In order to promote the cross-cultural exchanges, this paper is to take two basic color words—white and red for examples, analyzing the comparison and contrast of color words between Chinese and Western cultures.
2. Literature Review
Both in China and in western countries, many scholars do research on color words. Cross-cultural Investigation of Color Terms by Magnus, states that color terms from informants representing different cultures in many parts of the world. Later, The Study of the Color Lexicon by Lakoff in 1973 claims that it is more possible for women to use “fancy” or elaborated color words in English than men. Then both basic and elaborated color terms are studied and the relationships between the subjects’ language performance and possible social implications are taken into account. And in cross-cultural communication, due to different nationalities, life characteristics, psychological activities, and emotion, color words were given the cultural connotations. Later, Basic Color Words: Their Universality and Evolution by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay suggests that English contains eleven basic color words: “white”, “black”, “red”, “green”, “yellow”, “blue”, “brown”, “purple”, “pink”, “orange” and “gray”.
In China, Onomatopoeia Words & Color Terms and Their Translation by Zhang Peiji in 1964 makes a detailed description of the usage of the English color terms and their translation. Later, many scholars conducted researches by comparing the color words between Chinese and other languages, aiming to find the differences in language and culture and contributing to the intercultural communication. And the study on color words went further and reached its peak in the 1990s. There are some monographs about color words as follows. On the Theories of Basic Color Terms: the Evolution of Chinese Basic Color Words by Yao Xiaoping shows a summary of the theories of basic color words, giving a review of the development of basic color words. Shao Zhihong’s The Contrast of English and Chinese Color Words lay emphasis on the cultural connotation between English and Chinese. This paper will help people to overcome obstacles in the field of translation and cross-cultural communication with the explanation of differences existing in English and Chinese.文献综述
3. The Color of “Bai” and “Hong” in Chinese culture
3.1 Images of “Bai”
According to Xinhua Chinese Dictionary, “Bai” is the color of snow. In Chinese, “Bai” has its special commendatory connotations. It always makes people feel spotless and bright. This such meaning can be found in Chinese expressions such as “洁白如玉”. Similarly, “Bai” in “清清白白” and “清白无辜”also has the connotation of innocence. What’s more, “Bai” symbolizes justice, fortune and goodness. For example, “白衣天使” is the most selfless medical staff who wear white uniform and take good care of patients. Besides, ancient Chinese people believe that the white-feathered animals like “白鹿”（white deer）、 “白天鹅”(white swan)、 “白鹤”（white crane）and “白雁”（white goose） are the symbol of good luck and fortune. Except the basic meaning, “Bai” has other positive meanings such as legitimate and allowable things. For example, “白色收入”is correspond to “lawful income” in English. 来!自~优尔论-文|网www.youerw.com
Contrary to the commendatory connotations of purity, justice, and kindness, “Bai” also has a derogatory sense. It is associated with the ominous meanings of solemnity and death in Chinese culture. Therefore, “Bai” is a taboo word. From of old, in Chinese funeral, the family members should be in deep mourning. They wear white hats, or white flowers made by white cloth, white mourning apparel and white shoes, and a white rope tied in the waist. And they also have to set up a mourning hall which is almost white. “白事” is the wording used to indicate “funeral affairs”. According to the Five Regions, after the warring states, the five elements, the five lords, the five colors and the four seasons are connected. Thus west is the color of white, and is dominated by White Tiger who is in charge of chilly autumn. The ancient people considered that harvest in autumn and store in winter, all things wither and fall. These all show sorrow and sadness. And even the decapitation in the ancient Chinese was set in autumn (Chen and Du 29). So we can draw a conclusion that “Bai” is connected with the things of ill omen such as misfortune and death. There are two another examples as follows: (1)In the ancient mythology, “黑白无常” are two ghosts in the world , who always take the souls of the dead to the nether world. (2)The White Tiger was regarded as a demon , thus the women who bring misfortunes to their men were called “白虎星”. In addition, “Bai” also indicates failure. In wars or games, the losers will hang a “白旗”(white flag) as a sign of accepting the failure. Besides, “Bai” also has some expressions related to craftiness and blackness. In Beijing opera, the facial masks of Cao Cao and Yang Song are white. So we can usually hear this expression“他是唱白脸的” in China. It means the person referred is a villain who always does something unpopular. 中英颜色词的文化对比分析以红白为例(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_78703.html