What does yellow mean?

Yellow means brightness and wealth, and represents distinctive personality and heavy wealth.

Yellow is one of the five colors in China traditional culture, and it is the "color of emperors". This reflects the ancient worship of the land god, which originated from the ancient theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements. "The neutral color of yellow, the nature of nature, is not easy in the world." (Yi Tong, the white tiger of Bangu); "Tongdian" notes: "Yellow people are beautiful in color, and the imperial city Tiande is the most prosperous and beautiful, so it also respects color." Yellow is the natural color of the earth, and it is never easy. This color represents the beauty of "natural virtue", that is, the beauty of "neutralization", so it becomes the color of inferiority. "Wu Dechu, Tang Gaozu, used the Sui system, and the emperor often wore yellow robes, prohibiting scholars from taking clothes, and banned yellow clothes from now on." (Song Elvis Presley "Wild Guest Series Forbidden Yellow"); "Yuan Zhang Qu": "Shu Ren must not be yellow." It can be seen that yellow is the legal color of China feudal society, symbolizing imperial power, glory and loftiness. Until now, yellow is still a symbol of ancient China.

In Chinese, the words related to "yellow" are "yellow house" (the car in which the ancient emperor rode); "Yellow List" (proclamation issued by the Emperor); "Yellow Gate" (official position for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty). Bai Juyi's Charcoal Man: "Who are the two riders? The yellow messenger has a white shirt. " The "yellow dress" here refers to the eunuchs with high taste in the court of the Tang Dynasty. Buddhism also advocates yellow, and the robes of monks and lamas are yellow. Interpretation of Interpretation of Names and Silk: "Yellow is swaying, still swaying, like the color of sunshine", so yellow symbolizes light. In modern Chinese, words such as "Huang Cancan", "Huang Chengcheng", "yellow girl" and "auspicious day in the ecliptic" all reflect the lofty position of "yellow" in the eyes of China people.

Yellow can't enjoy such courtesy in the west. In English culture, yellow often means melancholy, morbid, annoying and timid. Genghis Khan's Western Expedition and the Boxer Rebellion once frightened the white people, so he mistakenly called the yellow race the "Yellow Disaster". "yellow dog" (despicable person); "Yellow Dog Contract" (employment contract with the condition of not joining a trade union); "yello w-livered" (timid); "Yellow appearance" (gloomy and suspicious appearance); "yellow stripes" (cowardice); Yellow Back (/kloc-a popular novel in the 9th century); "yellow news" (scandal reporting style, meaning to attract readers by hook or by crook) ...

Some people may say that "yellow" is also a derogatory term in Chinese, such as "pornographic books and periodicals" and "eliminating pornography and illegal publications". Yes, but in fact, the derogatory usage of "Huang" here is the result of western influence. In traditional culture, today's so-called "yellow" is generally called "peach color", such as the word "gossip" is an example. In the feudal society ruled by imperial power, since yellow was exclusively used by emperors, it could never be associated with dirty and obscene meanings.

In the west, "yellow" is also a symbol of love. In heraldry, yellow symbolizes firmness, justice, wisdom and glory. In western art, St. Peter wears yellow. The French film The Mysterious Yellow Rose, which was released in China in 1980s, tells the story of a hero nicknamed "Yellow Rose". The "yellow book" cannot be directly translated into "yellow books and periodicals", it is a government report of some European countries such as France; "Yellow Pages" is a part of the American telephone directory, classified by industry and occupation, and often printed on yellow paper. "Yellowstone National Park" is a famous Yellowstone National Park in America.

The word "eliminate pornography and illegal publications" often appears in newspapers. The extended meaning of the word "yellow" in Modern Chinese Dictionary is "a symbol of corruption, especially pornography." In fact, the extended meaning of "yellow", which used to symbolize imperial power and majesty, was influenced by western culture, and then it was completed after a stage of convention. /kloc-In the 20th century, The New York Times published a comic column entitled "Yellow Race" to compete with new york World. Because the newspaper used yellow paper, it was ridiculed by opponents as a vulgar "scandal list", but the "yellow" here does not mean "obscenity" or "pornography", but a vulgar meaning. In English, there are other pornographic words, that is "blue", such as "yellow movies"; "Blue gag" (yellow joke) and so on.