On the Symbolic Meanings of Color Words in Chinese.doc

中西文化中颜色词的象征意义On the Symbolic Meanings of Color Words in Chinese & Western CulturesAbstractThere are differences in the use of colors and color words between Chinese and English cultures. The different cultures bring different attitudes toward the same color because of different language habits, historical backgrounds, traditional customs and so on. Although the meanings of color words are restrained by cultures, they reveal wide connotation of cultures. We should pay attention to observing not only their basic meanings, but also the deep and broad symbolic meanings. The symbolic meanings of color words often have different features in different language cultures. And some of them even have become taboos and adornments since the meanings of the color words are extended and transferred. Meanwhile, the cultural exchanges and the color views have similar phenomenon and coincidence in the languages. This paper tries to illustrate the different symbolic meanings of color words in Chinese and English cultures by comparison and analysis of them.Key WordsColor words; cultural differences; symbolic meanings; comparison摘要因民族历史文化、政治、宗教、习俗和社会环境等因素的影响，中英文化语言中色彩词用法各异，颜色观也有所不同。中英文化在长期的历史沉淀中形成了各自独特的颜色观，折射出绚丽多姿的民族文化。文化制约了颜色词的意义演变，颜色词的文化意义又折射出了丰富的文化内涵。由于文化内容、文化传统和文化心理各异，很多英汉颜色词的文化内涵差异较大。我们不仅要注意观察它们本身的基本意义，更要留心它们含义深广的象征意义。象征意义在不同民族语言中往往有不同的特点，有些特点甚至构成了人们对经过引伸、转义以后颜色的崇尚和禁忌。同时，由于文化趋同性和文化的交流，语言所反映的颜色观有相似或叠合的现象。本文就中英文化以上方面进行对比分析，试图说明中英文化中颜色词的不同象征意义。关键词颜色词; 文化差异; 象征意义; 对比 IntroductionColor is a part of our life. Color words help us to understand the world around, like our sense of taste and smell. The basic color words in English such as red, yellow, white, black, not only express the colors of objective things, but also the obstruct things. The color words have specified semantic meanings in different cultures. Without understanding of them, we will probably run into obstacles or make a fun of ourselves in communication. Generally speaking, in Chinese culture, the symbolic meanings of color words are related to influences of feudal system, feudal superstition, primitive science, and poor education. The colors have strong political symbolic meanings and mystical tendencies. In English culture, the symbolic meanings of color words are affected by the Western nationality openness, science, education degree. The colors are of a few mystery meanings. The symbolic meanings of color words have been formed in the development of society and historical precipitation. It is a permanent phenomenon. In cross-cultural communication, the symbolic meanings of color words embody lots of cultural values and connotations in languages which make the languages more lively, interesting, humorous, and warm. Therefore the most important things in using color words for us are to understand the cultural traditions, values, and customs. Learning and grasping the symbolic meanings of color words are also important. Color words transmit cultural information through cultural communication. Good understanding of the symbolic meanings of color words can promote and strengthen cultural exchanges among countries smoothly. I. BackgroundA. Color Words and Their Historical BackgroundsColor words, in whatever languages, are used for describing different things. The statistics show that there are more than 7 million kinds of colors can be recognized in the nature. However, the color names are very limited in the languages because there are only dozens of colors expressed in single-morpheme word. A number of color words are expressed by adding modifiers, for instance, crimson, pale red, apple green, azure, coffee color etc. Color words reflect the different cultural connotations in different languages. People regard color words with special esteem in different countries. We should not only understand their basic meanings, but also pay attention to their deeply symbolic meanings. The symbolic meanings of color words have different features in different cultures. History, background, aesthetic and psychology are different because of our countrys geography. So, the feeling of the color words will not be the same, and the symbolic meanings of color words will be various. According to the definition of color, it is clear that color is a vision phenomenon aroused by the reflecting and radiating of object. The definition of color is blurry in China feudal society. In Western, it is easily accepted for its development of education and science. At the beginning, the Western people pay attention to things rationally. They often display the basic meaning of color words to the objective world, so the symbolic meanings of the color words are very direct in Western culture. The Western people express some abstract cultural meaning with the concrete color of objective things. For example, in Western culture “getting red” means the color of “blood”. Among the mind in Western culture, once the blood trickles, the life end, so people