The Evolution of Basic Color Terms in Chinese

8/4/2019 The Evolution of Basic Color Terms in Chinese

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THE EVOLUTION OF BASIC COLOR TERMS IN CHINESE

Jianshe Wu

Beijing International Studies University

ABSTRACT

This paper makes an attempt to construct a framework of how Chinese basic color

terms evolve over the past 4000 years, which is divided into several periods, by an

analysis of the relevant literature in history on the basis of word frequency counts.

Then we discuss what stage each period should be classified into under Berlin &

Kays framework and its recent developments. Against these findings, the similarities

and differences between our corpus and Berlin & Kays assumptions are analyzed

and presented. In addition, the replacement of Chi by Hong is also discussed with

reference to the Lexical Diffusion theory.

SUBJECT KEYWORDS

Basic Color Terms Diachronic Study Lexical Diffusion Color Category

1. INTRODUCTION

In 1969, Berlin & Kay advanced the following two hypotheses: [1] the referents

for the basic color terms of all languages appear to be drawn from a set of eleven

universal perceptual categories, and [2] these categories become encoded in the

history of a given language in a partially fixed order (Berlin & Kay 1969: 4-5).

Accordingly, they formulated a temporal-evolutionary ordering as follows:

Figure 1: The Berlin & Kays hierarchy of basic color terms (1969: 4)


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THE EVOLUTION OF BASIC COLOR TERMS IN CHINESE 77

Their theory of color universals runs counter to then standard Whorfian doctrineand marks a phase-shift in our understanding of the color categories. Before their

work the prevailing view was that color categories were culturally relative. Since 1969,

the dominant view has shifted toward a belief in color universals.

Following Berlin & Kays (1969) study, a large amount of cross-linguistic data

concerning the basic color terms have been collected. This has led to four substantial

theoretical revisions (Kay & McDaniel 1978; Kay, Berlin & Merrifield 1991; Kay,

Berlin, Maffi & Merrifield 1997; Kay & Maffi 1999).

First, according to Kay & McDaniel (1978), the idea of exactly eleven universal

perceptual categories has been replaced with the six Hering (1964) primaries (black,

white, red, green, yellow, blue) along with a restricted subset of their possible unions

(i.e. Composite categories such as [red or yellow],[blue or green]) and intersections

(i.e., Derived categories such as [orange], [purple], [pink], [gray], [brown]). In this

formulation, sets of color categories below Stage V must include at least one

composite category and any composite categories should have dissolved into the two

primary categories before the appearance of any derived categories; all languages

with more than six basic color terms should have at least one derived color category;

and grey has been listed as Less predictable (as shown in Figure 2).

Figure 2: The evolution of basic color categories (Kay & McDaniel, 1978: 639)

Second, based on the findings of the World Color Survey (WCS), Kay,

Berlin & Merrifield (1991) propose some relaxations to the constraints of Kay &

McDaniels (1978) version. The composite category grue (green or blue) could be

accompanied by the derived categories brown or purple and either brown or


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JOURNAL OF CHINESE LINGUISTICS Vol. 39 No. 1 (2011)78

purple or both not infrequently appear before the green/blue composite is dissolved;and a scheme (see Figure 3), allowing nine of the logically possibly 63 composite

categories to occur, has been proposed to include the composite categories so far

observed; at the same time, they present five evolutionary possibilities at Stage III

and three at Stage IV.

Figure 3: Permissible composite categories: Observed composite categories (Kay et al. 1991)

Third, Kay, Berlin, Maffi & Merrifield (1997) classify the 110 basic color

terminology systems of the WCS into eleven basic types, based on the combinations of

Herings primary terms they contain (Figure 4 [This is an adapted version consisting

only of nine types]). Their theory now concern only those basic color terms and derived

color categories are not incorporated in those types, where every stage contains one

more basic color term than the preceding stage and an arrow indicates the transitions

from the type occurring on its left to the type toward which it points.

Figure 4: Types and evolutionary stages of basic color term systems (Kay, Berlin,

Maffi & Merrifield 1997, as cited in Kay & Maffi 1999: 748)


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Fourth, Kay & Maffi (1999) place 83% (91 out of 110 languages, see numbersin Figure 5) of the languages somewhere on the main line of five evolutionary

trajectories of basic color term systems. And a model of one language-based

principle [Part ition] and three color-appearance-based principles [Black & White,

Warm & Cool and Red] has been presented to account for the data in WCS. In this

model, they claim an order of application of those principles as 0) Partition Principle:

languages tend to assign significata to lexical items in such a way as to partition the

denotata of the domain; 1) Black & White Principle: black and white should be

distinguished; 2) Warm & Cool Principle: the warm primaries (red and yellow)

should be distinguished from the cool primaries (green and blue); and 3) Red

Principle: red should be distinguished.

Figure 5: Main line (Trajectory A) of evolutionary development of basic color

lexicons (Kay & Maffi 1999: 750)

By adopting the above-mentioned revisions, it is believed that the theory of

universality and evolutionary emergence of basic color terms moves gradually out of

anthropological linguistics into color science (Saunders 2000). In the wake of this

process, revolving around two questions ([1] Is color naming across languages

largely a matter of arbitrary linguistic convention? [2] Do cross-language differences

in color naming cause corresponding differences in color cognition? [Kay & Regier

2006]), a number of empirical studies (Heider 1971, 1972; Heider & Olivier 1972;

Rosch 1973; Berlin & Berlin 1975; Kay 1975; Kay & Kempton 1984; Ratliff 1976;

De Valois & De Valois 1993; MacLaury 1997; Davies & Corbett 1998; Regier, Kay

& Cook 2005), computer modeling and simulations (Belpaeme 2002; Steels &

Belpaeme 2005; Belpaeme & Bleys 2005; Dowman 2002, 2007, 2008) and disputes

(Wierzbicka 1990; Saunders 1992, 1999,2000; Saunders & Brakel 1997, Lucy 1997a,

1997b; Lyons 1997; Roberson, Davies & Davidoff 2000, Roberson, Davidoff, Davies

& Shapiro 2005) ensue.


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Nonetheless, among all those inspiring works, it is very rare to locate adiachronic study of basic color terms, whether in English or in any other languages,

based on the relevant literature in history available now. It is believed that the

relationship between language and society could be understood in a more

comprehensive way through such diachronic study and it will reveal to us additional

information more reliable and interesting. And it is for this purpose that the present

paper will turn to Chinese basic color terms. In the following parts, after a general

review of contemporary works concerning the studies of basic color terms in Chinese,

we attempt to conduct a corpus-based diachronic study of basic color terms in

Chinese. We argue that the evolution of Chinese basic color terms might not fully

match the main-line trajectory of Berlin & Kays hypothesis as illustrated above.

Meanwhile, how words and naming are progressing with the development of society

has been discussed in view of our findings. In so doing, we expect that such a

diachronic perspective could provide a supplementary look at other synchronic

studies and simulation studies.

2. BASIC COLOR TERMS RESEARCH IN CHINA

There exist a number of researches on Chinese basic color terms (henceforth

CBCT). In general, synchronic studies prevail. Some ground their studies solely on

Oracle bone inscriptions ( , hereinafter called OBI), Bronze Inscriptions (

), Shijing ( , or The Book of Songs), or Shuowen jiezi ( , the

etymological dictionary compiled by Xu Shen [][c. A.D. 58-148] in the second

century.)(Hu 1941, Zhang 1991, Xu 1995, Baxter 1983, Wang 1993); some review

CBCTs development from a lexical and / or grammatical point of view (Zhang 2001,

Xu 2003, Li 2003); some attempt to explicate the cultural and social significance

underlying CBCT; whereas, at the same time, a diachronic analysis of CBCTs

evolution could also be found.

After analyzing each hieroglyph form of Bai ( , white), Chi ( ,

red)(including Dan [, red] and Zhu [, vermillion]),Huang(, yellow),

Hei (, black) and Qing(, black or grue [blue or green]) in OBI, Hu (1941)

deduces its respective process of being generated.

Zhang (1991) bases his study on OBI, Bronze Inscriptions, Erya ( orNear

Corretness), Shuowen jiezi, in which the semantic constituents of those color terms

are introduced and the cultural connotations in Chi, Hei, Huang, Bai are revealed.


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Xu (1995) relies his study more on Shuowen jiezi. All the color terms arecounted and their frequencies are listed so as to determine which should be classified

as CBCT (in China, the distinction between Zheng se [ , Pure Color] and Jian

se [, Secondary Color] is more or less equal to the BCT and non-BCT ) while

which not.

Viewing from grammatical angle, Zhang (2001) lays more emphasis on the

adjectives in OBI and his suggestion of the color terms used at that time areBai, Hei,

You ( or, bright black), Chi , Huang,Li ( or , multi-colored or black).

Xu (2003) also analyzes the adjectives in OBI. The color terms listed includes

Chi, Huang, Zhi ( , red or clayey), Bai, You, Hei, Wu ( or ,

multi-colored) .

Li (2003) has studied the grammar of OBI and at last produced a list of

adjectives of the following color terms:Bai, Hei, You, Xuan, Chi, Zhi, Huang, Li.

In Zhang (2003), he presents a general review of the studies on vocabulary and

grammar of OBI. Therein Wang Shaoxin ( ) has mentioned: Bai, Chi, Huang,

L (, green) as the color terms; Xiang Xi () has included Bai, Chi, Huang,

L, You in his list of adjectives; and Guan Xiechu ( ) presentsBai, Huang, You

while Cheng Mengjia () claims Bai, Huang, Hei, You, Chi instead. Liang

Yinfeng () identifies seven color terms: Wu, You, Hei, Bai, Chi, Huang, Zhi

and at the same time, Yang Fengbin ( ) reviews all the adjectives claimed by

each scholar and at last figures out a list of You, Huang, Hei, Bai, Chi.

