Cyan is the color of spring. Whether it is "the moss marks are green on the upper steps, and the grass color is green in the curtain", or "the willows on the edge of the city are curled up, and the green mulberry is unfamiliar", or "Weicheng is facing the rain and the dust is light, and the guest house is green and the willow color is new", it describes this pleasing color in spring for us.
Because of this, in the traditional culture of China, cyan is "the color of everything". Among hundreds of traditional China colors, cyan has a special meaning for Chinese people. Tracing back to China people’s special liking for "turquoise" color, there is actually a track of the change of cyan culture meaning, which tells us that cyan may be the color code to interpret Chinese traditional culture.
-editor
Blue porcelain lotus bird lamp in Longquan kiln of Southern Song Dynasty
Cyan is the color symbol of China culture.
China’s folk aesthetic taste usually revolves around the core of "Happiness and Happiness". Folk culture attaches great importance to bright colors such as red, gold and green, especially likes colorful colors, and pursues auspiciousness, jubilation and peace. For example, Yangliuqing New Year pictures reflect this kind of folk aesthetic taste. This kind of aesthetics contains a good wish for secular life. But cyan is very different. It covers a wide range in chromatography, and the main part belongs to the physical property of cool color, giving people a quiet and indifferent psychological feeling, which is more regarded as a reflection of the spiritual level. It can be said that cyan contains the thoughts and feelings of China literati.
China’s cyan absorbs all kinds of environmental elements, and constantly changes its meaning. It is a special color that can arouse people’s association with the characteristics of Chinese civilization: it reflects the inclusive national characteristics, refracts China’s philosophy with Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism as the mainstream, and shows the implicit, tenacious and unobtrusive national character. She can show a broad aesthetic scale from simple to gorgeous, and can also trigger a visual feeling from light to calm, because she is not a single color, but a mixed color, sometimes with bright yellow, sometimes with warm red, sometimes with green, sometimes with blue, sometimes with purple, and sometimes with dark cyan.
The application of cyan in China has a history of more than 2,000 years. In China, people have a blue shadow in all aspects of national governance, production and life, religious opinions, artistic creation and spiritual pursuit. When we study cyan, we should not only study the chromatographic composition of cyan and the source of painting pigments, but also combine sociology, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, politics, economy, religion and art to explore comprehensively. The more you explore, the more profound the implication of cyan culture can be found. Therefore, it may be boldly speculated that cyan is an important color code to interpret Chinese traditional culture.
There are similarities and significant differences between colors in scientific sense and colors in cultural sense. The color in the cultural sense is more complex and the direction is more vague. When color is printed with traces of social and cultural patterns and endowed with unique thoughts and feelings of human beings, it becomes a cultural symbol.
After human beings form an intuitive color perception of objects, this color will have a psychological significance, which is very personalized and closely related to the viewer’s own experience, environment and culture. Niu Xiji, a poet in the Five Dynasties, said, "Remember the green dress and pity the grass everywhere." Because the author’s love object is a girl wearing a green dress, the two of them are just around the corner, and the lovers have repeatedly urged her to think of the grass color from the green dress and the green dress from the grass color. It’s endless, so don’t forget each other. This association about green is caused by the author’s personal experience. For others, green can’t be associated with a green dress. At this time, green is not a symbol. However, among the "red light stops and green light goes", red and green are used on traffic lights, which represents the universal meaning and becomes symbols. Therefore, this layer of semantics of color symbols must be associated by individuals, and then developed into a well-known social concept after grouping and recognition, and then a color culture that can be widely spread can be formed.
It is in the long historical changes that cyan has gradually become a symbol. The meaning of this symbol is constantly changing, and as time goes on, it moves from one consensus to another. Cyan has a vibrant masculine color from the initial symbol of the sky, the east, vegetation and spring, to the color of the queen’s spring sacrifice dress and wedding dress, and then to the color of the common people and the color of Buddhism and Taoism; In the drama, she became a traditional woman with traditional virtues but bumpy fate. In the eyes of Taoism, it has become a symbol of simplicity, and the change of cyan culture implication itself is a part of the history of Chinese cultural changes.
Part of the masterpiece of the Northern Song Dynasty turquoise landscape painting "Jiangshan Autumn Color Map Volume" collected by the Palace Museum.
China’s philosophical thought has made the implication of cyan culture unique.
China’s philosophical thought endows cyan with more meanings-cyan can reflect the noble feelings of the gentry, the Confucian rule of etiquette and the gentleman’s self-cultivation, the Buddhism’s understanding, the Taoism’s simplicity, and the metaphysical’s free and easy nature. It is beyond the worldly pursuit. Conversely, the influence of cyan on China people’s aesthetic taste is also immersion, which reflects China people’s deeper thinking about the spiritual world.
