A contrastive study of color words in Chinese and English

Abstract:
There are different kinds of colors. Color is closely related to people’s life. In human language, the color
words are frequently used, and endowed with plentiful emotion and cultural connotation. In both Chinese
and English, the words of different colors are abundant. We should pay attention to not only their own basic
meaning but also their deeper symbolic meaning. Due to the respective cultural background and tradition,
people's feeling and expression to the color are not the same, so the symbolic meaning of color can produce
great difference between Chinese and Western culture. This paper is to make a contrastive study of some
major difference in color words.

Key words: color words , culture , western , Chinese

摘要：在我们生活中有许多种颜色。颜色与人们的生活紧紧联系在一起。在人类语言里颜色词经常用到
，并且被赋予不同的情感和文化象征。在中文和英文
中不同的颜色词很丰富。我们不仅要注意他们的基本含义还要注意他们深层含义。由于各自的文化背景
和传统，人们对颜色的感觉是不相同的，所以颜色词的象征意
义可以产生中国与西方文化的巨大差异。这篇论文对比研究颜色词的主要差异。

关键词：颜色词 , 文化 , 西方 , 中国

1 The definition of color

From the scientific definition, color is a visual phenomenon launched, reflected or caused through certain
light wave by the object; it is one kind of visual essential features of human eye.
2 Basic color words in the Chinese and English culture
Color words in each nation’s language differ from one anther in the world. On the basic color words, there is
not so much difference in English and in Chinese. In Chinese, there are 赤、橙、黄、绿、青、蓝、紫，while in
English there are red, white, black, green, yellow, blue and purple. Owing to the different historic cultural
background of the two cultures, the same color words have different symbolic meanings.
2.1Red
Red in the Chinese culture is a basic esteem color. In the Chinese's mind, it signifies excitement and
succeeding, lucky, loyal and flourishing. In Chinese traditional wedding, people put up the character 喜, the
bride is dressed in red, the bridegroom wears a red flower on his breast. On happy days, people decorate
their houses with red lanterns and doublets. 红火 means prosperous, 红尘 means the world of mortal, 红包
is a red envelop containing money as a gift, tip or bonus. We say someone 走红 when he has his good lot,
and 红人 means the one who is trusted unduly by his superiors. In Chinese, red has the most pronounced
political color, and is frequently used to stand for revolution and progress. The first regime of the Communist
Party is 红色政权, and the first armed forces is 红军.And 红卫兵 the red guard, 红色根据地 the red base
area. Besides, 红烛 the red candle stands for dedication. Red also means beautiful and pretty. A lady’s
splendid dress is called 红妆 , a beautiful young woman is 红袖 or 红颜.
Red in the western culture mainly refers to color of blood, and in minds of the westerner, blood is the “liquid
of the life”. So the westerners always associate red with the violence and dangerous, for example red hands,
red revenge, and a red battle. It also stands for radical and violent, such as r
ed revolution, red activities, red-headed; like a red rag to a bull means likely to cause strong violence. It also
stands for dangerous and tense, such as red alert, a red flag. Red in the west also has commendatory
meaning, which is joyous, such as paint the town red means "go out and enjoy a lively, boisterous time in
bars or night-clubs", a red-letter day means “a day that is important or remarkable because something
happen on it”, and the red carpet is specially good or respectful treatment that is given to an important
guest. In accordance with some textual research, the commendatory meanings are from the Far East.
2.2 White
White, opposite to red, is a basic taboo color in Chinese traditional culture. It is the expression of exhausted
and non-blooded, non-life, and stands for death and ill omen. For example, when one died his family
members must dress in white, and hold a funeral and this is called 白事. In Chinese feudal society, the
common people were forbidden to dress in any other colors except white, so they were called 白衣 or 布衣.
The persons with no position are 白丁 or 白身⑴(p22), their houses are 白屋.
White in the western culture is usually an esteem color. White is considered pure. White is the traditional
color for the brides at weddings, and to wear white at funerals would be offensive. As white is the color of
the snow, so there is a white Christmas and a white winter. Lily white means as white and pure as lily. White
stands for honest and upright, such as a white spirit, white man, and white hand. White also stands for lucky,
such as one of the white days in somebody’s life, white magic, and white hope is a person who is expected to
bring success to a team. White stands for legal and non-malice, such as white market, white list.
Besides, white also has derogatory meanings; show the white feather means act in a cowardly way, the same
as white lipped, a face white with fear, as white as a sheet. White flag symbolizes giving up on something.
2.3Black
In Chinese traditional culture, black and white both belong to the Five Colors. In Chinese funeral, people
usually wear a black armband to show their mourns to the death relative. On one hand, black stands for
solemn and just, such as Baozheng ; On the other hand, it stands for evil and reactionary, like 黑心肠 ,
黑幕,黑帮,黑手. Black also stands for illegal and commit such as走黑道,黑店 is the hotel the does illegal
deals,背黑锅 means be treated unjustly. Besides, black means misfortune, such as
黑材料，黑五类，黑夫妻，黑后台 and so on.
