Preface to China Traditional Color Picture Books

Chinese traditional color culture is an important part of China traditional culture. The Chinese nation is one of the earliest nations in the world who know how to use colors. It has long established the color structure, with yellow, cyan, red, black and white as the positive colors, which are associated with the earth, wood, fire, water and gold in the five elements, blending China people's thoughts on the natural universe, ethics and philosophy into the colors, and forming China's unique color culture. Chinese traditional colors are the reflection of politics, economy, social life, folk customs, ideas and aesthetic tastes in various periods, with rich connotations and extremely wide application scope. China's architecture, clothing, painting, sculpture, porcelain, lacquerware, paper-cutting and other aspects of traditional culture are inseparable from color decoration. This book arranges and collects Chinese traditional colors in the form of illustrations, expounds the generation, characteristics, applications and cultural connotations of various colors, systematically and comprehensively displays Chinese traditional color culture, and facilitates readers to intuitively understand Chinese traditional color knowledge and feel the beauty of traditional colors.