Maggie Biondi

Chinese Color Hierarchy

One thing I noticed throughout the scroll was the use of color and its significance in differentiating common-folk from those living inside the imperial wall. The Chinese system of color hierarchy was defined by Confucius as the “five primary colors”. He believed that all other colors were inferior and not worth noting. Each color in the five primaries represented an element as well as a cardinal direction, a season, and an aspect of yin and yang. These five colors were considered to be auspicious, with yellow being the most auspicious color of them all.

The first primary color is Blue/Azure/Green. The blue-green color in the hierarchy represents the element of wood, the cardinal direction east, the season spring, and the New Yang phase. Second, we have Red. Red represents fire, the carinal direction south, summer, and the Full Yang phase. Third, we have Yellow. Yellow represents the earth, the center, the change of seasons, and Yin-Yang balance. Fourth, we have white. White represents metal, west, autumn, and New Yin. And lastly there is black. Black represents water, north, winter, and Full Yin. (Wikipedia, Color in Chinese Culture).

The sections of the scroll that depict the common-folk tend to be less vibrant and generally neutral in color. The houses seem to have a light tan roof, maybe layered with grass or other materials nearby. Additionally the siding of the houses are also a white or light grey variation.

As we move throughout the city we start to see richer colors in the landscape. Trees are depicted with a slightly more vibrant green than we see in the beginning of the scroll. One specific thing to note is the roof colors of the common-folk.  Many of the roofs in the town are a neutral grey or brown, remaining dull and not vibrant in comparison to the roofs of the imperial section of the city. We also see the occasional building with a colorful roof or siding, but this was typically a government building, such as the imperial watchtower sitting at the outer wall. We can tell that this is an imperial building as it is red. Since red represents the element of fire and the cardinal direction of South, most imperial buildings were red and faced South as cold winds often came from the North, and it was believed that this would help keep them warmer. (New World Encyclopedia, Chinese Architecture).

Once we get past the imperial walls we start to see richer blues, yellows, greens, and even pink. The blues we start to see within the painting show up in the landscape as well as the architecture. The mountains and areas with trees have vibrant greens and blues. The The blue tiles of buildings were likely to represent the sky and heavens, and further to give guidance. The pink of the cherry blossoms is notable since we do not see a single plum tree depicted outside of the imperial walls.  The plum trees were important in the Ming and Qing dynasties as the plum blossom was deemed the ‘national flower’ (Wikipedia, National Flower of the Republic of China). 
The gold/yellow roof tiles in the imperial section of the city can be noted as it became a color to depict royalty. Gold/yellow roof tiles were used only on buildings that the Emperor would be in. It was considered to be the most beautiful and prestigious color (Wiley, The Development of Roof Color in Ancient China, & Wikipedia, Color in Chinese Culture).

Lastly, while there are richer colors towards the imperial sector of the city versus the living quarters of the common-folk, we can see that the general color of the land in this scroll is yellow. This was likely meant to symbolize the prosperity and well-being of the city as a whole.

Bibliography

“Chinese Architecture.” Chinese Architecture - New World Encyclopedia, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/chinese_architecture.

“Color in Chinese Culture.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Sept. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_in_Chinese_culture.

Gou, Aiping, and Jiangbo Wang. “The Development of Roof Color in Ancient China.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 29 Apr. 2010, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/col.20564.

“National Flower of the Republic of China.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Aug. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Flower_of_the_Republic_of_China.