Color in Chinese culture | red colour
ChinesecardinalandintermediarycolorsChinesecultureattachescertainvaluestocolors,likewhichcolorsareconsideredauspicious(吉利)orinauspicious(不利).TheChinesewordforcolorisyánsè(顏色).InLiteraryChinese,thecharacter色moreliterallycorrespondstocolorinthefaceoremotion.Itwasgenerallyusedaloneandoftenimpliedsexualdesireordesirability.DuringtheTangdynasty(618–907),thewordyánsècametomeanallcolor.AChineseidiommeaningmulti-colored,Wǔyánliùsè(五顏六色),canalsorefertocolorsingeneral.InChinesemythology,the...
Chinese cardinal and intermediary colorsChinese culture attaches certain values to colors, like which colors are considered auspicious (吉利) or inauspicious (不利). The Chinese word for color is yánsè (顏色). In 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.
Traditionally, the standard colors in Chinese culture are black, red, cyan (青; qīng), white, and yellow. Respectively, these correspon...