Based on his study on the culture of the Shang () dynasty, Zhao (2000) works

out a list ofChi, Huang, Hei, You, Bai. Moreover he points out the wider connotation

as shown in each color terms.

These studies are mainly concerned with the development of ancient Chinese.

In contrast, a modern study of color terms could be found in Xies unpublished

doctoral dissertation, in which each basic color terms are analyzed in terms of

semantic field and codability. Consequently a list of contemporary color terms is

given (Xie 2004).

A more comprehensive work has been done by Yao (1988), who reviews the

history of color studies and in view of Berlin & Kays theory of Basic Color Terms,

divides the Chinese history into five stages: the Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1500-1122

B.C.), the Western and Eastern Zhou () through Qin () dynasties (ca.

1121-207 B.C.), the Han () through Jin () to Southern & Northern dynasties


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( ) (ca. 206 B.C. 589 A.D.), the Tang () through Song () to Qing ()dynasties (ca. 581-1911 A.D.) and Modern China () (ca. 1911-present) so

as to present an evolutionary pattern of basic color terms in Chinese. He concludes

that the evolution of CBCT from the Late Shang to Tang Dynasty does not comply

with Berlin & Kays theory, and he is expecting a more elaborated explanation.

Three additional researches concerning Chinese basic color terms are carried

out respectively by Baxter, a famous American sinologist, Wang Tao, a British

citizen of Chinese origin, and Cheung Sauying ( ). Baxter has compared the

CBCT in the Earlier Period (referring to the Shang and Western Zhou [ ]

dynasties [ca. 1500-771 B.C.], having recourse to Shijing and the reconstruction of

Old Chinese) with those in the Late Period (extending from the Eastern Zhou []

through the Han [] dynasty [ca. 770 B.C. -220 A.D], with the help ofShuowen jiezi

and Shijing) in relation to Berlin & Kays evolution theory of basic color terms. He

proposes two stages of the Chinese languages: a later period, perhaps ending with

the Han dynasty, which had five basic color terms (a stage IV system: Bai, Huang,

Hei, Chi and Qing), and an earlier period, probably ending with the end of the

Western Zhou dynasty or somewhat earlier, which had four basic color terms (a stage

IIIb system: Bai, Huang, Xuan [, reddish black], Chi)(Baxter 1983: 21). The

study conducted by Wang Tao complements Baxters. By his particular review of the

use of Chi, Xing (, red-yellow), Bai, Wu, Zhi, Huang, Hei, You, Xuanin the

Late Shang OBI, he asserts that Baxters conclusion is overall correct, but subject to

some minor modifications (Wang 1996). Cheungs study on Chi andHong(, red)

provides us both synchronic and diachronic analysis on their usages in the corpora,

focusing on semantic extensions of color terms towards non-physical color senses.

As a result, the replacement of Chi by Hong is discussed against the framework of

lexical diffusion theory and prototype theory and an Object-Process-Quality process

in semantic change of color terms is highlighted (Cheung 2004).

In summary, the above studies, except Yaos review and Cheungs corpus-based

study, could be classified as some synchronic then-descriptions about Chinese color

terms (not necessarily basic color terms). Even though some have touched on its

evolution, it is either not so comprehensive or confined to a short time span. Among

them, Yaos work is really pioneering and more related to our research here

(Cheungs study is also closely connected to our analysis on semantic extensions of

basic color terms here) . However, the sequential appearance of CBCT in his


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framework is questioned by many scholars (see Xie 2004), and such doubt should beclarified; moreover, his division of Chinese history into five stages could be further

delineated in hopes of locating the specific dynasty in which each CBCT turns up as

the basic color term; and furthermore, in Yaos review, all the relevant evidence are

omitted due to the limits of space length. Admittedly, it is of great regret to see those

necessary supporting details missing.

3. METHODS

In view of both the status quo of basic color term studies lacking in a

diachronic study and these discreet literature found in Chinese studies, we attempt to

reveal the evolution process of Chinese basic color terms by statistic counting on a

continuum of 25 history books1 from Western Han Dynasty (206B.C.25A.D.) to

Qing Dynasty(1644A.D.-1911A.D.). In dosing, we also wish to establish a

comparison between our findings and Berlin & Kay (1969), Kay & McDaniel (1978),

Kay et al. (1991), Kay, Berlin, Maffi & Merrifield (1997), Kay & Maffi (1999). It is

specified as follows:

1 The corpus is based on The Twenty-Five Histories (, Dynastichistories from remote antiquity till the Qing Dynasty) and its special editing

tradition makes this diachronic study possible. And for the dynasties which have not

been covered by these books, i.e., before Western Han and after Qing Dynasty, we

complement these 25 volumes of history books with Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the

Late Shang dynasty () (ca. 1500-1122 B.C.), Bronze Inscriptions in the

Western Zhou dynasty () (ca. 1121-771 B.C.), and Zhu zi bai jia (,

The classics from all schools in ancient China) in the Spring & Autumn and

Warring States Periods () (ca. 770-221 B.C.) for the former (there is

no any other book available today for these periods), and with Modern Novel

Collections in modern times for the latter.

2 To ensure the corpus is not biased by the official documenting system, wefurther add those books written in vernacular Chinese into our corpus for comparison

purpose (see each section below for details). And such relevant etymological

dictionaries as Shuowen jiezi, Yu pian (), Lei pian () are also included for

reference purpose.

3 All those books, with a few exceptions (e.g., OBI, the color words arehandpicked by the author), are in electronic version, within which these color words


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have been searched with the help of Acrobat software (Version 7.0).4 To exclude the same words which are not used as color words here, the

author further identifies each color words based on the searching results produced by

Acrobat software.

5 The number of color words for each item is added up and the percentageis calculated within each table.

6 Whether a color word belongs to basic color terms or not is judged withthe guidelines provided by Berlin & Kay (1969), i.e.,

These color terms are known by all speakers; These color terms are highly salient; These color terms do not denote a subset of colors denoted by

another word;

The meaning of these color terms is not predictable from themeaning of their parts.

And their four complementing features are also considered.

4. FINDINGS CONCERNING THE EVOLUTION OF CBCT

Referring to Wang (1958), L (1985) and Xiang (1993), we group the Chinese

history into eight periods, for the purpose of our analysis. They are: the Late Shang

dynasty () (ca. 1500-1122 B.C.), the Western Zhou dynasty () (ca.

1121-771 B.C.), the Spring & Autumn and Warring States Periods ()

(ca. 770-221 B.C.), the Qin and Han dynasties () (ca. 221 B.C.-220 A.D.),

the Three Kingdoms, through Jin to Southern & Northern dynasties (

) (ca. 220 589 A.D.), the Sui through Tang, Five Dynasties & Ten Kingdoms

to Song dynasties () (ca. 581-1279 A.D.), the Yuan through

Ming to Qing dynasties () (ca. 1271-1911 A.D.), Modern China (

) (ca. 1911-present). We will introduce each stage as follows:

4.1 The Late Shang Dynasty (ca. 1500-1122 B.C.)

Basic Color Terms:

Bai (white), Huang (yellow), You (black), Chi (red)

We have searched The Dictionary of OBI(Xu 1988), The Concise Dictionary of


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OBI (Cui 2001) and The Collected Papers on OBI(Li 1965), and it is found that inthe Late Shang dynasty, the basic color terms could be:

Bai, Emerging at Period I, II, III, IV and V2

Cui 786: (hui / bai-white / sheep / have / big / rain: We should

sacrifice a white sheep, and there will then be heavy rain.)

Huang, Emerging at Period I and V

Cui 545: (hui / huang-yellow / ox: We should sacrifice a yellow ox.)

ZhiEmerging at Period I, II, III, IV and V

Heji 35995: (qi / zhi- red or clayey / ox / this / use: We shall

perhaps sacrifice a red ox. This was used.)

Jin,(3) Emerging at Period I and II

Cui 551: (qi / use / jin-? / ox: We shall perhaps use jin-colored ox.)

Chi,Emerging at Period I and III

Tie 10.2: X4 X (guichou / crack / X / divine / left /

chi-red / horse / qi / X / not / wild: Cracking made on guichou [indicating time], X

divining: the red horse on the left side will be tame, not wild.)

Hei, Emerging at Period I, III and V

Ninghu 113: (not / use / hei-black /

sheep / no / rain / hui / bai-white / sheep / use / for / it / have / big / rain: We should

not use black sheep, there will otherwise no rain. We should sacrifice a white sheep

for it, there will then be heavy rain.)

You,Emerging at Period I and III

Yi 7121: (hui / you-bright black / ox / plus / huang-yellow / ox:

We should sacrifice a black ox together with a yellow one.)

Xuan,Emerging at Huayuanzhuang Dongde ()

Heji 33276: (xuan-reddish black / ox: A black ox.)


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Li,Emerging at Period I and VHeji 25020: (li-multi-colored or black / sheep: A multi-colored or black sheep.)

Wu,Emerging at Period I, II and III

Yi 203: (hui / no / wu-multi-colored / horse: We do not sacrifice

multi-colored horses.)

The other words likeXing(then it means a red-horse),Bo (, multi-colored

horse), L (, emerging at Period II, with an unidentified meaning), Zhu (then it is

used as a place name), Dan (also a place name), Qing (it could be a name for

imperial clan) should not be employed as a color term at that time. Among the

above-mentioned color terms, Jin, Li, Xuan is seldom used, while the frequency of

Bai, Huang, You, Hei, Chi used as an adjective is 97/22/11/10/3 respectively (Yang,

as cited in Zhang 2003). Here, You and Hei are both referring to Black, whereas

You could be more possibly used to represent Black (see Guan and Xiang, as cited

in Zhang 2003).

