A Colorful World
The world becomes lively because it is decorated with a myriad of colors. In either the countryside of blossoms amid lush green vegetation of nature or cities with metropolis buildings of attractive styles and forms, we are always surrounded by a world of colors. According to scientists, colors are merely impacts of lights of varying waves on the human visual nerves. But to mankind, colors are not just physical phenomena. Thery are meaning of emotional expressions, for they convey values,ideas and aspirations. In the long human history, colors have attained profound cultural connotations that transcend their natural attributes.
Black China
Black, the color of night, represents mystery, profundity, gravity and solemnity. Black is a color of no color, no light. It is scemingly monotonous and dull. Yet, there is no lack of interest in a world of darkness. The black pottery fired in ancient Chinese kilns is literarily jesels of plainness and elegance. The Chinese ink-brush prodeces flowing black strokes of Chinese caligraphy and traditional paintings that bring out vivid perspectives with varying degress of black and gray, a proof of the high persition of the color of black in traditional Chinese culture. In their pragmatic daily life, the Chinese love gray bricks and black tiles to spell out profound symbols in their time-honored house construction.
White China
White, the reflection of all visible colors on an object, is recognized universally as a color of purity and brightness. The color of white has attained its profound cultural connotations with the passage of time over the centuries. The pure Xuan paper, translucent jade, beautiful white porcelain-all of them have left their lasting impressions of white on the traditional Chinese culture. Out of religious belief or folk customs, white is the color upheld by many ethnic minorites such as Tibetan, Hui, Mongolian and Bai. These ethnic nationalities ragard white as the embodiment of justice, loftiness and auspiciousness.
The Way of Black and White
Black and white, the two extremes on the spectrum, are deemed the ultimate abstraction of colors. Any color may approach either of the two extremes on the rise or fall in brightness. Black and white are opposites in unity, reaching the ultimatic destination from different routes, which happens to comform to the world outlook of the ancient Chinese. The Chinese knew colors early.But Lao Zi (circa 571-471 BC), the founder of Taoism, however, says:"The five colors blind people." The sage adds:"Humans follow the Earth, the Earth follows the Heaven, the Heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows Nature."
Gray China
Gray, a traditional color of varying degrees between black and white, is more concealed, subtle, blurred, and low-keyed than black. It is also more flexible, potentially more powerful and tenacious than black. The Chinese people are best knowledgeable with gray, which has virtually stemmed from the color of tiles and bricks of traditional Chinese buildings.
Blue China
The sky where birds fly is blue and the sea where ships swim is blue. The sky and the sea are so far and wide that they all look blue and profound. Blue is a color of vastness and profundity. In the traditional Chinese culture, however, blue is a color without much obvious connotation. Yet that background has not prevented the color of blue to exert its particular charm on the ancient soil of China.
Green China
Green as the basic color of Nature represents life, signifies health, and symbolizes peace. In the sober color of green, people inhale into their innermost the freshness of air and enjoy peace of mind. Green being a favorite color to the Chinese people has much to do with the unique Chinese belief in the unity of Nature and humanity. The three major idologies in China. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, all emphasize the impprtance of integration of man withthe Heaven and Earth and the pursuit of harmony and unity between humankind and Nature.
Yellow China
Yellow, the color of autumn leaves and ripe grain crops, is the most brilliant color of Nature, a color that sigifies maturity and harvest. In the Chinese version of Genesis, the God of Heaven created the ancestors of the Chinese nation with yellow clay. Dwelling on the Yellow River and on the Yellow Earth known as loess and propagating there, the Chinese people have formed an indissoluble bond with the color of yellow.
Red China
Of all colors, red is mostly lively and buoyant. Red, the color of fire and the sun, is the color of vigor and excitement. Red is the symbol of China and red is the prettiest color in the minds of the Chinese people. Even the ancient time, the lives of the Chinese people have been filled with all sorts of red themes, ranging from the red decoration on all occasions of celebrations, the large red lanterns conveying a sense of peace and happiness, red walls signifying power and dignity, to the expression of people's emotions and thinking in color of red.
 
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