学进去

Today, if we talk about a color, we only need to use a simple name. For example, “blue” in Chinese is lan. But in ancient China, there were many beautiful names for blue, such as yuebai, qielan and shiqing.

Similar to the color wheel developed by Isaac Newton, ancient Chinese people created colors using the idea of pure (纯) colors and mixed colors. There were five pure colors, including qing (blue), chi (red), yellow, white and black. These basic colors can be put together to produce mixed colors. For example, mixing yellow and blue could make green. Lots of colors came into being (产生) thanks to this.

As for naming, ancient Chinese people paid much attention to the imagination that colors bring. For example, dongfang jibai is a light blue color. The blue color describes what the sky looks like early in the morning. Similarly, the pink color taoyao is used to describe blossoming (开花的) peach trees. The purple color mushanzi describes a sunset covering the mountain.

Do you know a color was not just a color, but a symbol of social status (地位) in ancient China? For example, yellow was long seen as the symbol of authority. Only the leader of the country and his family could use it. During the Tang Dynasty (朝代), officials needed to wear clothes with certain colors. Only officials of the top three grades were allowed to wear purple clothes, while those of the fourth and fifth wore red clothes, the sixth and seventh officials wore green clothes. Blue was for those in the lowest grades.

The colors that the ancients left us can be seen in society today. Nowadays, some TV programs present traditional Chinese colors in clothes and buildings, which excite people’s interest in ancient colors.