The process of incorporating cyan into official uniforms is influenced by Confucianism.
Confucius said, "Evil purple takes away Zhu, and evil Zheng Sheng’s chaos makes you happy." This is the most intense judgment on color made by the primitive Confucianism, and these judgments are all carried out under the framework of ceremony. A clear example of the concept of ritual color is the hierarchical differentiation reflected by the color of clothing. Among them, the process of cyan being incorporated into official uniforms is a process influenced by Confucianism. The regulation of the color style of official uniforms is the concrete embodiment of Confucian etiquette thought.
Influenced by the concept of etiquette color, Confucianism first determined the rank within the ruling class, and one of the important tasks was to make a fuss about official clothes, making color one of the key elements to distinguish ranks.
In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, "color-tasting clothes" appeared. In the Sui Dynasty, the colors of official clothes were red and cyan, and black, white and Huang San were no longer used, because black and white had become the colors of sacrificial clothes. After the Sui Dynasty, the colors of official uniforms were basically purple, scarlet, cyan and green, and cyan and green became the official uniforms of officials in lower positions.
Under the guidance of Confucianism, after the color grade of official uniforms was determined, although the color changed all the time, the practice that cyan was fixed as a color in the sequence of official uniforms lasted for more than 1000 years. Until the Qing Dynasty, cyan dominated other colors and officially became the color of all official uniforms, and the size of official ranks and civil and military positions were distinguished by patch patterns.
Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties guided the aesthetic interest of celadon art.
Taoism took advantage of the collapse of the Han Empire and the crisis of the literati’s belief in Confucianism, which finally contributed to metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties. For a long time, metaphysics occupied the ideological position of the gentry. Metaphysics thought has played an important guiding role in China people’s artistic aesthetics.
The manufacture and use of celadon in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was the first peak of celadon art in the history of China, which formed an aesthetic tendency of "green, beautiful, spiritual and handsome" for celadon. The aesthetic thought of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties has an important influence on the modeling of celadon.
The origin of azure porcelain is very early, which can be traced back to Shang Dynasty. During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, craftsmen built kilns with superb skills, the temperature in the kilns could reach 1200 degrees, and they knew how to add plant ash to the raw materials, which made the pottery have a blue glaze on the outside and became the original celadon.
The original firing level of celadon was not high, and during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, celadon had accumulated rich experience in the composition ratio of glaze raw materials and firing methods. Celadon became thin and transparent in glaze, with delicate and moist fetal quality, and its shape changed. The aesthetic thought of metaphysics in Wei and Jin dynasties is different from the aesthetic temperament of Qin and Han dynasties, but pursues natural beauty, purity and refinement, and pays attention to appreciation and pursuit of inner charm.
In their own temperament, the scholar-officials pursue elegant character, free and chic, elegant and strange temperament, hoping to convey their unconventional elegance, which also affects the "celadon" as a daily appliance.
In the aesthetic pursuit of literati in Wei and Jin Dynasties, "youth, beauty, spirit and beauty" are the ultimate pursuit of celadon. The light and elegant glaze color of celadon just meets the aesthetic standards of literati, that is, "natural beauty is the highest and ornate carving is the lowest".
The Wei-Jin fashion of drinking with Yue kiln celadon was also passed down. This romantic style in Wei and Jin Dynasties can also be verified by the poetry works of the literati in the Tang Dynasty, such as Lu Guimeng’s "The Secret Color Yueqi": "The autumn wind in September opened the kiln and won the green color of Qianfeng. I’m so happy to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I’ll share my cup with you. " It can be seen that in the Tang Dynasty, it was still the fashion for literati to drink with Yue kiln porcelain.
Buddhism and Taoism inject new meaning into cyan clothing and utensils.
After the Ming Dynasty, the color of Taoist uniforms became cyan. Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor, personally participated in the formulation of the clothing system in the Ming Dynasty, from the emperor’s nobles to the common people, monks and prostitutes. All the clothing was decided by Mao, and he was ordered to restore the clothing system like the Tang Dynasty, trying to overthrow the Hu customs of the Yuan Dynasty and restore the old appearance of China. In Volume XI of the Ming Dynasty Canon and History of the Ming Dynasty, the provisions on Taoist costumes are recorded: "Taoist priests always wear green clothes; French clothes and Korean clothes are all red; The Taoist official is the same. " That is, it is stipulated that the Taoist priest’s uniform needs to be cyan, so it is often said that "Tsing Yi Taoist priest" later.
