中国红

中国文化篇 Red: China’s Favorite Color红，中国人崇尚的颜色 Chinese people also like the red color a lot. China used to be called the “red country” in the past. Even now Chinese people like to refer ourselves as “chi zi”, meaning the “red descendant”. Traditionally, red represents the motherland and authority. Official uniforms of the Tang Dynasty were red. In the Qing Dynasty, different shades of red were used on the official caps to show different ranking. Even nowadays, headlines of the official documents are still printed in red. This is why they are called “red head documents”. Red is also a highly-regarded color among ordinary people because it represents happiness. For example, the word “double happiness” used for weddings is red. The bride wears red clothes, which is different from the white gowns of the west. During Chinese Spring Festival, people will give hong bao or red envelopes with money inside to the children as well wishes. Couplets hanging on both sides of the doors are written in red. Even the outfit of Zhong Kui, the door god whose portrait is hung on the door, is red. The word red equals prettiness. The expression hong yan, meaning “red color”, is a synonym of a beautiful girl. Red is also one of the most popular words used in the names of Chinese women. 中国人也酷爱红色。据说古代中国有“赤县神州”之称，中国人自称“赤子”，赤就是红色。红色在传统上就是祖国和权利的象征。唐朝的官服是红色的；清朝官员帽子顶戴的颜色是不同色调的红，以此区别官阶的大小。直到现在，公文的标题还是选用红色，称作“红头文件”。 中国民间对红色也很推崇。红是喜庆的象征。比如结婚时的双喜字是红色的。新娘要穿红色的嫁衣，这与西方穿白色婚纱不同。年节时送晚辈压岁钱要用红纸包着，称为“红包”，以示吉祥；对联儿也是用红纸书写，贴在大门两侧；年画中的门神钟馗也穿大红官袍。红还与美丽同义，“红颜”指美丽的女子。在中国女性的名字中，“红”是使用频率最高的字之一。