always associate red with the violence, dangerous, and it is a taboo word in Western culture. When Western Sinologists translate “Dream of the Red Chamber,” they consider that “red” makes Western people feel blood; they adopt title “the story of the stone” to avoid the misunderstanding of the word “red ”.B. Colors in Traditional Chinese CulturesAbout five thousand years B.C., during Huang Di (The Yellow Emperor)'s time, people worshiped a single color. After Huang Di and through the Shang, Tang, Zhou and Qin dynasties, the emperors selected colors as symbols based on the theory of the five elements. The order of five elements is water, fire, wood, metal and earth. These are corresponded with the colors black, red, greenish blue, white and yellow, respectively. Ancient Chinese people believed that the five elements were the source of everything in nature. As the source of everything comes from these five elements, the colors come from the five elements as well. Based on the understanding that “colors come naturally while black and white are the first,” people gradually established the relationship between the colors and the principle of the five elements, which guided the natural movement of heaven. People also selected their attire, food, transportation and housing according to the natural changes in the seasons, going from spring, to summer, to autumn, and then to winter, which further formed the theory of five colors. In the traditional Chinese system, five colors, black, red, greenish blue, white and yellow are regarded as standard colors. Black was regarded as the color of heaven in the Yi Jing. The saying “heaven and earth of mysterious black” was rooted in the feeling of ancient people that the northern sky shows a mysterious black color for a long time. They thought that the North Star is the Tian Di (heavenly emperor). Therefore, black was regarded as the king of all colors in ancient China. The color of black was worshipped the longest time in ancient China. In the Taiji diagram of ancient China, black and white are used to represent the unity of Yin and Yang. In ancient China, the color of white represents multiple things. In the theory of “Five Elements”, white symbolizes brightness and classifies it as a standard color, representing the nature of purity, brightness and fullness. Yellow is the center of colors, symbolizing the color of the earth. In China, there is a saying, “Yellow generates Yin and Yang,” regarding yellow as the center of all colors. Yellow is the orthodox color positioned in the center and the color of neutrality. It is placed above the color brown and regarded as the most beautiful color of all.In 211 B. C., Qin Shi Huang unified China. He still followed his ancestors traditions by observing objects and deciding symbols. He distinguished black from white, respected the virtue of water and “decided that October was the beginning of winter and its color was a superior black.” When Qin Shi Huang ascended to the throne, “the color of the clothing and flags was black.” Since the Qin dynasty, colors gradually assumed a decorative function and became rich and colorful. Throughout the Han Dynasty, yellow became the special symbolic color of the royal court because of its brilliance, and its shade was close to the golden color. Ordinary people were not allowed to wear yellow clothes. Usually, people regarded the other colors as the inferior colors. During the Han Dynasty, bright purple was regarded as an extremely precious and rare color. In the Tang dynasty, the color of purple was used in the clothing of officials ranking. Royal court members were fond of the purple color. Purple borders were considered elegant. During the pre-Qin period, the symbolic meanings of color words started to show a tendency towards diversification. In order to support the Zhou Dynasty's ceremonial observances, Confucius defined the colors of yellow, greenish blue, white, red and black as the standard colors and superior colors. He related the five colors to benevolence, virtue and kindness and incorporated them into the formal ceremonies. During the Zhou Dynasty, the color of red was worshipped. Lao Zi, on the other hand, said that “five colors make people blind,” so the Dao School chose black as the symbol of the Dao. During that period of time, the symbolic meanings of color words were widely incorporated into the naming of seasons and directions. Each season was given a color and a direction. Spring was represented by greenish blue sun, its main guardian god was a green-blue dragon, and its direction was east. Summer was represented by reddish brightness, guarded by a red sparrow, and its direction was south. Autumn was represented by white, guarded by a white tiger, and its direction was west. Winter was represented by black, guarded by a black tortoise, and its direction was north. Chinese cultures were affected by the development of feudal society in the past several thousand years. Education and science lag