The localized Buddhist thought is influenced by the Taoist culture in China, which in turn gives another meaning to cyan objects. In the decoration of celadon, there have been patterns such as Buddha statue, flying sky and lotus flower since the late Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, especially the lotus flower pattern, which reflects the extensive use of Buddhist symbols. For example, the "Lotus Zun" porcelain unearthed from the Liang Dynasty Tomb in Linshan, Nanjing has a solemn shape, with seven layers of lotus petals from top to bottom, just like a blooming violet, which reflects the important influence of Buddhism on celadon art. From the artifacts, it can be seen that cyan has been infiltrated by Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties for a long time, and has begun to represent the metaphysical pursuit. For example, it embodies the courtesy of Confucianism, the cultivation of gentlemen, the emptiness of Buddhism, the nature of Taoism, and the free and easy of metaphysics.
Buddhism and Taoism have also made great contributions to the Chinese vocabulary of Qing characters, leaving a large number of words with special meanings, such as Qing Niu, Qing Luan, Qing Cheng, Qing Deng, Qing Yan and Qing Lian.
Part of Wang Ximeng’s "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" in Northern Song Dynasty
Chinese vocabulary reflects the changing track of cyan meaning.
Cyan, which is composed of words of cyan, no longer represents the original color meaning of the word, but is deeply embedded in Chinese culture, which has a subtle influence on the cultural meaning of cyan.
"Tsing Yi", from Tianzi’s fine clothes to the bottom dress.
The mention of "Tsing Yi" always gives people a sense of solemnity, calmness, mystery, lowliness and suffering. In the role of Peking Opera, Tsing Yi is a "bitter COP", who dares to love and hate generally and resolutely fights against fate.
In fact, the original meaning of Tsing Yi has nothing to do with humble suffering. The word "Tsing Yi" appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but it is not the meaning we commonly use now. In the Book of Rites and the Moon Order more than 2,000 years ago, it was clearly recorded that there were three times of "Tsing Yi", such as "The Moon of Meng Chun, the sun was in the camp. ….. The son of heaven lives in the left of Qingyang, taking Luan Road, driving black dragon, carrying the green flag, wearing Tsing Yi and serving Cang Yu. " "Tsing Yi" is the dress of the son of heaven in spring. The Book of Rites records that the five colors correspond to the five elements, and they wear different colors in different seasons. Tianzi wears Tsing Yi in spring, Zhu Yi in summer, white in autumn and black in winter.
And baiguan can only wear tsing yi when the emperor gives him a gift. For example, the Book of Rites in the History of the East View records that "on the day when Emperor Zhang was lucky and worried about beginning of spring, all the officials in Kyoto were dressed in Tsing Yi, and all the history was served by Qing Yi." It means following the day when the son of heaven beginning of spring traveled, and officials can wear Tsing Yi.
With the changes of the times, the status of the wearer in Tsing Yi has also begun to change. From the emperor’s spring clothes, sacred and solemn sacrificial clothes, to the court clothes, low-grade official clothes, and then to the clothes colors of scholars and people, it has undergone a major change.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tsing Yi had already referred to the lower-ranking figures. Cai Yong wrote a famous poem "Qing Yi Fu", which described a woman with outstanding appearance, virtuous and dignified like a meticulous painting, and entrusted her love for a maid from humble origins in Qing Yi. Fu wrote her appearance "looking forward to Qian Shuli, white teeth and moths." The mysterious light is moist, and the collar is like a clam. Vertical and horizontal hair extension, leaves such as low sunflower. Slender Ran Ran, it is amazing. " It’s absolutely beautiful. Then write about her dress, "Yi Sleeve Dan Dress, Creeping on the Silk Leaf", which shows that although she is called "Tsing Yi", she is wearing a red dress-Yi Sleeve Dan Dress. This shows that the word "Tsing Yi" refers to her status. Cai Yong praised her elegant manners, and concluded that she was "a good wife and a good teacher". However, the author can’t develop this relationship, because this woman’s identity is really humble.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the court stipulated that the colors worn by the people were green, blue and white. The evidence can be seen in the "Yuan Jian Lei Han" that "the foot soldiers are not green, blue and white; There is no green, blue or white in the color of the handmaid. " During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao wrote in "A Letter with Taiwei Yang Biao": "There are two people who care about Tsing Yi, and they are always around." Tsing Yi here refers to serving the left and right handmaids.
The reason why blue clothes are often worn by the lower class people lies in their cheapness. At that time, among the plant dyes used to dye cloth, cyan was the most easily available. Because a plant dyed green "blue grass" is suitable for both southern and northern growth, it is easy to collect. Using "blue grass" to dye cloth clothes is easy to color and low in cost. The so-called "shine on you is better than blue" refers to the fabric dyed with this "blue grass".
In the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the emergence of new drama forms such as Yuan Zaju, Huangmei Opera and Peking Opera, "Tsing Yi" began to be synonymous with the role of Zhengdan in traditional Chinese opera, and gradually became a proper noun. In China’s classical operas, Tsing Yi is one of the traditional operas. The southern operas are called Zhengdan and the northern operas are called Tsing Yi.
