Chinese Colors: Explore the Hues and Their Meanings in Chinese Culture

In Chinese, colors are a language of their own — a vibrant code of philosophy, history, and luck woven directly into the words.🧡 The truth is, you're not just learning vocabulary; you're unlocking a way of seeing the world. A single color can be a blessing, an insult, or a hint at a certain social class. You'll love how it changes the way you read everything, from ancient poetry to modern brand names, when learning Chinese. Let's dive into this vivid world.

Let's start with the basic rainbow color in Chinese

Here's something I've learned: starting with simple translations of the color of the rainbow. We are not aiming at becoming a Chinese painter, so let's start at the basics and refrain from tapping into the complicated hues from the very beginning.

Red, orange, and yellow

🔴Firstly, the most iconic one: . Yes, it means the color red. But more importantly, it means celebration, luck, revolution, and prosperity. You see it at weddings ( - Red double happiness character) and during the New Year ( - Red envelope). It’s the color of life and success, not danger.

🟠Let’s introduce a brighter note with . The word for orange, the fruit and the color, is the same. In modern contexts, carries a sense of vibrant energy, warmth, and positivity. It’s the color of sunshine and citrus, often used to represent happiness, creativity, and approachability. You’ll see it in branding and media wanting to project a friendly, lively feel.

🟡Then, . Yellow is arguably the most historically charged color. For centuries, beginning from Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was the exclusive, imperial color of the Chinese emperor.

Blue and green

🟢🔵Now, let's untangle a common Western confusion: and .

In ancient Chinese, was a vast umbrella term encompassing both what we call green, blue, and later, black as well. While modern Mandarin has distinct words for (Green) and (Blue). And consequently, has come to refer to a lighter shade of green.

Purple

🟣Then we have , a color with a rich, paradoxical heritage. Historically, was exceptionally rare and difficult to produce, making it a color associated with supreme nobility and divinity, sometimes even outranking imperial yellow in its luxury. The phrase (Purple air comes from the east) is an ancient auspicious omen, signaling the arrival of greatness.

The Chinese culture and ideas behind Chinese colors

This is my favorite part — where colors stop being visual and start being philosophical.

Chinese uses color words to describe states and situations. Take envy. In English, we might say "green with envy." Chinese makes it an active verb: (Eye-red). It doesn't mean angry; it means covetous, jealous, wanting something so badly your eyes turn red. Similarly, a bustling, lively scene is 红火 (Red-fire):

Then there’s the clear and the murky. (Gray) isn’t just a shade between black and white. It describes ambiguous, legally or morally dubious areas — a (Gray zone). You can also refer to industries in the gray area as (Gray industry):

As for (Black), it has become a color to refer to many dirty business and engagements. Gangsters are called or . On the contrary, the police and legal system are sometimes referred to as , in which case, the white color symbolizes good.

The colors and are also for funerals, symbolizing people in mourning. That's why some Chinese people dislike wearing black or white color accessories, because they think these two colors as decorations bring bad luck.

The word , is also culturally loaded. With the specific context, it can be referring to something related to porn. alone, can mean people who are working in the prostitution business.

Basically, these colors paint entire moral landscapes. They are a shorthand for complex human situations, making your language richer and more precise. If you’re the type of person who loves expressive idioms, you’ll collect these color phrases like gems.

Learn Chinese colors and their characters with Migaku

Learning the color in Chinese culture is part of the process of expanding your vocabulary and getting familiar with the meaning behind colors. The Chinese beginner course of Migaku can teach you the basic Chinese vocabulary, including the colors, and offer you more than just the knowledge of colors.

Comprehensive lessons for basic and intermediate-level Chinese learning, in a fun and engaging way. Nothing's wrong with having some fun time with language learning!

FAQs

Why not explore 国画 if you're interested in the traditional Chinese colors?

The traditional Chinese paintings, , adopts a very different color system compared to the modern one. While most of the paintings are known for their combination of white and black colors, there are famous art pieces featuring diverse colors as well, such as (Blue-green Shan Shui), as shown in the theme picture of this post. Documentaries are your best options to decode the color and the cultural depths of these art pieces!

Colors are the smiles of nature!