behind relatively, so the symbolic meanings of the color words have strong mystery flavor in Chinese culture. The development of the objective things are affected by Chinese cultures largely. The symbolic meanings of color words are very abundant in Chinese culture, for example, the color of red comes from the sun in Chinese culture. Our ancestor has a kind of instinctive attachment and worships to the sunshine, and red stands for joyous and lucky. For white, in mankind initial stage, our ancestor is small, weak and unable. It is hard to live in daylight; our ancestor must face wild animal attack. Therefore the color of white has a kind of instinctive frightened sense. White becomes a kind of taboo color in Chinese culture. It is obvious that the symbolic meanings of the color words demonstrate the human psychological characteristics.II. Different Symbolic Meanings of Color Words in Chinese and English CulturesWords used to express colors are different in different nations. The differences are not only in the range of chromatograph, but also in extended meaning. According to A Modern Chinese Dictionary and Oxford Advanced Learners English Dictionary we can make a comparison.A. RedIn Chinese culture, the color of red is popular for special events, holidays and ceremonials. In ancient times, when people got married, the bride always dressed in red, and wore “Hongtouga(红头盖)”. The bridegroom always tied a red ribbon and wore a red flower in the front. And almost everything in the wedding had something to do with red color. Neolithic hunter considered red to be the most important color endowed with lifegiving powers and placed red ochre into graves of their deceased. Neolithic cave painters ascribed magic power to the red color. It can be stipulated that they painted animals in red ochre or iron oxide to conjure their fertility. It is usually believed in China that red can against evil influence. Almost all languages can find the concept of red, but words used to express this color are different in different cultures. In Chinese culture, red stands for lucky and joyous. In Spring Festival, people printed in red, which is called “red letter day”. Besides, we have a very famous trademark “double red happiness” which is good fortune. Those who facilitate other marriages are named “matchmaker”. Bright red lanterns are usually registered in joyous day; red also symbolizes the revolution and progress, for instance, Communist Party of Chinas initial regime is named “red regime”, the initial arms are called “the Red Army”; it symbolizes success, smooth going，such as “becoming much more popular”, “the favorite follower”; Another, to share the profits is called “share out bonus” etc.Nevertheless, to Westerners, “red” is usually related to danger, war, blood, terror and sensuality. When the traffic lights turn red, it means danger and pause. Red card is widely used to punish players who act badly in sports and games. Scarlet is the color of bright red, yet its connotation meaning is libidinous or flagrant. Up to now, “red light district” in a few Western nations still implies whorehouse. If we translate (Hong Deng Ji) into “Story of A Red Lantern”, it makes misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication. The symbolic meaning of red color is cruel ferocious and bleeding for example, it massacres with violence, and it claims for the red rules of tooth and claw, red revenge, a red battle; it symbolizes the radical violent revolution, such as red hot political campaign, a red revolution, red activities etc; it also symbolizes danger, nervousness, for example, red alert, a red adventure story, and a red flag.B. WhiteWhite and red are opposite in Chinese culture. White is a basic taboo word that reflects Chinese people abandon and disgust in both material and spiritual aspects. White symbolizes the death and ill omen in Chinese culture. The relative must wear mourning for the death of parents and relatives since ancient times. They worn the white mourning dress, and it is called the funeral. The relatives set up the white mourning hall. And they should hit the white long narrow flag while carrying a coffin to the cemetery. In the past, autumn was represented by white, guarded by a white tiger and its direction was west. Because of political influence, white symbolizes backward, rottenness and surrender, for instance, when an army fails, the soldier plays a “white flag” to show their surrenders; a person with low intelligence, we call “idiot”. Finally white signifies one with little knowledge, no fame and no gain, we call “the commoner”. In English culture, the symbolic meanings of white color focus on color itself, such as snow, fresh milk and the color of lily. Westerners think white stands for grace and purity. When a woman wears a white wedding dress, she is a virgin. Sometimes a woman who is getting married for the second time she may not wear pure white. She may wear off-white or even some other color. On Chris