Red is an auspicious color that people in China like. Why is writing a letter in red ink considered as breaking up or unlucky?

In many countries and some ethnic groups, red has the function of exorcism. For example, in ancient China, the walls of many palaces and temples were red.

In the traditional culture of China, the color of fire in the five elements is red, and gossip also symbolizes red. Because red is easy to attract people's attention, many warning signs are represented by red words or images. For example, at traffic lights, red means stop. The cinnabar used by judges was also taken from here.

Red is often used to symbolize revolution and leftism in politics, and capitalist countries are used to represent capitalism.

Red is thought to stimulate the secretion of male hormones, so people wearing red clothes can get better results in sports competitions. In China, red traditionally means happiness. For example, it is used to decorate weddings and Spring Festival.

The reason why ordinary people have the psychology of "Dan Shu is ominous" is because ancient yamen used calligraphy to record prisoners' crimes, and Dan Shu became a conviction book. This practice has a long history, as mentioned in Zuo Zhuan's "Dan Shu" written in the twenty-third year of "xianggong". It reflects that criminals at that time were usually punished as official slaves, and his crimes were recorded in the book of Dan.

In addition, there is a saying among the people that when sketching the book of life and death, a red pen is also used, and those who fill in their names with a red pen will report to Yan sooner or later, which is equivalent to being sentenced to death. Therefore, people are forbidden to write with a red pen.

Although the ancients used red lead (cinnabar and lead powder) when collating words, now teachers, accountants and other special occupations also use red pen to correct them, but people still avoid using red pen to record matters directly, especially to write names. In addition, it is also meaningful to write a letter with a red pen, which means breaking up.