A Cultural History of Redness in Chinese Civilization – The Origins: From the Neolithic up to Qin

• In Event: Colors in East Asian Civilizations: Concept, Materiality, and Art

Abstract

This paper concerns the cultural history of the color red in pre-Qin China. It explores the semantics of redness and investigates how its symbolic system was formed within the material circumstances of color environment. The terminology of color derives from the pigment’s material character, which stabilizes fluid perceptions of hues. Linguistic studies concentrate on the semantic fields of two words for red: the saturated hue denoting the color of fire (chi) that can be traced back to oracle bone inscriptions and the name of the fabric dyed in whitish red – pink (hong). In terms of color environment in ancient China, red clays have long existed since Upper Cretaceous, being popular raw materials for wares. Before synthetic pigments were invented during the Warring States, colorants mainly came from organics and minerals, with ferric oxide and cinnabar being major contributors to red. Archaeological discoveries show universal finds of reddish color on high-status artifacts – jades, shells, and ceramics in Neolithic cultures of both northern and southern China, and then on jades, lacquers, and textiles in the Bronze Age Shang and Zhou dynasties. Bright hues of red dominated in upper-class burials as well as sacrificial rituals, as a symbol of identity and immortality. Textual evidence reveals a highly stratified Chinese social system reflected by complex regulations on the application of different shades of colors, with bright hues indicating high ranks. Thus, the restricted use of saturated red was more associated with its roles in religion and stratification than its availability in natural environment. Therefore, chi ended up being classified as one of the five cardinal colors, due to its ceremonial significance and hierarchical implications rather than its rarity.

Author

• Wei Wu, University of Oslo