Color in Chinese culture

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Chinese cardinal and intermediary colors

Literary Chinese, the character 色 more literally corresponds to 'color in the face' or 'emotion'. It was generally used alone and often implied sexual desire or desirability. During the Tang dynasty
(618–907), the word yánsè came to mean 'all color'. A Chinese idiom meaning 'multi-colored', Wǔyánliùsè (五顏六色), can also refer to 'colors' in general.

In Chinese mythology, the goddess Nüwa is said to have mended the Heavens after a disaster destroyed the original pillars that held up the skies, using five colored-stones in these five auspicious colors to patch-up the crumbling heavens, accounting for the many colors that the skies can take-on.

Wuxing

Traditionally, the standard colors in Chinese culture are black, red,

better source needed
]

Element Wood Fire Earth Metal Water
Color Blue, azure, green Red Yellow White Black
Direction east south center west north
Planet Jupiter Mars Saturn Venus Mercury
Heavenly creature Azure Dragon Vermilion Bird Yellow Dragon
White Tiger
 Black Tortoise
Heavenly Stems 甲, 乙 丙, 丁 戊, 己 庚, 辛 壬, 癸
Wufang Shangdi
Cāngdì
 Chide Huangdi
Baidi
 Heidi
Phase New Yang Full Yang Balance New Yin Full Yin
Energy Generative Expansive Stabilizing Contracting Conserving
Season Spring Summer Change of seasons
(Every third month)		 Autumn Winter
Climate Windy Hot Damp Dry Cold
Development Sprouting Blooming Ripening Withering Dormant
Livestock dog sheep, goat cattle chicken pig
Fruit Chinese plum apricot jujube peach Chinese chestnut
Grain wheat legume rice hemp pearl millet

Yellow

Portrait of the Hongwu Emperor in a silk yellow dragon robe featuring embroidered the Yellow Dragon

Standard Mandarin increasingly map their use of huáng to shades corresponding to English yellow.)[5]
The Chinese saying "Yellow generates yin and yang" implies that yellow is the center of everything. Associated with but ranked above brown, yellow signifies neutrality and good luck. Yellow is sometimes paired with red in place of gold.

The Yellow River is the cradle of Chinese civilization. In imperial China, yellow was the color of the emperor, and is held as the symbolic color of the five legendary emperors of ancient China, such as the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Dragon is the zoomorphic incarnation of the Yellow Emperor of the center of the universe in Chinese religion and mythology. The flag of the Qing dynasty featured golden yellow as the background. The Plain Yellow Banner and the Bordered Yellow Banner were two of the upper three banners of Later Jin and Qing dynasty.

Yellow often decorates royal palaces, altars and temples, and the color was used in the dragon robes and attire of the emperors.[2] It was a rare honor to receive the imperial yellow jacket.

Yellow also represents freedom from worldly cares and is thus esteemed in Buddhism. Monks' garments are yellow, as are elements of Buddhist temples. Yellow is also used as a mourning color for Chinese Buddhists.

Yellow is also symbolic of heroism, as opposed to the Western association of the color with cowardice.[6]

Black

A black-and-white 18th-century representation of the Taijitu of Zhao Huiqian (1370s)

Black (

mourning
than white in traditional Chinese culture but formal black jackets and slacks have become associated with international professionalism.

The

North Star.[citation needed] The taijitu uses black and white or red to represent the unity of yin and yang. Ancient Chinese people regarded black as the king of colors[citation needed] and honored black more consistently than any other color.[dubious – discuss] Laozi said know the white, keep the black[citation needed] and Taoists believe black is the color of the Tao.[dubious – discuss
]

White

White (

is also valued
by many Chinese, especially in consideration of women as potential brides, presumably due to the association of dark-color skin with manual labor and poverty.

Red

See also: Vermilion § Chinese red

Red (红;

orange or warm brown
.

A

bribes, and other special occasions. The red color of the packet symbolizes good luck. Red is strictly forbidden at funerals as it is traditionally symbolic of happiness.[7] The names of the dead were previously written in red,[citation needed] so it is generally somewhat offensive to use red ink for Chinese names in contexts other than official seals
.

In the

government
.

  • Contemporary red envelopes
    Contemporary red envelopes
  • Red paper lanterns for sale in Shanghai. The color red symbolizes luck and is believed to ward away evil
    Red paper lanterns for sale in Shanghai. The color red symbolizes luck and is believed to ward away evil
  • Chinese seal and red seal paste
    Chinese seal and red seal paste
  • One of the red gates to the Forbidden City
    One of the red gates to the Forbidden City

Blue and green

Main article:
Qing (color)

Standard Mandarin does make the blue-green distinction using lǜ (绿; 綠 'leafy') for green and lán (蓝; 藍 'indigo
') for blue.

Qīng was associated with health, prosperity, and harmony. It was used for the roof tiles and ornate interior of the

pottery
that was developed to imitate it.

Separately, green hats are associated with

Catholic bishops, who, in ecclesiastical heraldry, would normally have a green hat above their arms. Chinese bishops have compromised by using a violet hat for their coat of arms.[citation needed
]

Intermediary colors

The five intermediary colors (五間色 wǔjiànsè) are formed as combinations of the five elemental colors. These are:[9]

  • 綠 lǜ 'green': The intermediary color of the east, combination of central yellow and eastern blue
  • 碧 bì 'emerald blue': The intermediary color of the west, combination of eastern blue and western white
  • 紅 hóng 'light red': The intermediary color of the south, combination of western white and southern red
  • 紫 zǐ 'violet': The intermediary color of the north, combination of southern red and northern black
  • 硫 liú 'horse-brown': The intermediary color of the center, combination of northern black and central yellow

See also

References

  1. ^ "Colors in Chinese". maayot. 16 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  2. ^
    OCLC 936144129
    .
  3. JSTOR 4527434
    .
  4. ^ Dupree, Scratch (30 January 2017), "Colors", Cha, Hong Kong{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  5. PMID 33196769
    .
  6. ^ a b "Psychology of Color: Does a specific color indicate a specific emotion? By Steve Hullfish | July 19, 2012". Archived from the original on 4 March 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  7. ^ see Funeral § Asian funerals
  8. ISBN 0-471-11819-2
    , 1996, page 67
  9. ISBN 9789004265318
    .
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