In accordance with the four main and additional features of basic color terms as

proposed by Berlin & Kay (1969), Zhi, Wu, Hei could also be excluded. As for

Chi, in the light of the conclusions held by most of the scholars (see Part 2: Basic

color terms research in China), it should be a basic color term at that time. But with

its low frequency of occurrence, it still calls for a plausible explanation.

4.2 The Western Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1121-771 B.C.)

Basic Color Terms:

Bai (white), Chi (red), Huang (yellow), Xuan (black)

According to Collection of Bronze Inscriptions (Volume I: The Late Shang and

Western Zhou dynasties)5(CRC of ECNU 2002), in Western Zhou Period, Bai,

Huang, Chi, You, Zhi, Hei could still be found in Bronze inscriptions of

the Western Zhou dynasty with the exception of Li and Wu. Moreover, Xuan

starts to emerge as a color word in large quantities. Among other things, we could

observe such color terms as:


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Emerging in the Early Western Zhou:

Zhe(, reddish brown)

Jicheng 11.6015: () (Nobleman / be-granted / Zhe /

slaves / two / hundred / family: A nobleman has been granted reddish brown cloth

and two hundred servants.)

Emerging in the Mid Western Zhou:

Su (, white)

Jicheng 15.9702: (White / silk / bundle: A bundle of white silk.)

Zhu(, vermilion)

Jicheng 16.9898: (Be-granted / apron-like clothes /Zhu / jade worn as

a pendant: An apron-like clothes and vermilion jade pendant have been granted.)

Tong(, red)

Jicheng 5.2780: (Be-granted / / Tong/ arrow: Red arrows are granted.)

Xun ( or , light crimson)

Jicheng 8.4343: (Xun / liner: Light crimson liner.)

Xing(, red)

Jicheng 8.4165: (Be-granted /Xing/ bull: A red bull has been granted.)

Emerging in the Late Western Zhou:

Cong( or, turquoise)

Jicheng 5.2841: (Vermilion / apron-like clothes / Cong / jade worn

as a pendant: Vermilion apron-like clothes and turquoise jade pendant.)

Furthermore, we could have recourse to the report on the frequency of those

characters being used in Bronze Inscriptions of the Western Zhou dynasty (Zhang 2004).

In this report, he notes the frequency as follows (here he makes no distinction between

the use as color terms and the use as others):Bai 849, Chi 111,Huang107,Zhu 70,Xuan

55, You 27, Tong18,Zhi 10,Xun 10, Cong8, Qing3,Dan 3, Su 3,Hei 2,Xing1.

In summary, the then basic color terms in Western Zhou Period are still

dominated byBai, Chi, Huang, Xuan. Here, Zhu, You should not be voted as one of

them in accordance with both the stipulations by B&K and its frequency; by

Collection of Bronze Inscriptions, Xuan at this time is used more to represent

Black while Hei fails to be ranked as a basic color term in view of its frequency.


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During this period, Qing and Dan could be found thrice in Bronze inscriptionsbut serves not as basic color terms; whereas Cang ( or , black or grue)

appears in the late Western Zhou only in the name of granary. It is noted that

Cong emerges as a new color word, which significantly reveals the obvious

perception of color Cyan at that time.

4.3 The Spring & Autumn And Warring States Periods (ca. 770-221 B.C.)

Basic Color Terms:

Chi (red), Huang (yellow), Hei (black), Bai (white), Qing/Cang (black or grue)

According to Collection of Bronze Inscriptions (Volume II: the Spring &

Autumn and Warring States Periods)in the Spring & Autumn and Warring States

Periods, BaiHeiHuangChiYou, Xuan, Zhu are used in common as major color

terms while the usage of Cang, Hong (, referring to pink at that time), L (,

green), Zi (, purple), Xun, Cong, Su, Tong, Zhi, Xing, Li, Wu is not found in

Bronze Inscriptions of the Spring & Autumn and Warring States Periods. During this

period, Qing emerges four times and only serves as a color word one time (in the

Spring & Autumn Period, Jicheng 16.10136: [Qing-colored bronze]).

During this period Bronze inscriptions are found increasingly decreasing. In

this view, we refer to other possible books existing at that time like Shang shu (

)6, Shijing7, Yi li ( )8, Zhou yi ( )9, the Analects ( )10, Chunqiu

zuozhuan ()11, the Works of Mencius ()12 and Zhou li ()13. Here

are their respective frequencies of use in each book:

Table 1

Ba Hu Xu Su Qi Ch Zh He Xun Ca L Zi Ho Co

Shang shu 2 1 3 1 1 2 1 1

Shijing 25 35 7 13 9 6 5 3 14 10 1

Yi li 12 4 32 11 3 2 7 3 17 1

Zhou y i 8 13 4 2 2 1 1

Analect s 2 1 2 2 1 2 1

zuozhuan 6 6 8 3 2 2 4 5 1 1


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Mencius 20 2 2 1 1 1

Zhou l i 17 10 9 12 14 14 6 11 2 1

Sum 92 72 67 44 29 27 27 24 21 15 11 4 1 1

% 21 17 15 10 7 6 6 6 5 3 3 1 0 0

* Ba- Bai; Hu- Huang; Xu- Xuan; Su Su; Qi-Qing; Ch - Chi; Zh- Zhu; He- Hei;

Xun-Xun; Ca- Cang; L- L; Zi - Zi ; Ho- Hong; Co- Cong.

* Percentages here and below are all in rounding-off numbers.

It could be generalized that Bai, Huang, Xuan, Su, Qing, Chi, Zhu, Hei, at

that time, serve as major color terms while Cang, L, Zi, Hong, could not be

determined. As for Cong, it is rarely used.

In order to ascertain which one of Xuan, Hei could be the basic color term

representing Black and the possible usage of Qing, Cang, L, Zi, Hong

at that time, we further search all the works available14, written at that time, collected

in Si bu cong kan ()15.

Table 216

The Warring States Period Ba He Hu Qi Zi Xu Ca Ho L

Lie zi ( ) (Early) 9 6 4 3 3

Mo zi ( ) (Early) 33 34 10 5 1 3

Wu zi ( ) (Early) 1 2 1

Liu tao ( ) (Early) 6 4 3 2

Shang zi ( ) (Mid) 1 1

Zhuang zi ( )(Mid) 16 4 8 10 1 4 4

Xun zi ( ) (Late) 10 10 2 2 3 3

Han zi ( ) (Late) 31 14 4 2 22 3 2 2

Guan zi ( ) (believed to be) 34 35 51 20 1

Sum 141 107 80 47 26 18 9 2 0

% 33 25 19 11 6 4 2 1 0

* Ba-Bai; He- Hei; Hu-Huang; Qi-Qing; Zi - Zi ; Xu- Xuan; Ca- Cang; Ho- Hong; L-L.

As is noted in Table 2, Hei is more often used than Xuan in the late Warring

States Period. It is more convincing to claim that during this period, Hei has been


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elevated to be a basic color term to represent Black.As for Qing, its abusive use in the Warring States Period could be observed

easily by the following facts. It has been listed as one of Five Colors ( or

) in Shang shu Yu Gong (.) and Zhou li and ranked as one of Six

Zhang (, Six Colors) in Yi li, and one of Six Colors () (Qing, Bai, Chi,

Hei, Xuan, Huang) in Chunqiu zuozhuan. With reference to the frequency as shown

in Table 1 and 2, Qing should be listed as a basic color term at that time.

Cang, first emerging as a color term in Shijing,Zhou li, i.e., in the Spring and

Autumn Period, grows gradually in quantities. In Yi zhou shu Xiao kai wu (

), it has been mentioned that Wu Xing(, Five Agents)17 includes:

Water inHei, Fire in Chi, Wood in Cang, Metal inBai and Earth inHuang(

). It seems that Cang

at that time is popular as an alternative of Qing and could appear in Qings place.

As for the emergence of Zi, according to Table 1, its appearances in The

Works of Mencius, Chunqiu zuozhuan and the Analects suggest the period of the Mid

Warring States Period, while in the light of Table 2, it fails to present itself in the

Early Warring States Period and its showing up could only be observed in several

works of the Mid or Late Warring States Period. So it is safe to say Zi starts to be

employed as a color term not until the Mid Warring States Period (it could be tightly

bound up with the wearing of purple clothes by Heng Gong ( ) of the Qi State

in the Warring States Period) but it still does not prevail.

As regards L, it could only be found in Shijing(among them, 9 times in Guo

Feng [] and one time in Lu Song []) and Yi li ([vermilion and

green silks]). Besides, we could notice its occurrence once respectively in Xun zi and

Lie zi of the Warring States Period, both in the form of L er (), one of Eight

Fine Horses (). It is self-evident that L has its debut in the Late Spring and

Autumn Period but has not been granted the position of basic color terms.

Hong (it refers to pink at that time) wins its initial performance in The

Analects and Han zi of the Late Warring States Period. However, obviously, it fails to

obtain the status of being a basic color term. At the same time, Zi, L and

Hong could not be located in Bronze inscriptions of the same period, which, on the

other hand, justifies their peripheral status in the then society.

Another important work which we could refer to is Lshi chunqiu (),

since it has been completed just eight years after the founding of the Qin dynasty, i.e.,


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immediately after the Warring States Period. Here the frequencies of color terms areshown as follows:

Bai 55, Chi 23, Hei 20, Huang 18, Xuan 15, Qing 13, Cang 10, Zhu 8, Su 4, L 1.

