the symbolic meanings of color red in Chinese

馬曉 郭鴻雁

In the boundless universe，all things that we see have their own unique colors，and colors make our world beautiful and colorful.As a part of a language，color words play a significant role in a culture，which means color words and their culture are inseparable.According to a study by anthropologists Berlin and Kay，“all languages have terminology for black and white，and if a language has the third color term，universally it is for red”（Hale，3）.And in basic color words，red is a typical example and both foreign experts and domestic experts have done a lot of research.

There are many symbolic meanings on color red in Chinese.And this paper expounds deeper meaning of red in Chinese so that we can better understand the meaning of red in Chinese and acquire traditional Chinese cultural.

Concrete meaning of red in Chinese

In Chinese，red has many commendatory meanings.First of all，red is a symbol of festival and vitality.In the Spring Festival，people often hang red lanterns in front of the door and affix to the window paper-cuts，and the elder give the younger generations New Years money which is called as-red envelop.Secondly，red is also the symbol of authority and dignity.Before the 11th century，in the Zhou Dynasty，palace buildings were generally decorated with red color.Thirdly，red is also the symbol of beauty and health.There are numerous words with red which in Chinese called “Hong” to describe people.“Hong” is often related with woman，such as“Hong Zhuang” （red makeup） means “gay feminine attire”（338）.Lastly，red still is the symbol of loyalty and revolution.In ancient China，Guan Gong who is a brave general in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms that has a red face which means loyal，honest and frank person.

Although commendatory meaning of red is numerous，the meaning of red also has derogatory sense.

In Chinese，red is the symbol of danger.For instance，“red alter” means an urgent warning of imminent danger.And red also is the symbol of anger.In Chinese，“Lian Hong Bo Zi Cu”（red in the face）means ones face turns crimson with anger. Red is still the symbol of eroticism.In ancient time，there is an idiom in Chinese called “Hong Xing Chu Qiang”（there was a red plum tree）to describe those women who were unfaithful to their husband.From examples we can see that red is mainstream color in Chinese and derogatory connotations is indeed less than commentary connotations.

Conclusion

In Chinese，the color red is mainly regarded as a positive meaning color word due to worship of fire and sun from ancient time，which our ancestors thought sun is the source of all creatures and nothing can survive without sun.And then after vested interests usage of red made red represents happy and prosperous，and people feel more and more favor for red.

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