Color in Chinese culture
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
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,
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
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]
-
The Yellow River at Sanmenxia
-
The Yellow River Breaches its Course by Ma Yuan (1160–1225), Song dynasty
-
The 1889–1912 flag of the Qing Empire
-
Yellow tiles and figures on the roof the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City
-
A Peking glass vase in Imperial Yellow, a shade of yellow so named for the banner of the Qing dynasty
Black
Black (
The
White
White (
Red
Red (红;
A
In the
-
Contemporary red envelopes
-
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
-
One of the red gates to the Forbidden City
Blue and green
Qīng was associated with health, prosperity, and harmony. It was used for the roof tiles and ornate interior of the
Separately, green hats are associated with
-
Azure roof structure and name plaque of the Temple of Heaven
-
AWestern Han dynastygreen jade Bi disk, with dragon designs
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
- Chinese art
- Culture of China
- Culture of the People's Republic of China
- Fashion of China
- Haint blue
- Luck
- Numbers in Chinese culture
- Jing (Chinese opera)#Face designfor information on color in Chinese opera face paintings
- Four Symbols
- Wufang Shangdi
References
- ^ "Colors in Chinese". maayot. 16 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
- ^ OCLC 936144129.
- JSTOR 4527434.
- ^ Dupree, Scratch (30 January 2017), "Colors", Cha, Hong Kong
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - PMID 33196769.
- ^ 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.
- ^ see Funeral § Asian funerals
- ISBN 0-471-11819-2, 1996, page 67
- ISBN 9789004265318.