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Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor Statue. (Image source: Public domain CC BY 4.0)
The ancestor of China’s humanities is “Yellow Emperor“,ChinaThe birthplace of culture is “loess plateau“, the cradle of the Chinese nation is “Yellow River“,Descendants of Yan and HuangThe skin color is “yellow skin”, and yellow has been associated with China since ancient times.traditional cultureThere is an indissoluble bond.
During the Huangdi period around 5,000 BC, China advocated monochrome. Confucius, a thinker and educator in the late Spring and Autumn Period, defined black, red, green, white, and yellow as “right colors” and “higher colors” out of the maintenance of “Zhou Rites”, and associated the five colors with benevolence, righteousness, reason, and wisdom. , combined with letter, used in the form of “ritual”. From the time of the Yellow Emperor to the Qin and Han Dynasties, emperors chose the color symbols of each dynasty based on the theory of “Yin Yang and Five Elements” in the order of water, fire, wood, metal, and earth, corresponding to the five colors of black, red, green, white, and yellow.
The Theory of the End and Beginning of the Five Virtues. (Image source: ADOBE STOCK looks at China Synthesis)
The ancient Chinese believed that the Five Elements are the five elements that produce the origin of all things in nature. This is the source of everything, including color. It is inseparable from the Five Elements Law of the natural movement of heaven. They also choose the color of their clothing based on the changes in nature in spring, summer, autumn and winter and the theory of the Five Elements.
The emperors of the Han Dynasty believed that after the Han Dynasty succeeded the Qin Dynasty, it should be a country of virtue. The Five Elements Theory also believes that earth is better than water, and earth is yellow, so the color of clothes is still yellow. Astrologers at that time also combined the Five Elements theory with the five-party concept of astrology, believing that yellow is earth, symbolizing the center; cyan is wood, symbolizing the east; red is fire, symbolizing the south; white is gold, symbolizing the west; and black is the west. Water symbolizes the north; and because yellow is located in the center of the five elements, it is the color of neutrality, ranking above all other colors, and is the most noble, so it is designated as the color of the emperor’s clothes. At that time, the prime minister wore a “gold seal and purple ribbon”, which was a golden seal and a purple seal ribbon. It was the highest symbol of power under the emperor and over ten thousand people. This initially established the role of yellow and purple in Chinese tradition. the most important position in culture.
In the Tang Dynasty, yellow was used in all aspects of traditional Chinese culture and art. The Dunhuang Grottoes, one of the three largest grottoes in China, contain more than 10,000 precious murals covering an area of more than 50,000 square meters. However, the colors of the murals in different periods are also different. For example, in the Northern Wei Dynasty, reddish brown was mainly used, combined with blue and black. In the Tang Dynasty, yellow began to be used more often, which was colorful, bright and gorgeous, and became the most glorious page in Dunhuang murals.
During Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin’s “Chenqiao Mutiny”, the generals put a yellow robe on him, which represented his support as emperor and the king of a country. This shows that the people at that time valued yellow.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beijing became the capital, and yellow became the exclusive color of the royal family. Common people were not allowed to wear yellow as clothing. The emperor, the “Nine Five Emperors”, wears a “yellow robe”, the royal chariot he rides in is called the “Yellow House”, the road he walks is called the “Yellow Path”, he uses a “yellow flag” when going on patrol, and he uses yellow fabric to wrap his official seal. Only the royal family and relatives can live in buildings with red walls and yellow tiles, while the buildings of the common people can only be built with blue bricks and blue tiles. Climb up Jingshan Mountain in Beijing and overlook the Forbidden City. You will see a yellow glazed tile roof, large gilt copper jars and bronze beasts placed in front and behind the palace, complementing them. It is extremely brilliant and supreme.
In fact, yellow was originally the most commonly used color in Buddhism. The Buddha’s body was called the “golden body”, and the temples used yellow, which was called the “golden temple”. Gold is precious because yellow has been considered the color of heaven since ancient times. “Heaven” in traditional Chinese culture represents the high-level gods. The reason why the emperor can conquer and govern the world is the power granted to him by “Heaven”.
Therefore, although the emperor is the king of a country, he is only the “Son of Heaven”. He is not heaven. There is “heaven” above him to restrain him. In other words, the emperor has moral restraints. This kind of restraint from heaven is Divine authority is higher than royal authority. He must “carry the fate of heaven”, that is, he must govern human affairs in accordance with the will of heaven. Those who obey heaven will prosper, and those who go against heaven will perish. This is how he can be a “righteous king”. Yellow has been used by emperors throughout the ages, and it also represents the divine right of kings, which is extremely sacred and noble.
Editor: Wen Li Source: Look at China
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