It should be noted that Zhe, He (, brown), Hong, Zi, Lan (, blue),

Cheng(, orange), Hui (, grey), Dian (, indigo), Cong, Xun, Dan, You

fail to present themselves here. To a large extent, the above data concerning color

terms could serve as an essential proof of the above analysis.

In summary, during this period, the basic color terms are confined to Chi,

Huang, Hei, Bai, Qing/Cang. In this period, You fades out and Five Colors

(including Qing, Chi, Bai, Hei, Huang) or Six Colors (plus Xuan) (see Shang shu

Yu Gongand Zhou li respectively) steps on stage.

4.4 The Qin And Han Dynasties (ca. 221 B.C.-220 A.D.)

Basic Color Terms:

Bai (white), Huang (yellow), Hei (black), Chi (red), Qing (black or grue)

During the Qin and Han dynasties, the earliest classics we could refer to is Erya,

Li ji ()18, Shi ji () and Han shu ()19. Accordingly, the frequencies of

their usage are listed as follows:

Table 3

Ba Hu Ch Qi He Xu Zi Ca L Xu Zh Da Ho

Erya 49 21 6 6 12 7 2 2

Li ji 38 19 14 17 22 52 1 1 5 12 4

Shi ji 180 133 38 49 40 24 10 16 2 1 2 1 2

Han 252 275 114 91 82 35 30 16 15 1 14 7 7

Sum 519 448 172 163 156 118 41 35 22 16 16 12 9

% 30 26 10 9 9 7 2 2 1 1 1 1 1

* Ba- Bai; Hu- Huang; Ch - Chi; Qi-Qing; He- Hei; Xu- Xuan; Zi - Zi ; Ca- Cang;

L-L; Xu- Xun; Zh-Zhe; Da- Dan; Ho- Hong.


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It could be concluded that the then major color terms could coverBai, Huang,Chi, Qing/Cang, Hei, Xuan,. Among them, the usage of Xuan, Cang is gradually

reduced; Zi awaits further confirmation of whether it belongs to the basic color

terms or not; and Hong and L are not prevalent at that time.

As a frame of reference, Shuowen jiezi, completed in the Eastern Han ()

Dynasty by Xu Shen, could serve as an essential source for verification. The major

color terms used in this work are20:

Bai 82, Hei 68, Chi 54, Huang 53, Qing 36, Dan 9, Zhu 7, Xuan 5, Jiang (,

crimson) 5, Wu2 (, black) 3, Zi 2, Liu-Huang ( , brown)1, Huang-Hei

( , yellow-black) 6 / Huang-Bai ( , yellow-white) 2, Qing-Hei (,

grue-black) 6 / Qing-Chi (, grue-red) 2 / Qing-Huang(, grue-yellow)

2 / Qing-Bai (, grue-white) 1, Chi-Huang (, red-yellow) 3 / Chi-Hei

( , red-black) 3 / Chi-Bai ( , red-white) 1, Bai-Huang ( ,

white-yellow) 1 /Bai-Qing(, white-grue) 1 / Bai-Hei (, white-black)

1, Zi-Qing ( , purple-grue) 1 / Xuan-Huang ( , black-yellow) 1 /

Dan-Huang(, red-yellow) 1 (Xu 1995)among other things, Cang 0.

It should be noted that here Zi is not frequently used and more importantly, its

definition in Shuowen jiezi reads: of cloth, a grue-red color (). Another

noteworthy fact lies in the use of Xuan and Cang. Obviously, they are not

employed as basic color terms again.

Furthermore, another important work, Shi ming Shi Cai Bo (.),

completed at the end of The Eastern Han dynasty by Liu Xi (), includes such color

terms as Qing, Chi, Huang, Bai, Hei, Jiang, Zi, Hong, Xiang (, pale yellow), L,

Piao (, light grue), Zi2 (, black), Zao ( or, black), Su, Gan (, dark

purple). In his work, Xuan and Cangare not listed. And its definition ofZi goes like

this: Zi means a flaw. It holds its status as a secondary color term and is regarded as a

flaw of five Pure Colors (, , , ).

In summary, Zi still fails to obtain the status as a basic color term at that time,

while Xuan, Cang are no longer used as basic color terms. Correspondingly, we

could have the following basic color terms: Bai, Huang, Hei, Chi , Qing.


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4.5 The Three Kingdoms, Through Jin To Southern & Northern Dynasties (ca. 220 589 A.D.)

Basic Color Terms:

Bai (white), Huang (yellow), Hei (black), Chi (red), Qing (black or grue), Zi (purple)

During this period, we could locate such history books as San guo zhi ( ),

Hou han shu (), Song shu (), Nan qi shu () and Wei shu ()21.

Here we take Chi, Qing as a reference, and the other color terms are listed in terms

of their frequencies.

Table 4

Ch Qi Zi Ji L Za Ga Ho Bi Zi2 Pi Xu Xi Fe

San guo 19 31 6 5 1 2 2

Hou ha n 124 98 38 25 12 26 10 5 3 6 8 4 1

Song 170 164 71 47 24 26 8 9 6 5 7 4 5

Nan qi 91 58 48 33 22 7 10 13 2 2 1

Wei 118 93 31 10 6 10 3 5 6 12 1 2 4

Sum 522 444 194 120 65 62 30 29 28 25 20 9 8 4

% 34 29 12 8 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 0

* Ch - Chi; Qi-Qing; Zi - Zi ; Ji-Jiang; L- L; Za- Zao; Ga- Gan; Ho- Hong; Bi- Bi;

Zi2--Zi2; Pi-Piao; Xu- Xun; Xi- Xiang; Fe- Fei.

In Table 4, we could observe the slow rising ofZi in the late period and its

frequency far overtakes those of others like Jiang, L, Zao, Gan, Hong,

Bi (, bluish green). It could be inferred that apart from those basic color terms,

Zi has been ranked as important.

To do justice to this assertion, we go further to another important etymological

dictionary, Yu pian (), compiled at that time, for confirmation. Among them,

these color terms are listed: Bai 163, Hei 137, Chi 89, Huang 76, Qing 45, Cang 19,

Xuan 12, Zi 9, Zhu 5, L 5, Hong 3, Jiang 3, Dan 2, Gan 1, Piao 1, Fei (, bright

red) 1 (Besides, there are still another 60 color terms listed, which are less used).

What we should pay attention to is its definition of these words like L, which isinterpreted as of cloth, a grue-yellow color (), Lan, which is defined as

a kind of grass, from which colorQing(black or grue) could be extracted (

), Bi, which is explained as blue or green precious stone (),

and Fei, which is conceived as crimson boil silk (). Among them, Zi


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has been used only less frequently than those basic color terms as well as Cang, Xuan,the late basic color terms.

Such fact could be more revealing if we review the so-called Pure Color and

Secondary Color theory, which has been formulated during this period. As early as

in Li ji Yu Zao ( .), it has been stated that clothes take pure color while

skirts employ secondary color (, ). Upon such statement, Zheng

Xuan (), a famous scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, interprets it as the

crown should be in black while its dress in yellow (). Liu Xi, in his

Shi ming Shi Cai Bo, also explains Zi means a flaw. It holds its status as a

non-basic color term and is regarded as a flaw of five basic color terms , ,

, . Taiping yu lan (), completed in the Song dynasty

(ca. 960 1279 A.D.), quotes Huan ji yao le (), completed in this period,

as saying: Pure Colors include Qing, Chi, Huang, Bai, Hei while Secondary Color

consist of Gan, Hong, Piao, Zi, Liu-Huang. This is the first time when Pure and

Secondary Colors are systematically distinguished. Also in this period, Huang Kan

( ), from the Southern Liang () Dynasty, comments that Pure Colors

comprise Qing, Chi, Huang, Bai, Hei while Secondary Colors containL, Hong, Bi,

Zi, Liu-Huang. Although different assertions are made, Zi, Hong, Liu-Huang are

all included as one part of Secondary colors. It could be deduced that those three

colors, are ranked as the next most important at that time.

In view of such complicated situation, we turn again to those works written in

spoken language for further confirmation of the status of Zi. We include Shi shuo

xin yu () and Qi ming yao shu (), written both in this period, in

our corpus. The final search results are presented as follows:

Table 5

Ba Hu Ch Qi He Zi L Bi Ho Ga Pi LH

Shi shuo xin yu 21 9 1 7 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0

Qi ming yao shu 222 127 96 84 83 43 16 5 4 1 2 0

Sum 243 136 97 91 86 46 16 6 4 1 2 0

% 33 1 9 13 13 12 6 2 1 1 0 0 0

* Ba- Bai; Hu- Huang; Ch - Chi; Qi- Qing; He- Hei; Zi - Zi ; L- L; Bi- Bi; Ho-

Hong; Ga- Gan; Pi-Piao; LH-Liu-Huang.

It is found that the frequency of Zi in these two works are highly consistent


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with the data we have collected in the history books as well as dictionaries. At thattime, its use has far outrun those of other non-basic color terms and could be safely

listed as an equivalent of the other basic color terms.

In summary, Zi could be ranked among the basic color terms at that time. So

the list should be Bai, Huang, Hei, Chi , Qing, Zi.