In the west, black is a taboo color, which stands for darkness. It means death and sinister, such as Black Mass,
to wear black for her mother, black words, a black letter day, Black Friday. Black symbolizes wicked and
guilty, for example, black man, a black deed, black guard, Black-hand, black-hearted. And it means disgrace,
such as a black mark; a black eye ,A black sheep. And black means dejected and resent: black dog, black
future, a black look, and black thoughts.
Although
black means dead and evil, it also stands for solemn and dignified. Black suit is the westerner’s favorite
traditional dress. In solemn occasions, the officials and celebrities would prefer to dress in black.
2.4Yellow
In Chinese traditional culture, yellow is located in the center of the Five Colors. So far, yellow is still the
symbol of old China.黄袍 is the emperor’s dress,黄屋 is his carriage,黄钺is his guard of honor, 黄榜 is the
proclamation published by him. And 黄道吉日 means an auspicious day.However, yellow in modern China
has negative meanings, such as 黄色书刊，黄色录象.Here yellow has an extended meaning of obscene and
pornographic, while in English are “the blue video”, “the blue talk”.
Yellow in the west mostly has derogatory meanings. Here are some examples: yellow alert: alert in advance
a yellow dog: a contemptible person yellow looks: suspicious looks
yellow streak: tending to be coward and chicken-hearted
In English, yellow has some particular meanings in certain texts that have no relationship with sentiment. For
example, the yellow pages is the telephone dictionary, yellow boy is the golden coins.
2.5Green
In the Chinese traditional culture, Green ranks the first in the Five Colors, signifying everything grows. In the
feudal society, the dress of the government official on a lower level was regularized to be green, so it also
symbolizes humble. 青衫绿袍 is a symbol of low position in the official caree.
In English there is a term green-eyed or green with envy, both of them mean jealous and envious. However in
Chinese眼红describes the same meaning. In Chinese 带绿帽子means to be a cuckold. If we translate it word
by word, misunderstanding will arise.
No matter in English or Chinese, this symbolic meaning of green is all identical. Green in the western culture
is mainly related to the color of the plants, it is the symbol of vigor and energy, for example, a green old age
is associated with an old but vigorous man or woman. And to remain green forever means to keep fresh and
vigorous forever, and also in the green; green also means fresh, such as keep a memory green, a green
wound, green meat; and it means immature, inexperienced and easily fooled, such as a green hand, a green
horn refers to a raw, simple and inexperienced person, easily fooled or parted from his money. In some
certain phrases, green has different meanings. For example, green-light means give permission to go ahead
with.
2.6Purple
In China, purple is more often adopted by the feudal emperors and the Taoism. They called the auspicious air
紫气, the Taoist books are 紫书, the place which the deity living in is 紫台, the emperors’ palace is
紫禁城(the Forbidden City).
In English, purple shares the same connotation as in Chinese language. In the eye of Westerners, purple is the
symbol of emperor and power. “to be born in the purple” means “to be born in a royal family”; “to be raised
to the purple” means “to be promot
ed to the position as a pope”; “purple passages” means “too florid words”, etc. In Chinese, 红得发紫means
popular.
Here is more:
marry into the purple: marry into a family of high social position
purple patches:pompous passages
turn purple with rage: fly into a fury
Purple Heart: an insignia awarded to those wounded in the battle
2.7 Blue
It seems that blue is a favorable word to Chinese.The blue sky, can arouse us to yearn for a better future.
In Western culture, however, blue does not associate with happiness and imagination, but gloom and
depression. He is in a blue mood means he is sad or gloomy.
Blue is also often associated with high social status or being aristocratic. He is a real blue blood means he is
from an aristocratic family. In addition, in U.S., a book with the names of famous figures, especially top
government officials, is called blue book. Blue film means erotic film while in Chinese we call it
黄色电影。Here are more examples:
blue about the gills: in depression blue devils: depression and gloom
once in a blue moon: not very often at all.
blue in the face: look pasty blue murder: horrible screaming and shouts
sing the blues: in low spirits; very depressed
out of the blue: happening in a way that is sudden and unexpected
3Conclusion
A language can reflect the development of a nation’s history and culture. The symbolic meanings of color
words have great distinction in different cultures. They are shaped in the long-term development of the
society.
The colors bring us a wonderful and splendid world, and color words make it easier to express our thought,
make our expression more apt and vivid. Correctly understanding colors and their deeper symbolic meaning
will be a great help for people in different cultures to communicate.

References:
[1] 《英汉语言文化对比研究》 李瑞华主编 上海外语教育出版社 1997.3
[2] Gu Jiazu , Lu Sheng, Language and culture ,Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1990.6.
[3]Chinese and English Dictionary, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,1992.2.
[4]Advanced Learner’s English Chinese Dictionary，Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2004.5.