Why was the color yellow so revered in ancient China?

Changle Jushi "Why did the Chinese people honor the color yellow?" is a pseudo-question. Strictly speaking, the honoring of the color yellow revolved around the emperor, but not the folk. Yellow spring refers to the depths of the ground or funeral place, seems to use the black spring is more appropriate; yellow mouth children with obvious contempt flavor, in fact, the mouth of children did not grow teeth, said white mouth or red mouth are more reasonable; as for the yellow hair, jaundice, etc., in the yellow is also unlikely to be in the praise. Asserting that the yellow color is revered by the Chinese nation is unfounded. In quite a long time, the use of yellow in addition to the royal are prohibited, how can the people have special feelings of reverence for it? The doctrine of the five elements should also be counted in the traditional culture, but, in the doctrine of the five elements, yellow is by no means the only one. Black, red, green, white, yellow five colors, and water, fire, wood, gold, earth parallel, is a kind of rotation of the argument. In addition, there are some claims are very far-fetched, even ridiculous. For example, it is thought that Chinese people are yellow, so the yellow color is revered. In fact, the Chinese language to describe the yellow color of white skin is often associated with disease or unattractive, such as yellow skin, yellow face, etc.. While describing good skin is mostly white, white, red, etc., black may also be used to describe health. If it was the Chinese themselves who named the world's races, they would probably not use the term yellow for themselves. It makes no sense to say that the Chinese revere yellow because they are yellow. It also does not make sense to say that the Chinese people are an agricultural people and the land is the most important thing, and the earth is yellow, so they revere the color yellow. In traditional Chinese culture, the sky is higher than the earth, the emperor is called the son of heaven, not the son of earth, and the god of heaven is higher than the god of earth. The sky is blue or cyan, why not venerate this kind of color, and prefer to worship the color of the lower class of the yellow earth. And it is the positive yellow color that is honored, not the yellow of the earth. In fact, the reason why yellow is honored is very simple: it is because yellow and emperor have the same sound, which may sometimes be confused. For example, when you say you wear a yellow robe, others may hear as wearing a royal robe. Therefore, yellow is precious. Yellow is actually honored from the Sui and Tang dynasties. At that time, the emperor's robe color is set to yellow. To the Tang Emperor Gaozong explicitly ordered the yellow robe for the emperor only, the subjects are not allowed to wear. Thus, in the Five Dynasties, Guo Wei and Zhao Kuangyin usurped the throne were wearing yellow robes as a symbol of the emperor. Yellow gradually become the emperor's special color, in addition to the emperor's special reward, the subjects with the positive yellow for decoration is not allowed. The Qing dynasty Yongzheng rectify the merit minister Nian Juan Yao, listed in the crime is useful goose yellow purse, yellow baggage, and so on. Before the Tang Dynasty, yellow status is not higher than other colors. Some people cite "shangshu - pastoral oath" in the Zhou wuwang "left battle-axe, right by the white banner", emphasize the battle-axe (axe, one of the symbols of power) is yellow, to illustrate the dignity of yellow. In fact, the battle-axe may be made of copper, yellowing is normal, and it is impossible to make it a different color. How could the person who said this not consider that King Wu of Zhou also used a white ox-tail to decorate his battle flag? Yellow oxtail is the most common, prefer to choose a white, just because of its rarity. It can be seen here yellow is not at all than other colors noble meaning. In the Warring States to the early Han Dynasty was prevalent in the five elements doctrine, said Zhou is fire virtue, Qin is water virtue, Han is the earth virtue; fire water grams, earth grams of water, so Han wins Qin, Qin wins Zhou. The corresponding colors of fire, water and earth are red, black and yellow, and Han should revere yellow. The dynasties after Han should be wood virtues, and the corresponding color is green. Even according to the doctrine of the five elements, yellow is not particularly noble, just one of the five colors. In the Tang Dynasty, the colors of the official clothes (i.e., the official's regular clothes) of officials of different grades were ranked from highest to lowest according to purple, scarlet (red), green, and green. Officials were not allowed to wear yellow robes. Copper and gold color is close to yellow, yellow and therefore stained a lot of light, some of the gold or copper decorated objects with yellow in the name of the word, but this is by no means the reason why the yellow noble. I remember a joke in the late Qing Dynasty, said the Chinese revere yellow is to get foreign gold, Europe and the United States revere white because they want to get China's silver (when the Qing Dynasty defeat indemnity to silver). Jokes cannot be taken seriously. For traditional culture, we should protect and promote its essence, of course, we should also study the dregs, but we must not say that the dregs are the essence of the inheritance, which just hinder the inheritance of the essence of the inheritance and promotion. Said yellow for the noble color is the dregs, may be some people will oppose, but, to say that yellow only the emperor can use, the people use is guilty is the essence, is more unreasonable. Originally is the traditional culture of the non-essential components, hard uplifting, searching for some reasons to praise, not a