4.6 The Sui Through Tang, Five Dynasties & Ten Kingdoms To Song Dynasties (ca. 581-1279 A.D.)

Basic Color Terms:

Bai (white ), Huang (yellow), Hei (black), Chi/Hong (red), Qing (grue), Zi

(purple), L (green)

During this period, we could find such history books asLiang shu (), Chen

shu (), Bei qi shu ( ), Zhou shu (), Jin shu (), Sui shu (),

Nan shi (), Bei shi (), Jiu tang shu ( ), Jiu we dai shi (),

Xin tang shu (), Xin wu dai shi ()22. Accordingly, we list Chi, Zi

as a reference data here and the frequencies of the other major color terms are:

Table 6

Ch Zi L Ji Za Ho Bi Cu Xu Ga Zi2 Pi Zh Xi

Liang 23 39 8 3 6 8 5 7 1 1 1 6 2

Chen 10 17 1 1 4 2

Bei qi 23 11 2 1 1 1 1

Zhou 12 18 4 1 1 2 1

Jin 238 79 22 43 42 6 3 8 3 6 7 9 3

Sui 304 101 44 98 48 21 13 18 34 28 8 22 3 7

Nan 51 60 11 16 7 14 7 5 1 2 3

Bei 84 49 8 3 8 6 4 3 1 2 1 4

Jiu tang 126 365 42 19 31 18 10 11 11 2 8 4 3

Jiuwudai 19 75 10 3 6 3 4 1 2 4

Xin tang 220 168 46 7 31 22 14 16 5 18 3 5

Xinwudai 11 8 2 1 4 3 6

Sum 1121 990 198 167 146 132 79 69 64 55 43 34 32 19

% 36 31 6 5 5 4 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

* Ch - Chi; Zi - Zi ; L-L; Ji-Jiang; Za- Zao; Ho- Hong; Bi- Bi; Cu- Cui; Xu-Xun;

Ga- Gan; Zi2--Zi2; Pi-Piao; Zh-Zhe; Xi-Xiang.


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In Table 6, Zi is found to have firmly established its status as a basic colorterm. And eventually, L and Hong start to appear as color terms in common use.

At the same time, Lan emerges the first time23 and Hui initiates its use in a

metaphoric way24. It could be noticed that He, Zong (, brown), Cheng still

kept using as the names of articles. Taking all these into account, the basic color

terms in this period, should at least contain Bai, Huang, Hei, Chi, Qing, Zi, while

L, Hong, Lan, Hui call for further justification.

We first turn to Lei pian (), another etymological dictionary compiled in

this period, and have produced the following frequency list:

Bai 295, Hei 248, Huang 165, Chi 162, Qing 122, Xuan 28, Zi 14, Su 13, Jiang

12, Zhu 10, Dan 8, Gan 6, Zhe 5, Bi 4, Zi 2 3, Hong 3, Zao 3, Tong 3, Piao 3, Xun 2,

L 1; in this book, Lan, Hui, Zong, Cheng, Cui (, jade green),He, Dian are not

listed as color terms and there are another 124 less-used color terms composed of

Chi, Hei, Bai, Huang, Xi. Anyway, it is easily perceived that L and Hong

have been listed as color terms but they are not used frequently. As for Hui and

Lan, they are still excluded from color terms.

Now, we cast a look at what Dunhuang bianwen ()25, written in

spoken language, has provided us. We get the following data: Qing 85, Hong 70, Zi

61, Chi 34, L 14, Hui 0, Lan 0. Conspicuously, Hong has achieved an equal status

as Zi and Chi. At the same time, there is an increasing use of L, though its

frequency of use still falls short of those of the other basic color terms. On the other

hand, Hui and Lan could not be claimed to be basic color terms.

To ascertain what position Hong and L hold at that time, we refer to Quan

tang shi ( ) and Quan song ci ( ) (in electronic version). The relevant

frequencies are stated as follows (here we make no distinction between the use as the

color terms and the other usages, since we lay emphasis more onL, Hong, which are

mainly employed as color terms there): Bai 12829 / 2320, Qing 6467 /3620, Huang

4240 / 3242, Hong 4168 / 5748, Bi 2841 / 2160, L 2792 / 2773, Cui 2555 / 2993, Zi

2294 / 1105, Dan 2140 / 1245, Zhu 1867 / 1201, Cang 1733 / 703, Xuan 1431 / 220,

Su1323 / 1043, Chi 807 / 302, Fen(, pink) 785 / 1171, Hei 528 / 136, Hui 415 /

117, Lan 259 / 198, He 148 / 22, Tong 127 / 63, Zong 36 / 5, Cheng 28 / 91 .

Obviously, Bi, Cui, Dan achieve a high frequency in usage because of its reference

to the objects, while Chi, Hei get a relatively low frequency due in large part to

their tone and cultural images. Whereas Hong, L top even other basic color


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terms in contrast to the low frequency of Hui, Lan, Zong, Fen, Cheng, He, whichare mainly or totally used as the names of objects.

As another way of evidence, the search results ofMeng l iang lu ()26 and

Wulin jiu shi ()27, which have been completed shortly before or around the

Yuan Dynasty, assure us of the above analysis.

Table 7

Ho Zi L He Ch Hu La

Wulin jiu shi 33 27 19 4 4 0 0

Meng liang lu 103 61 41 18 18 0 0

Sum 136 88 60 22 22 0 0

% 42 27 18 7 7 0 0

* Ho- Hong; Zi - Zi; L-L; He- Hei;Ch - Chi; Hu-Hui; La-Lan.

As shown in Table 7, Hong has overpowered such basic color terms as Zi,

Hei and Chi in its frequency and L could also be ranked as one member

among those basic color terms.

In summary, it could be perceived that at that time, Chi and Hong coexists

as basic color terms and Chi is going to be replaced by Hong to represent Red.

Concurrently, Hong, L are increasingly employed since the Tang and Song

dynasties as a possible result of the prevalence of poems and Ci, classical Chinese

poetry conforming to a definite pattern. Accordingly, Basic Color Terms should

include Bai, Huang, Hei , Chi/Hong, Qing, Zi , L.

4.7 The Yuan Through Ming To Qing Dynasties (ca. 1271-1911 A.D.)

Basic Color Terms:

Bai (white), Huang (yellow), Hei (black), Hong (red), Qing (grue), Zi

(purple), L (green)

All history books in this period areLiao shi (),Jin shi (), Song shi (

), Yuan shi (), Ming shi ()28. Here in contrast to the frequency of such

basic color terms as Chi, Hong, Qing, Zi, L, we list those of other major color terms

as follows:


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Table 8Qi Ch Ho Zi Fe Zh L Bi Cu La He Fen Hu

Liao 67 14 17 20 10 9 10 1 2 1

Jin 124 110 177 136 100 28 29 6

Song 1033 1244 242 498 314 301 87 48 60 6 13 2 1

Yuan 400 215 245 58 102 81 12 15 12 10 6

Ming 335 179 547 74 31 55 84 13 9 21 7 11 2

Sum 1959 1762 1228 786 557 365 290 103 92 40 30 13 9

% 27 24 17 11 8 5 4 1 1 1 0 0 0

* Qi- Qing; Ch - Chi; Ho- Hong; Zi - Zi; Fe- Fei; Zh- Zhu; L-L; Bi- Bi; Cu- Cui;

La-Lan; He- He;Fen- Fen; Hu-Hui.

Table 8 witnesses a full-scale replacement of Chi by Hong. (during this

period, Chiis mainly employed in Tianwen zhi [ , Records of Astronomy]

and Yufu zhi [ , Records of Vehicle and Clothing] of those books. ) and L

is stabilized as a basic color term. Lan, He have now entered the list of color terms

but fail to claim the status of being basic color terms; Hui is now on stage as a

color word in grey spoon ()(in Song shi) and grey and black mouse (

) / silver grey plate ( ) (in Yuan shi); Fen shows up in terms of

Fen-Hong ( , pink-red)(in Song shi) and Fen-Bai (, pink-white),

Fen-Qing (, pink-grue) , Fen-Mo ( , pink-black) (in Ming shi); on the

contrary, Zong remains to be the name of object as shown in a house of palm (

), a carriage of palm () respectively in Song shi and Ming shi; and Cheng

retains its status as a name of object. The only surprise lies in the mass production of

Fei, which, after scrutiny, proves to be closely related to the color of the officials

gown of the Ming dynasty.

With regard to the spoken-language corpus, we refer to A Dream of Red Mansions

(), a classic written in Vernacular Chinese () and completed at the end of the

Qing dynasty (in electronic version). Its frequencies of relevant color terms are:

Hong 391, Qing 134, L 86, Hei 74, Zi 38, Chi 18, Hui 15, Lan 2, Fen-Hong 1, He 0,

Cheng 0, Zong 0, Fei 0.

Not surprisingly, the frequency we got is similar to the data we have collected

from those history books (the exception ofFei has been illustrated above.) Again, the


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replacement of Chi by Hong is irrevocable, while it is more fitting not to regardHui and Lan, though with a considerable increase in its frequency compared with

the previous stage, as basic color terms.

In view of the above analysis, we asserts the following basic color terms: Bai,

Huang, Hei , Hong, Qing, Zi, L.

4.8 Modern China (ca. 1911-present)

Basic Color Terms:

Bai (white), Hong (red), Hei (black), Huang (yellow), Zi (purple), L (green),

Lan (blue), Hui (grey)

There exists a controversy over what are basic color terms in Modern China.

Different claims are listed here: (as cited in Xie 2004:97):

Table 9

Source Ho Hu Ch Qi L La Di Zi Zh He Hei Ba Hu

TY

JM

XD

LYQ

ZRF

LDQ

YJ

YXP

WFX

LHY

* The shadow part indicates this color is regarded as belonging to basic color terms.

* TY- Tongyici cilin (); JM- Jiaming hanyu yilei cidian (

); XD- Xiandai hanyu fenlei cidian (); LYQ- Liu Yunquan

(); ZRF- Zhan Renfeng (); LDQ- Liu Danqing (); YJ- Ye Jun

(); YXP-Yao Xiaoping (); WFX- Wang Fengxin (); LHYLi

Hongyin ().

