one of the entities and essences in the dualistic system of the Chinese philosophers. It consists of matter most ethereal in its texture, and may be styled the ultimate material element of the universe, the primary matter which acts as the substratum on which things: endued with form and other qualities rest, or from which they have been gradually evolved. The Ke, when resolved into its constituent elements, gives birthl to two opposite essences, Yang and Yin. (See CHINA).