Chinese Colour Theories

Chinese culture attaches certain values to colours, like which colours are considered auspicious (吉利) or inauspicious (不利). The Chinese word for “colour” is yánsè (顏色). In Classical Chinese, the character sè (色) more accurately meant “colour in the face”, or “emotion”. It was generally used alone and often implied sexual desire or desirability. During the Tang Dynasty, the word yánsè came to mean ‘all colour’. A Chinese idiom with the meaning “many colours” or “multi-coloured”, Wǔyánliùsè (五顏六色), can also mean ‘colours’ 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 coloured-stones in these five auspicious colours to patch-up the crumbling heavens, accounting for the many colours that the skies can take-on.

Theory of the Five Elements (Wuxing 五行)

In traditional Chinese art and culture, black, red, qing (青) (a conflation of the idea of green and blue), white and yellow are viewed as standard colours. These colors correspond to the five elements (五行) of water, fire, wood, metal and earth, taught in traditional Chinese physics. Throughout the Shang, Tang, Zhou and Qin dynasties, China’s emperors used the Theory of the Five Elements to select colors. Other colors were considered by Confucius as ‘inferior’.

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 青龍	Vermilion Bird 朱雀	Yellow Dragon 黃龍	White Tiger 白虎	Black Tortoise 玄武
Heavenly Stems	甲, 乙	丙, 丁	戊, 己	庚, 辛	壬, 癸
Wufang Shangdi	Cāngdì	Chidi	Huangdi	Baidi	Heidi
Phase	New Yang	Full Yang	Yin and 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

Yellow of a golden hue is considered the most beautiful and prestigious color.^[2] The Chinese conception of yellow (黃, huáng) is inclusive of many shades considered tan or brown in English and the primary association is with the earth rather than the sun. 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 civilisation. Yellow was the emperor’s color in Imperial China 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 centre 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 honour 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.^[3]

The Yellow River Breaches its Course by Ma Yuan (1160–1225), Song dynasty
Flag of China 1889–1912 featuring yellow
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 (黑, hēi), corresponding to water, is generally understood as a neutral color.

The I Ching or Book of Changes regards black as Heaven’s color. The saying “heaven and earth are black” was rooted in the observation that the northern sky was black for a long time. Ancient Chinese people believed Tiandi or the Heavenly Emperor resided in the North Star. The Taiji symbol uses black and white or red to represent the unity of yin and yang. Ancient Chinese people regarded black as the king of colours and honoured black more consistently than any other colour (??). Laozi said know the white, keep the blackand Taoists believe black is the colour of the Tao.^??

Black is also used in many negative contexts in idioms and common names. “Black help” (黑幫, hēibāng) is the usual name for Chinese organized crime and the Thick Black Theory of the late Qing intellectual Li Zongwu (李宗吾, 1879–1943) is an exhortation to Machiavellianism.

In modern China, black is used in clothing, especially in professional contexts. Black has less association with mourning than white in traditional Chinese culture but formal black jackets and slacks have become associated with international professionalism.

White

White (白, bái) corresponds with metal among the Five Elements and represents gold (?) and symbolises brightness, purity, and fulfilment. Light-coloured skin is highly valued by many Chinese, especially in consideration of women as potential brides.

White is also the traditional colour of mourning, although white wedding gowns have become more popular since the Opening Up Policy.

Red

Blue / Green

Main article: Qing (color)

Old Chinese did not make a blue-green distinction, having a single “verdant” color (青, qīng) that covered both. The clear blue sky and fresh green vegetables were considered shades of a single color which could even include black as its darkest hue in some contexts. Modern Standard Mandarin does make the blue-green distinction using lǜ (t 綠, s 绿, “leafy”) for green and lán (t 藍, s 蓝, “indigo“) for blue.

Qīng was associated with health, prosperity, and harmony. It was used for the roof tiles and ornate interior of the Temple of Heaven and in other structures to represent heaven. It is also the colour of most jade as well as the greenware pottery that was developed to imitate it.

Separately, green hats are associated with infidelity and used as an idiom for a cuckold. This has caused uneasiness for Chinese 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.

Intermediary colours

The five intermediary colors (五間色 wǔjiànsè) are formed as combinations of the five elemental colors. These are:^[6]

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