Ancient color aristocratic order

The order of ancient colors from high to low is yellow, purple, red, green, cyan, blue and white.

Yellow is the representative color of the royal family, which has been monopolized by the royal family from Sui and Tang Dynasties to the end of Qing Dynasty, while purple and red are the colors worn by dignitaries. Most junior officials wear green, cyan and blue, while ordinary people wear white.

In ancient China society, different colors represented different identities, while identity colors represented universal ethics and hierarchy, which was insurmountable. In ancient China, the colors were yellow, purple, red, green, cyan, blue and white.

Yellow is the color representing the royal family, which is the most noble and dignified. However, from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was called the special color of the emperor, and from then on until the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, it was the representative color of the emperor. It symbolizes the color of the sun, and the emperor is the sun on the earth, representing the supreme position.

Senior officials are purple and red.

The representative colors of senior officials are purple and red. In Du Fu's poem, "The wine in Zhumen stinks, and the road has frozen bones." Only dignitaries can use the vermilion gate, but ordinary people and low-level officials can't use it.

Low-level officials generally use cyan, green, blue and other colors, while the lowest-level people basically only have the most basic white. Most ancient people can only wear linen clothes, and the true color of linen is white.