reasonable way to inherit the Chinese culture. Originally a question that can be easily answered, but by some so-called scholars, under the banner of inheritance of traditional cultural heritage of the intimidating, said very complex. It seems to be profound, but on closer inspection, it doesn't make much sense, and there are many contradictions in it. One such article is attached below for reference. ****************************************************** yellow color in traditional Chinese culture in the significance of China's humanities ancestor for the "Yellow Emperor", the birthplace of Chinese culture for the "Loess Plateau", the cradle of the Chinese nation for the "Yellow River", the Yellow children's skin color for the "yellow skin", yellow color! The color yellow has been associated with traditional Chinese culture since ancient times. About 5,000 years ago, during the time of the Yellow Emperor, China revered monochromatic colors. At the end of the Spring and Autumn period, the thinker and educator Confucius, out of the maintenance of the "Zhou Rites", designated black, red, green, white and yellow as the "right color" and the "top color", and combined the five colors with benevolence, righteousness, justice, rationality, wisdom and trust, and used them in the form of "rites". After the Yellow Emperor to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the emperors according to the doctrine of "yin and yang five elements" according to the order of water, fire, wood, gold, earth, corresponding to the black, red, green, white, yellow five colors, choose the color symbols of each dynasty. Ancient Chinese people believe that the five elements are the five elements that produce the origin of all things in nature, the source of all things are so, color is no exception, and with the natural operation of the five elements of the law of nature has an inseparable relationship. They also chose the color of the dress according to the change of the natural phenomena of spring, summer, autumn and winter and the doctrine of the five elements. The emperor of the Han Dynasty believed that the Han Dynasty, after the Qin Dynasty, should be the virtue of earth. The theory of five elements also believed that earth is better than water, and earth is yellow, so the color of clothing is still yellow. Astrologers at the time also combined the doctrine of the five elements with the concept of the five directions of astrology, that yellow is earth, symbolizing the center; green is wood, symbolizing the east; red is fire, symbolizing the south; white is gold, symbolizing the west; black is water, symbolizing the north; and because the yellow color is located in the center of the five elements, is the center of the color of the neutral and the color of the color of all the colors on top of the most expensive, as a son of the emperor of the color of the dress. At that time, the prime minister wore a "gold seal and purple ribbon", that is, the golden seal and purple ribbon, it is the emperor under one person, the highest power symbol, which initially established the yellow and purple in traditional Chinese culture, an important position. Tang Dynasty, the yellow color was used in all aspects of traditional Chinese culture and art. China's three major grottoes, one of the Dunhuang Grottoes, preserved more than 10,000 pieces of precious murals, an area of more than 50,000 square meters, but the color of the murals in different periods of time is also different. Such as the Northern Wei Dynasty mainly used reddish brown with blue and black. Tang Dynasty began to use more yellow color, colorful, bright and gorgeous, becoming the most brilliant page of Dunhuang murals. Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin "Chenqiao mutiny", the generals gave him a yellow robe, on behalf of embracing the emperor as the king of a country, visible at that time the people of the yellow color of the importance of. Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing became the capital, yellow has become the royal color, the common people shall not be yellow for clothing. Nine or five" of the emperor, wearing a "yellow robe", sitting in the imperial car called "yellow house", walk the road called "yellow road", out on patrol with "yellow flag", wrapped with the official seal with yellow fabric, so the yellow stretch for the symbol of power. Only the royal relatives can live in the red walls and yellow tiles of the building, the people's buildings can only be green brick and green tile. Climbing Beijing Jingshan overlooking the Imperial Palace, a yellow glazed tile roof, the palace before and after the placement of gilt copper tanks, copper beasts and the interplay, brilliant, supreme. In fact, the original yellow for the Buddha's most commonly used color, the body of the Buddha is known as the "golden body", the temple with yellow, known as the "Golden Temple", the monk's robe and other decorative color with yellow, Buddha also gilt, lacquer gold for expensive, because yellow is considered since ancient times is the color of the sky. Traditional Chinese culture, "heaven" represents the gods at the top, the emperor can get the world, rule the world is "heaven" to grant its power. Therefore, although the emperor is the king of a country, but he is only the "son of heaven", he is not the sky, above him there is "heaven" to constrain him, that is to say, the emperor is morally constrained, the constraints of this heavenly way, that is, the divine right is higher than the king's right. He must "follow the sky to carry on the luck", that is, adhering to the will of heaven to govern the personnel, the heavenly chang, against the death of the heavenly, so that is "the way of the wise king". Yellow was used by successive emperors, also represents the divine right of kings, incomparable sacred and honorable.