOPEDIA of CAODAISM - A
Tác Giả : Lê Kim Liên - Từ Chơn

Ấn Tý

印子

A special gesture made with the hands and fingers by Caodaists in religious ceremony.

 

Note : In a Caodai's rite, believers perform Ấn Tý. First, the tip of the left thumb is stuck onto the bottom of the ring finger. Then, the left hand is closed into a fist.

Next, the right hand covers the fist with the tip of the thumb put onto the bottom of the left index finger.

This gesture, mark or seal implies that Heaven begins at Tý, Earth at Sửu, and man at Dần. Tý, Sửu and Dần are the three specific time of a day, according to the ancient Chinese way of telling time.

The left and the right hands stand for Yang and Yin respectively. Joining, they symbolize Yang and Yin's combination to originate the universe. They also represent a fruit, that is, the result of the First and Second Amnesty.

In the First Amnesty, Thái Thượng taught humans to join hands like a bud. In the Second Amnesty, Buddha showed humans to join hands like a flower in full bloom. Presently, it is the Third Amnesty, God told humans to perform Ấn Tý, which is the fruit or the effect.