* Ho- Hong; Hu- Huang; Ch- Cheng; Qi- Qing; L- L; La- Lan; Di- Dian; Zi - Zi;

Zh-Zhe; He- He; Hei- Hei; Ba-Bai; Hu- Hui.


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From Table 9, it could be found that Hong, L, Lan, Hei, Bai as basic colorterms are not disputed. As for Zi, Huang, Hui, they await further confirmation. In

contrast, He is alternating between acceptance and denial while Qing, Zhe, Cheng,

Dian receive doubts in many respects.

In order to verify the actual usage of each major color terms, we look to Qing

shigao ()29 for a possible solution. The frequency of relevant color terms are

specified as follows (here the routine name and official title such as Zheng hong qi

[ , Primary Red Battalion], Lanling shiwei [ , Blue-Plume

Housecarl] are not counted):

Table 10

Hu Ba Ho La Hei Ch Zi L Hu Zo Zh He Qi

Qing shi 941 756 561 279 246 201 137 93 6 3 3 0 522

25 20 15 7 7 5 4 3 0 0 0 0 14

* Hu-Huang; Ba- Bai; Ho- Hong; La- Lan; Hei- Hei; Ch - Chi; Zi - Zi; L-L; Hu-

Hui; Zo-Zong; Zh-Zhe; He- He; Qi- Qing.

We could easily figure out Huang, Bai, Hong, Lan, Hei, Zi, L as the major

color terms. The only exception could be Qing, which is frequently used, but

denotes, like Cang, three different colors, i.e., Hei, L, Lan. After the emergence

of Lan, it is not fitting to classify it as a basic color term according to B & Ks

definition. As for Chi, it could only be found in Tianwen zhi and Yufu zhi,

confining to a larger extent to some special fields. As a result, Hui, Zong, Zhe are

still very rare while He, Dian, Cheng could not be traced.

But since the May 4th Movement, Vernacular Chinese develops by leaps and

bounds. To further verify the positioning of Hui, Zong, Zhe, He, Dian, Cheng in

modern Chinese, we take most of celebrated works30 by modern writers into account

and the relevant data is listed as follows: Bai-se ()210, Hong-se () 192,

Hui-se () 190, Hei-se () 178, Huang-se () 125, L-se () 101,

Lan-se (

) 83, Qing-se (

) 54, Zi-se (

) 48, Chi-se (

) 39He-se (

)

33, Zong-se () 22, Zhe-se () 10, Cheng-se () 0 , Dian-se () 0. And

the respective occurrences ofHongand Chi as color terms are 1763 and 121.

In summary, in modern Chinese, Qing should be excluded according to B &

Ks standard; and Bai, Hong, Hei, Huang, L, Lan, Zi could be regarded as the


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basic color terms. The only uncertainty lies in Hui, which, though not inaccordance with B&Ks requirement that it shall not specify one class of objects, is

different from He, Zong, Cheng. It enjoys a higher freedom while used together

with a noun (se [) in the combination could be omitted) and could be modified

by such adjuncts as hen (, very) or feichang ( , very). It seems that

Hui is undergoing the last lexicalization stage of being a basic color term. On the

contrary, He, Zong, Cheng have to combine se in representing color and cannot

be modified by hen or feichang. Moreover, they, more often than not, specify

one class of objects as Jin (, gold / of gold color), Yin (, silver / of silver

color), Yu (, jade / of jade color) do.

In view of all these, Hui could barely be accepted as a basic color term and

thus form a constellation of Bai, Hong, Hei, Huang, L, Lan, Zi, Hui.

4.9 Conclusion

To sum up, we could come up with the following table, which illustrates the

long-history evolution of CBCT.

Table 11

Period Bai Hei Huang Hong Qing Zi L Lan Hui

1 You Chi

2 Xuan Chi

3 Chi Qing/Cang

4 Chi

5 Chi

6 Chi/Hong

7

8

* 1- The Late Shang dynasty; 2- The Western Zhou dynasty; 3- The Spring & Autumn

and Warring States Periods; 4- The Qin dynasty and Han dynasties; 5- The Three

Kingdoms Dynasties through Jin to Southern & Northern dynasties; 6- The Tang and

Song dynasty; 7- The Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties; 8- Modern China.

5RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Based on the diachronic analysis of CBCT, its evolution could be divided,


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as it is, into five phases. They are:

Table 12

Phase Period Basic Color Terms

1 Bai You Huang Chi1. The Shang and Western

Zhou dynasties 2 Bai Xuan Huang Chi

3 Bai Hei Huang Chi Qing/Cang2. The Eastern Zhou, Qin and

Han dynasties 4 Bai Hei Huang Chi Qing

3. The Southern & Northern

dynasties

5 Bai Hei Huang Chi Qing Zi

6 Bai Hei Huang Qing Zi L Chi/Hong4. The Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming

and Qing dynasties 7 Bai Hei Huang Qing Zi L Hong

5. Modern China 8 Bai Hei Huang Hong Lan Zi L Hui

* 1- The Late Shang dynasty; 2- The Western Zhou dynasty; 3- The Spring & Autumn

and Warring States Periods; 4- The Qin dynasty and Han dynasties; 5- The Three

Kingdoms Dynasties through Jin to Southern & Northern dynasties; 6- The Tang and

Song dynasty; 7- The Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties; 8- Modern China.

5.1 Chinese Basic Color Terms against The Recent Developments of Berlin & Kays Theory

Based on the above analysis, we could figure out the evolutionary development

of CBCT. Without knowing what stages have preceded its development, CBCT starts

from Stage III with white, red, yellow and black (Phase 1), moves to Stage IV

containing white, red, yellow, black and grue (Phase 2), develops further to include

purple (Phase 3), then reaches a Special Stage including white, red, yellow, black,

grue, green and purple (Phase 4), and ends with Stage V having white, red, yellow,

black, green, blue, purple and grey (Phase 5).

The Main-line Hypothesis

Against the latest revision of Berlin & Kays theory of basic color terms

suggested by Kay & Maffi (1999), the evolution of CBCT does not fall into theassumed main line (Trajectory A, see Figure 5). Instead, it fits better into Trajectory B

by following an order of Stage I, Stage II, Stage IIIBk/G/Bu, Stage IVG/Bu and Stage V.

However, before we make such a claim, some further considerations should be

given to the status of You and later Xuan as Black or Green or Blue in Stage


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IIIBk/G/Bu. It should be noted that in Period 1: the Late Shang Dynasty, apart from fourbasic color terms, we could observe such color terms as Wu (multi-colored), Li

(multi-colored or black) but not Cong(cyan); whereas in Period 2: The Western Zhou

Dynasty, Congemerges to represent Cyan and Wu and Li disappear in our searching

results. Though due to the limits of historical literature available now, it is not safe to

assert that Composite Category Black or Green or Blue in Stage III Bk/G/Bu could be

represented in CBCT by both a basic color term meaning black (You in Period 1

and Xuan in Period 2) and another color term referring to either multi-colored

(Wu or Li in Period 1) or cyan (Cong in Period 2), we should not simply

claim the former doctrine while discard the latter possibilities.

Another noteworthy point lies in the Special Stage of CBCT with both Qing

(black or grue) and L (green) entering the list of basic color terms. It is really

surprising why Qingcould persist even up to Period 7 without losing its glamour (in

Contemporary China, Qingas a color term is less frequently used31). It seems that we

could classify this Special Stage in CBCT into a transition stage between Stage IV and

Stage V, but a transition period spanning between 600 years (counting from the Song

Dynasties to 1911) and 1300 years (counting from the Tang Dynasty to 1911) is really

challenging us to wonder how transition takes shape. In view of this, it would be more

proper to defend that there is another stage existing between Stage IV and Stage V.

Most important of all, the evolution of CBCT falsifies the significance of the

Main line proposed by Kay & Maffi (1999). By virtue of this fact, we are cautioned

that a number of synchronic studies do not amount to a diachronic study. Though 83%

of languages in the world could be grouped under this Main-line framework (Chinese

included), it does not necessarily mean that this is exactly an evolutionary development

of most basic color lexicons. Obviously, the evolution of Chinese basic color terms

adopts another less traveled route and reaches the same point in the Main line.

Derived categories:Zi(purple), Hui(gray) andHe / Zong(brown)

According to Kay & McDaniel (1978) as well as Kay, Berlin & Merrifield

(1991), gray, brown and purple could appear before Stage V, when the green

or blue composite category is dissolved. Judging from the evolution of CBCT, those

revisions are essential to the original Berlin & Kays (1969) model. It is conspicuous

that in Chinese,Zi has been holding the status of a basic color term long since Period

5. Amazingly, this is also corresponding to Bosters (1986) and Davies & Corbetts


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5.2 Shifts In Color Naming And UsageAccording to the Lexical Diffusion theory proposed by William S-Y Wang,

language changes in an S-curve fashion (gradual beginnings, rapid spread and

gradual tapering off) that is lexically gradual, diffusing across the lexicon (Wang

1969, 1979, 1983). Though his theory is more phonologically and morphologically

oriented, many investigations into syntactical and semantic change have also been

conducted (Romaine, 1983; Kroch, 1989; Stein 1990; Ogura & Wang, 1993; Hundt

2001; Company 2002; Cheung 2004). Based on the Lexical Diffusion theory, Wang

points out that this hypothesis of lexical diffusion suggests that , at any given time in

any living language, we should expect to find several sets of morphemes with dual

pronunciations (Wang, 1969: 15). In the same vein, we could focus on shifts in color

naming and usage to locate several sets of senses with dual lexemes.