Typical Tsing Yi has Yu Ji in Farewell My Concubine, Qin Xianglian in My Fair Case and Wang Baochuan in Wujiapo. In these plays, the women are all unlucky, but they dare to fight and decide their own destiny. All these Tsing Yi women have the traditional virtues of China women and have a great spirit of sacrifice. The virtues of these women are recognized and appreciated by the patriarchal society. Tsing Yi, therefore, has a solemn image of justice.
Look, on the stage of drama, it’s amazing that one color can define the basic fate of a character. It has become an important factor of drama performance to highlight the characteristics of the role with the color of clothing. Among them, cyan is an important color symbol with typical symbolic significance.
Although the cyan of Tianzi’s spring suit is not necessarily the same color as the cyan of the maid or the Dan Jiao, they are all called Tsing Yi, because cyan is a mixed color. The cultural implication of cyan has indeed changed dramatically because of the change of the object referred to by the word Tsing Yi.
The Tsing Yi role played by Peking Opera actor Zhang Huoding.
"Hair", from silk thread or rope to female hair.
"Blue hair and white hair" describes the fleeting youth. However, "moss" originally refers to rope, not hair.
The earliest poem with "moss" should be Yuefu poem. There are "moss as a cage, cassia twig as a cage hook" in Yuefu Poetry Collection, and "Jiao Zhongqing’s wife" in Yuefu Poetry Collection, there are "sixty or seventy box curtains, green green moss ropes" and "three million yuan, all of which are worn with moss". The "blue hair" in these two places is not the black hair we refer to now, but the blue silk thread or rope.
In the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties, "green silk" once referred to the reins of horses. In many poets’ works, the expression of "moss" refers to the bridle of a horse. For example, the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu’s poem "Going Out to the Front" contains "Take off the bridle and pick the moss in your hand", among which the "moss" in the rider’s hand is the bridle. Li Bai, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in the Yuefu poem "Mo Shang Sang": "The beauty is Wei Qiaodong, and the silkworm is still working in spring. Five Ma Rufei dragons, green silk tied with gold. " The "hair" here also refers to the bridle, not the hair of a beautiful woman.
Since the Tang Dynasty, "Qingsi" has been famous all over the world with Li Bai’s wonderful pen as a metaphor for black hair. China literati often use the image of "green hair and white hair" when they lament that youth is fleeting, fame is hard to achieve, and ambition is hard to pay. Li Bai lamented in "Coming into Wine": "You don’t see how lovely locks in bright mirrors in high chambers, though silken-black at morning, have changed by night to snow." This famous sentence, which has been handed down through the ages, makes "moss" a symbol of youth. At that time, "hair" did not refer to women’s hair, but was more often referred to as young men by poets. The reason why "green silk" refers to women’s hair in modern times is probably because men’s hair is really too short to be called "silk".
"Green" and "blue" have gradually become symbols of ancient China literati.
Originally, the blue only means that the color of the clothes is cyan, while the blue refers to the blue collar. Gradually, "Qing" and "Qing" became more common names for ancient scholars in China, and sometimes they referred to relegated officials.
The color and style of clothes have the function of flaunting social status, so the pattern characteristics or color characteristics of clothes are often used to refer to a certain group of people. Judging people by their appearances is a common social problem, and it has also been one of the dimensions for people to judge success since ancient times.
Green fern, the clothes worn by students in ancient times. It first appeared in the Book of Songs: "The green lady is leisurely in my heart." Because students in the Zhou Dynasty often wore blue clothes, the word "green" was also used to refer to students born in imperial academy in the Zhou Dynasty.
In the Northern Qi, Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties, students’ uniforms were usually cyan, which was later called "blue" as a synonym for scholars. However, there are still some differences in meaning between "green" and "blue". In poetry and prose, "Qing" emphasizes the status of a scholar, while "Qing" often refers to officials who have been demoted or frustrated in their official career.
In the Tang Dynasty, the most famous poem containing the word "blue" was Bai Juyi’s Pipa Xing: "but who of them all was crying the most?? This Jiujiang official. My blue sleeve was wet. " The "blue shirt" here means that the poet is a frustrated official, rather than emphasizing that he is a scholar. In Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi’s "The Portrait of Du Fu" described Du Fu, a poor and down-and-out official in Tang Dynasty. Su Shi’s "Gu Tou Qu" includes "The blue shirt is not popular with tourists, and the red tea is filled with Cao Gang Shou", and it also quotes the allusions of Bai Juyi’s "Pipa Xing", which makes it a "blue shirt".
Author: Bao Yan (Vice President of Chinese Poetry Society)
Editor: Fan Xin
Planning: Fan Xin