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The Significance of the Color Yellow in Traditional Chinese Culture
(Clearwisdom.net) The earliest ancestor of the Chinese race was the
"Yellow Emperor." Chinese culture originated on the "Yellow
Plateau," the cradle of the Chinese nation was the "Yellow
River," and descendants of the Yan Emperor and the Yellow Emperor have
"yellow skin." Since ancient times, the color yellow has been
inseparably linked with Chinese traditional culture. During the time of the
Yellow Emperor, about 5,000 years ago, Chinese society advocated single colors.
Confucius, a philosopher and educator at the end of the Spring-Autumn period, in
his effort to uphold the "Rites of the Zhou Dynasty," defined black,
red, cyan (blue-green), white, and yellow as the "pure colors" and
"superior colors." He applied these colors to the rites and
incorporated them into the traditional values of "benevolence,
righteousness, rites, wisdom and trust." Up until the Qin and Han
Dynasties, the emperors had each chosen a symbolic color for their respective
reign based on the correspondence of the colors of black, red, cyan, white, and
yellow to the five elements of water, fire, wood, metal, and earth based on the
Yin Yang theory. The ancient Chinese believed that the five elements were the
fundamental elements that created all things in nature; they were the origin of
everything, including colors, and were inseparably related to the principle of
five elements in the operation of heavenly laws. They also chose the color of
their clothing according to the natural change of seasons and the theory of the
five elements. The emperors in the Han Dynasties believed that, after the Han took over from
the Qin Dynasty, it symbolized the virtue of earth. According to the theory of
five elements, the earth overcame water, and the earth was yellow, so yellow was
very popular in the Han Dynasty. At that time, the horoscope fortune tellers
also combined the theory of five elements and the concept of five dimensions in
the horoscope, and believed that the color yellow stood for earth, symbolizing
the center of the universe; cyan stood for wood, symbolizing the east; red stood
for fire, symbolizing the south; white stood for metal, symbolizing the west;
and the color black stood for water, symbolizing the north. Because the color
yellow was in the middle of the five elements, it was viewed as a neutral color
and came first of all colors. It was also viewed as the most noble color, a
color for the clothing of emperors. The prime minister of the court at that time
was granted a "gold seal with a purple silk ribbon." It was a symbol
of the highest power next to that of the emperor. This was how the colors yellow
and purple gained their important places in Chinese traditional culture. In the Tang Dynasty, yellow was widely used in traditional culture and arts.
In the Dunhuang Caves, there are over 10,000 precious frescoes, covering a total
area of over 50,000 square meters. The frescoes from different time periods vary
in color. For example, the frescoes done in the Northern Wei period are mainly
red-brown, accompanied by blue and black. From the Tang Dynasty onward, yellow
became more popular, and these frescoes are diverse and charming, bright and
gorgeous--a brilliant page in the frescoes of the Dunhuang Caves. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beijing became the capital city, and the
color yellow became the exclusive color for the imperial family. Ordinary people
were not allowed to wear yellow. The emperors wore "yellow robes,"
their carriage was called a "yellow carriage," the path they walked on
was called a "yellow path," the flags used on their tours were
"yellow flags," and the wrapping material for their seals was also
yellow. Consequently, the color yellow became a symbol of supreme power. Only
the imperial family members and their relatives could live in residences with
red walls and yellow-colored glazed tile roofs. Ordinary people could only use
cyan-colored bricks and tiles. If you climb up to the top of Jingshan and
overlook the forbidden city, you can see a stretch of yellow glazed tile roofs.
On both sides of the halls, front and back, there are huge, gold-plated bronze
vats and animal figures. They look magnificent, enhancing each other's
brilliance and radiance, representing the supreme sovereign. In fact, yellow was the most common color in the Buddha school. The Buddha
figure was called a "golden body," temples used yellow and were called
"golden temples," the monks' robes were made of a yellow material, and
the Buddha figures were plated with gold to show their nobility and
preciousness, because since ancient times, the Chinese people believed that the
color yellow came from Heaven. In traditional Chinese culture,
"Heaven" represented gods at higher levels, and the reason that an
emperor could rule the land was because "Heaven" had granted him the
power to rule. Therefore, although the emperor was the supreme ruler of a
country, he was only a "son of Heaven," not the Heaven, and
beyond him there was "Heaven" to restrain him. In other words, an
emperor was restrained by morals, and such restraint indicated that the power of
gods was superior to that of an emperor, and the emperor had to "respect
Heaven and act in line with his duty." The emperors had to handle affairs
in the human world according to the will of Heaven, and those who obeyed Heaven
would thrive, and those who went against Heaven would perish. Only those who
followed the will of Heaven could become "clear-sighted emperors with
morals." Yellow was used by emperors, dynasty after dynasty, representing
their divinely-entrusted power, boundlessly sacred and noble. January 19, 2008 |