It is interesting to note that in the long history of evolution of CBCT, 1) Black

is sequentially represented by You, Xuan, Hei; 2) Blue and Green are universally

represented by Cong, Cang, Qing before they became basic color terms; 3) Red has

been represented by Chi, but when it comes to the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties

(Period 7), Hong takes its place; 4) Zhu has faded out gradually after the Ming

dynasty as a possible result of taboo on using the personal names of emperors; 5)

since the Movement of Vernacular Chinese, the CBCT tends to develop from

monosyllabic words to be disyllabic words, for instance, Huang is more frequently

adopted as Huang-se. Could such interesting transformations in color naming and

usage be accompanied by a slight shift in category perception, especially for 1), 2) ,3)

and 5)? For example, in Bai Yun Cang Gou (), Cang means black or

gray which shifts from its original meaning in early historical period. That is not an

easy question to be answered and invites further investigations. However, as

suggested above, we could further analyze such transformations in the light of the

Lexical Diffusion theory for a more revealing picture. For the purpose of

convenience, we now turn to the replacement ofChi byHong for a close look at how

such change proceeds.


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0.00%

0.02%

0.04%

0.06%

0.08%

Chi 0.018% 0.032% 0.035% 0.022% 0.059% 0.009%

Hong 0.001% 0.006% 0.002% 0.002% 0.016% 0.048%

3 4 5 6 7 8

Graph 1: Contrast between ChiandHong: Usage in General

* Percentages are based on each words total occurrences / total tokens for each

period. Each number indicates a corresponding Period, e.g., 3 refers to Period 3.

Furthermore, we present a contrast between Chi and Hong when they are used

as color terms32 as follows (Graph 2):

0.00%

0.01%

0.02%

0.03%

0.04%

Chi 0.006% 0.012% 0.015% 0.012% 0.018% 0.002%

Hong 0.000% 0.001% 0.001% 0.001% 0.013% 0.029%

3 4 5 6 7 8

Graph 2: Contrast between ChiandHong: Usage as Color Terms

* Percentages are based on each words total occurrences as color terms / total tokens

for each period. Each number indicates a corresponding Period.

To illustrate how much percentages Chi and Hongas color terms account for in

their total occurrences, we generate another graph here (Graph 3).


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0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Chi 34.62% 38.65% 43.98% 55.50% 31.00% 21.68%

Hong 33.33% 11.84% 52.73% 92.31% 79.90% 60.42%

3 4 5 6 7 8

Graph 3: Contrast between ChiandHong: Color Sense

* Percentages are based on each words total occurrences as color terms / total token

for each word. Each number indicates a corresponding Period.

In Graph 1 & 2, it could be observed how Chi is replaced byHonggradually. In

terms ofHong, it complies well with the Lexical Diffusion theory in both its total

tokens and its occurrences as a color term: It begins gradually from Period 3 to Period

6 and rises rapidly at Period 7 and 8. We are not sure whether it still gains momentum

or is going to taper off. As forChi, it looks more stable thanHongin every respect and

falls obviously into a tapering-off period33. In Graph 3, amazingly,Hongof color sense

also conforms excellently to the predications suggested by the Lexical Diffusion theory,

which reaches its peak at Period 6 and then tapers off34, whereas Chi is used most

frequently as color terms at the same time as Hong (Period 6). It runs counter to our

expectation of how each words prototypical center changes: Chi could proceed Hong

in its change of prototypical center since it has appeared as a basic color term

representing Red long beforeHongserves this function. Taking this into account, we

could assume that the change of prototypical center for one word does not necessarily

follow a Bell-shape curve. Instead, a Wave-curve change could be more acceptable and

plausible with reference to our corpora here. Of course, such tentative suggestion

should be subject to more rigorous verifications in the future.

5.3 Different Time Span Between Different Nations

From Stage III to Stage V, CBCT spends some 3500 years (from the Late Shang

dynasty [ca. 1500 B.C] to the present). Whereas the evolution of English Basic Color


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Terms, originating from the Old English Anglo-Saxon (about 449 A.D.), at mostamounts to 1500 years for its development into Stage VII (referring to the present

English basic color terms system). If we have taken the possible time for Chinese to

develop into Stage VII into account, such gap could be astonishing35. Could level

of technological development and degree of cultural complexity, as suggested by

most scholars, account for such huge gap conceived in the same biological features?

It seems a more plausible answer is expected.

5.4 Motivation For Language Evolution

In many of previous literatures concerning the evolution of basic color terms,

explanations about the possible driving forces for the above-mentioned changes have

been less discussed. Some simulation work suggests that cultural factors could be a

force, and even Kays work suggests that cultural evolution may serve a role to adjust

color terms around some universal focal colors. With reference to the uniqueness of

Chinese history, the philosophy of Wu Xing or Five Agents, Taboo in calling

names of emperors or parents (), Rhyming in poetry as well as Language policy

could be possible candidates for such driving forces, but such explanations are not

firmly grounded. Furthermore, it is still pending whether language evolution is

biologically-based or culturally-based. Biologists, neurologists , anthropologists,

archaeologists, computer scientists, philosophers and linguists have presented to us

many contrasting and confusing arguments in both directions.

In view of this fact, the biologist George C. Williams, or Chomskys proposal

is worth considering as a possible way out. According to Williams, language is not an

organism, but it is a biologically based characteristic of a certain species of

organism36. It is therefore reasonable to look in it for crystalline features (due to laws

of form), i.e., Organism-as-crystal; artifactural features (due to natural selection), i.e.,

Organism-as-artifact, and documentary features (due to historical accident), i.e.,

Organism-as-document (Williams, 1992: 6). These seem closely parallel to

Chomskys three-way conditions (though Chomsky is concerned with the initial state

of the language faulty in an individual prior to linguistic experience and admittedly

there exist some differences between these two classification systems): Unexplained

elements of the initial conditions, Interface conditions (including the sensorimotor

and conceptual-intentional systems, the principled part of the initial conditions), and

General properties of computational efficiency (Chomsky 2001: 2-3). Since it is


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difficult or impossible at present for us to verify or falsify these initial conditions ofan individual prior to linguistic experience or any language, it is feasible to cast a

look at its resultant conditions. Still, we take the semantic field of color for example.

Below, we present a list of those basic color terms with the relevant number of their

hyponyms, with a contrast between Modern English (E) and Modern Chinese (C) (Table 13).

Table 13Source: Xie, 2004: 100-167

Hong Huang L Lan Zi Hei Bai Hui

E C E C E C E C E C E C E C E C

P 85 127 57 129 41 140 28 75 19 37 62 99 55 95 33 53

M 27 26 24 32 18 33 20 16 10 21 5 16 15 11 17 25

* P Pure hue; M- Mixed hue.

As we know, in modern English and Chinese, their basic color terms are

fundamentally corresponding with each other, e.g.,Hei-se vs Black,Bai-se vs White,

Hong-se vs Red, Huang-se vs Yellow, Lan-se vs Blue , L-se vs Green, Zi-se vs

Purple and Hui-se vs. Grey. They even share the same contrast in hue between Cool

vs Warm or Dark vs Light. As for their hyperonymy, Yan-se() or Color, they

are exactly the same in their meaning. However, when we turn to its hyponymy, two

major differences could be detected immediately: 1) the number of hyponyms in

Chinese for each basic color terms is larger than that in English, with a few

exceptions in term of mixed hue ( ); and 2) most of Chinese hyponyms follow

a Object-Basic color terms configuration in their naming, e.g., Xue-Hong-se ( ,

sanguine). In contrast, such compounds are less adopted for hyponyms in English

and usually another new word is coined or borrowed to serve this function, e.g.,

Azure (Tian-Lang-se, ).

Obviously, these hyponyms are, to a larger extent, influenced by their

respective cultures in terms of both its defining of color sub-categories and its

naming or perception. On the contrary, these basic color terms are less affected,

differing only in the number of basic color terms: 11 for English and 8 for Chinese.As for their umbrella terms (the hyperonym of basic color terms), we may claim they

are universal in almost every respect. Thus, if we combine Williams three-way

distinction of language evolution with Chomskys three-fold initial conditions of an

individual, we could tentatively describe the status-quo of basic color terms as


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bio-culturally-based, that of their hyperonym as more biologically-based and that oftheir hyponyms as more culturally-based. It follows that other semantic fields will

reveal the same picture to us. In view of this fact, Williams and Chomskys proposals

are worth further pursuing, e.g., with reference to high- or low-frequency words, so

that a more analytic framework about language evolution could be established and

testified or falsified.

6CONCLUSION

In this paper, we first sketch out how Chinese basic color terms evolve. And

then with reference to the relevant findings, we have compared the actuality in

Chinese with the assumption held by the theory of Basic Color Terms. We have noted

that the evolution in Chinese conforms to a great degree to the hypothesis suggested

in the recent revisions, with exception to the unorthodoxical route chosen by

CBCT and the possible explanation of a Special Stage in CBCT. In a sense, the

universality of color perception could be justified semantically. And it is also very

interesting for us to note how words and naming are progressing with the

development of society.

However, there are also several limitations to this study. It is not an

experimental study due to its diachronic perspective and unique corpus. What is

more important, our study is closely connected to Chinese literature and its own

naming system in color words, which will certainly make the reading a little bit

difficult. We should also notice that our corpus could not be exhaustive, it is possible

that many incidents or highlights in CBCT fail to be noted. More relevant

research is expected to discover those latent imprints in color category and its

relation with society.

Nonetheless, by virtue of frequency counts, we have init iated a diachronic

study concerning basic color terms and come up with an evolutionary scheme of

CBCT in a more acceptable way. Resorting to different dynasties of Chinese history

books and other documentat ions stil l available now, we intend to have a try in

verifying or falsifying some findings in cross-sectional studies. We think such path is

less traveled and is worthwhile to be further pursued.

