Origin of Duality
In the Andean world, everything exists in duality – the world, the universe, society, and humans. Everyone is connected to someone else, and together they form a complementary whole. This view of life has instilled a strong belief in unity, solidarity, and collaboration in Andean societies.
Masintin – Complementary Friendship
Masintin is a term composed of the word “masi,” which means friend, and the suffix “-tnin,” which denotes belonging, creating community, complementing, what accompanies someone or something. Roughly, the term can be understood as complementary friendship, and it is something that accompanies every member of the Andean community from birth to death. Even after that. Everyone is connected to someone. Also, all children are “masintin” in relation to their parents. However, this is not a permanent state, and to achieve full maturity and personal development, it is necessary to live with a partner:
“… Singles lack an essential part of themselves. They say that when you don’t have a partner, you are only half a being. You are precious, you are unique, but you are only one part. You are not yet complete. This is because when you are alone, either you accumulate so much that it becomes overwhelming, or you exhaust yourself to the point of becoming weak. That’s why you will feel fear or confusion or loss. … maybe you know yourself, but you can never see yourself. For that, you need another person. You need other eyes, a different perspective to see that. When you are a child, you have parents, but as you grow older, you no longer have parents to see and recognize you. As an adult, your yanantin, your partner, is the person who is there to see what you can’t see in yourself, just as you are there to see what they can’t see in themselves. That’s why it is easier to care for someone else than for yourself – because you shouldn’t have to care for yourself! That’s why another person exists,” says Arawi Ruiz, a Quechua historian and chairman of the Quechua Academy of Humanities.
Yanantin – Complementary Partnership
So, what makes us complete is yanantin. When children reach sexual maturity, they start looking for their “yana” (lovers, partners) to become “yanantin – harmoniously paired, complemented.” This is also achieved with the help of “masintin,” that is, through friendship and getting to know each other, through building relationships based on what connects and complements us. Only in this way can one grow and mature – in the eyes of and through the care and tenderness of another person. From the word “yana” comes another Quechuan word yanapay, which means “help,” which can also be obtained through a relationship with another person.
“Love relationships among the Quechua are always based on mutual assistance. The more you help someone, the more you love them,” says Ruiz. “Duality always exists so that we can be aware of the needs of the other. Duality also exists within the individual – in the relationships and needs of their masculine and feminine sides,” he emphasises.
Asymmetry as a Condition for Movement
Although one of the translations of the term yanantin is mutual complementarity, one of its main characteristics is also asymmetry, unevenness. Although at first glance it may resemble Taoism or dialectics, it is not about opposites here:
“For us, yanantin does not focus on the differences between two beings. That is what separates them. Instead, we focus on the qualities that have brought them together. That’s why we see them not necessarily as opposing but as complementary. One person alone cannot hold everything, cannot take care of everything. It is not just good to be together; it must be together. There is no other way. When there is an “ini,” it represents additional strength for both.”
In that relationship, one side is always stronger, more dominant. And it is precisely in that difference that the strength lies, carrying dynamics, mobility, and change. Disproportion is the foundation of reality and represents the force that enables things to happen. Asymmetric dualism believes that reality is composed of different, even opposing forces, but which need each other to be complete.
The fact that it is not about opposites is also evident in the fact that same-sex couples could also be yanantin. “In Andean civilisation, homosexuality was considered sacred. Also, femininity was considered divine, and the more feminine someone was, the closer they were to Pachamama – the mother goddess of this world. Even men here speak softer, as an expression of politeness and good manners,” says historian Ruiz. What a stark contrast to Christian patriarchy! Today, same-sex couples are no longer allowed to be called yanantin; they are classified as masintin due to the pressure and domination of the Catholic Church and its traditions.
Asymmetry as a Mode of Governance
Yanantin as the fundamental principle of organising the lives of individuals and society was also at the centre of the Andean political system. Ideologically, it created a community pleasing to the gods that operated according to divine principles. The name of the Inca Empire was Tawantisuyu, which best explains how the Andean peoples understood political organisation. Tawa in Quechuan means the number four, the suffix -ntin denotes belonging to a set, and suyu means a province. In a literal translation, this state was called the Fourfold Empire. It consisted of the upper and lower parts, and these two were equally divided into upper and lower parts. These four parts met in the capital city, Qosqo.
In Qosqo, the Sapa Inca, the supreme ruler, resided. But he also had his pair. They had a throne, an ušnu, on the central square with two seats – for both rulers. The co-ruler of the Sapa Inca had much less power (if any), but symbolically he was necessary. He gave the ruler legitimacy, and in return, the position of the co-ruler gave him a much higher social status than he would have otherwise.
This principle was also used to control newly annexed peoples. Alongside the local ruler, an Inca representative was brought in, and these two ruled together. It is clear that the Inca representative had a control function and maintained a connection with the central authority.
Understanding
Duality, life in pairs, or yanantin represents a philosophical concept known in Western philosophy as well. Phenomenology, communitarianism, and even feminist theory, each from their own positions, emphasise the importance of relationships with others and the community for personal development, social adaptation, and understanding of context and individual roles.
However, nowhere in the world has the principle of duality been so consistently and completely applied in practice as it was in Andean societies. Insistence on unity and shared responsibility was certainly a reflection of the harsh environment of this culture in which an individual could not survive alone. But even more than that, at the spiritual level, belief in collective work and life represented an expression of sacred and divine behavior. Togetherness was sacred.
Although this principle stands in radical contrast to the Western principle of individuality, Andean societies did not negate individual uniqueness. On the contrary, they were much more open to the “otherness” and the different. For example, they accepted and respected homosexuals and homosexuality. This is because the principle of duality did not necessarily establish a rule that it must be about a man and a woman; the emphasis was always on togetherness and complementarity. Yanantin represented a solid framework of action, but within it, there were many pockets of autonomy and freedom.