At the same time, we believe our research could also be revealing to the

following further studies:

First, the similarity and difference between the evolution of CBCT and that of


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other languages could be compared so as to highlight their abnormalities inrelation to their respective languages and cultures. For example, Hebrew in The

Bible37, is estimated to be classified as Stage IV, with its basic color terms being:

adom red, laban white, sahorblack, yaroq green, sahob yellow (Brenner,

1982). This is highly complying with the evolution of CBCT both in terms of time

(the Spring & Autumn and Warring States Periods) and stage (both are on Stage IV).

If we contrast these basic color terms in the present Hebrew (after its revival) with

CBCT now, it could be enlightening to the questions above;

Second, the lexicalization of color category could be reviewed with reference to

our findings concerning the specific historical development of color terms. Just as

Wang has suggested, the lexicon is mostly enriched via a process which biologists

call pre-adaptation, i.e., making use of pre-existing structures for novel functions

(Wang 1999: 253). Such semantic extension could be better observed if it is confined

to such a domain like Color;

Third, the temporal order of CBCTs emergence could be used in archaeology

so as to locate the exact date of ancient books, paintings, relics etc.

In general, through the survey of the evolution of CBCT, we are anticipating to

explore a new way in studying color category. And we wish such an attempt should

not be wrongly made.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to Professor William Shi-Yuan Wang, the Editor, not only for his

generous help in the writing process, but also for his constructive comments on an

earlier draft that have greatly improved this article. I am also indebted to anonymous

reviewers for their insightful comments. The research described here has been

supported by Special Items Fund of Beijing International Studies University, BMEC

grant SM201010031001 and PHR201108165.

NOTES

1. Usually, such history book of one dynasty will be recorded and compiled by


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scholars of the next dynasty. Starting from Shiji (), the first book of this kind,which had recorded the important historic moment ever since ancient times till

Western Han Dynasty when the author was in, this tradition lasts until the time when

the last book of Qing Dynasty has been published.

2. Previous scholars have tried to attribute the inscriptions to the different royal

reigns which are usually divided into five periods: Period I = King Wu Ding [];

Period II = King Zu Geng [], King Zu Jia []; Period III = King Lin Xin [

], King Kang Ding []; Period IV = King Wu Yi [], King Wen King [];

and Period V = King Di Yi [], King Di Xin []. See Dong [1935].

3. Is it yellow? There is no verdict among scholars.

4. X means a word having not recognized yet.

5. It is edited by Chinese Research Center of East China Normal University, a work

which is based on 9916 pieces of bronze wares with inscriptions made in the Late

Shang and Western Zhou dynasties and 2253 pieces of bronze wares with inscriptions

made in the Spring & Autumn and Warring States Periods.

6. It is believed by Sima Qian () and Ban Gu () that this book is edited by

Confucius (551 B.C.- 479 B.C.). Here we only refer to Five Mandates of the Early

Zhou Dynasty () and Yao Dian (), Shun Dian () and Yu Gong (

).We dont include the last 25 pieces since they are possibly not written at that time.

7. It is selected and edited by Confucius.

8. It is trimmed and edited by Confucius.

9. It is believed to be written by Confucius, who once comments that if there would

be several years added to me, I would have mastered the quintessence ofZhou yi well.

I could easily become without major faults (

). In this view, this book is written at least in the late Spring and Autumn Period

before Confucius died.

10. It is written in the Early Warring States Period.

11. Chunqiu () is edited by Confucius in his late years while the author of

Chunqiu zuozhuangis claimed by Sima Qian and Ban Gu to be Zuo Qiuming (

), an official historiographer () of the same age as Confucius. The recent

studies seem to suggest this book is edited around the Early Warring States Period.

12. The Works of Mencius is regarded by Sima Qian as a narration by Mencius,

together with his disciples Wanzhang ( ) and Gongsun Chou () and

Mencius plays a dominant role in completing it. There is still controversy over


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Mencius birthdate. But it is generally believed that Mencius was born in 372 B. C.i.e, the Mid Warring States Period.

13. It is believed, by different scholars, to be written by Zhou Gong Dan ( ) in

the Western Zhou, or to be completed in the Warring States Period, or to be authored

by Liu Xin ( ) in the Western Han Dynasty. The recent study, based on

inscriptions in the bronze wares made in the Zhou and Qin dynasties, suggests that it

should be a work in the Warring States Period.

14. Among them, Guan yin zi ( ) by Yin Xi (), Shen zi () by Shen

Dao (),Kang cang zi ( ) by Geng Sangchu ( ), Yan zi () by Yan

Ying (), Yin wen zi ( ) by Yin Wen () are not included in our analysis

since it is possibly not written at that time.

15. This collection is more trustworthy than Si ku quan shu ().

16. The search results show that there is almost no use of color words in Deng xi zi

( ) andLao zi (). Consequently, theirs results are not listed in the table.

17. Wu Xing assumes complex and cosmic interrelationships among the five agents

(metal, wood, fire, water and earth), the five directions (north, south, east, west and

the middle ), the five colors, the five tastes, the five notes of the musical scale, etc.

18. It is verified that these two works were written in the Western Han () Dynasty.

19. Shi ji andHan shu are two ofThe Twenty-five Histories.

20. The other color words composed of Bai, Hei, Chi, Huang, Qing, Dan, Zhu, Xi

(, the silk radical) account for another 155 words (Hu 1941). Due to their low

frequencies, they are not included here.

21. They are all from The Twenty-five Histories.

22. They are all from The Twenty-five Histories.

23. Two instances could be found: to go beyond Lan, we get Qing ()

(Bei qi shu: 292) / to go beyond Lan, we get Qing() (Bei shi: 1233).

24. Three instances could be found: as grey as ash () (Jin shu: 185) / of

ash color and with short legs () (Jin shu: 1276) / as grey as ash ()

(Sui shu: 405).

25. Here we choose A New Collection of Dunhuang Bianwen verified and edited by

Pan Chonggui ().

26. As for its completion, it is generally believed to be after the fall of Linan (),

the then Capital of The Southern Song Dynasty. However the date in the book is

stipulated as on the Mid-Autumn Festival of the year Jiaxu (), i.e.,


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1274, just before the Fall. But in terms of its content, the book is still assumed bymost scholars to be completed after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty.

27. It should be completed before 1290.

28. All books are from The Twenty-five Histories.

29. This is the last book ofThe Twenty-five Histories.

30. Here 30 collections of works are included: The Works of Lu Xun (),

The Works of Hu Yepin (), The Works of Jiang Guangci (),

The Works of Qu Qiubai (), Ideal and Energy (), The

Works of Liang Qichao (), The Works of Liang Yuchun (),

The Works of Lu Yin (), The Works of Peng Jiahuang(), The

Works of Shi Pingmei (), The Works of Wang Shiwei (), The

Works of Rou Shi (), The Works of Zou Taofen (), The Works of

Dai Wangshu ( ), The Works of Kang Youwei ( ), The

Collection of Prose of Xiao Hong (), Novels of Xiao Hong (),

Aimei Qiaoyu (),Poems of Xu Zhimo (),Prose of Xu Zhimo (

), The Works of Xu Dishan (), The Works of Ye Zi (),

Prose of Yu Dafu (), Novels of Yu Dafu (), The Works of

Zhu Xiang (), The Collection of Prose of Zhu Ziqing (),

The Collection of Poems of Wen Yiduo (), The Last Public Speech (

), The Works of Liu Bannong (), and The Works of Zou Rong

().

31. By searching on www.google.cn (Time: 11: 50 a.m., July 9th, 2007), we have been

feedback the following data (Unit: million): L-se 65.2, Hei-se 52.5, Hong-se 42.1,

Bai-se 40.8, Huang-se 25, Hui-se 20.6, Zi-se16.2, Lan-se13.8, He-se 7.25, Cheng-se

6.9, Zong-se 5.83, Qing-se 4.25, Fen-Hong-se 1.17, Zhe-se 0.074, Dian-se 0.037.

32. Cheng has provided detailed quantitative data for each History Book, other

classical records and dictionaries, on the basis of which we have counted the total

tokens for each period as 438,444 (Period 3); 1,378,494 (Period 4); 3,381,302

(Period 5); 9,356,725 (Period 6) and 9,621,840 (Period 7). For Period 8, we use the

Traction Software Rapid PDF Count (V2.03) to obtain the total tokens (6,096,357)

for those 30 collections.

33. A search in our corpora shows that forChi, its total occurrences are 78 (Period 3),

445 (Period 4), 1187 (Period 5), 2020 (Period 6), 5683 (Period 7) and 558 (Period 8);

for Hong, 3 (Period 3), 76(Period 4), 55 (Period 5), 143 (Period 6), 1537 (Period 7)


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and 2918 (Period 8).34. See each table and list in Section 4 for detailed figures. It should also be noted

that here we do not distinguish Hong of Pink sense from Hong of Red sense

due to its complexity.

35. Period 7 is an exception for Chi. A further analysis indicates that Chi ()

exists in numerous names for officials and military ranks in Yuan shi, likeHu-chi (

), Hua-chi () [2789 occurrences in total (49.08% of Period 7) in Yuan shi],

and at the same time, Chi is used frequently in describing the royal rites and

astronomical phenomenon in Song shi, like Chi-ma (), Chi-qi () [1800

occurrences in total (31.67% of Period 7) in Song shi].

36. Period 3 is an exception forHong. This is largely due to its rare occurrences. In

our corpora, we have detected only 3 tokens forHong, and one of them is used as a

color term.

37. According to Kurgans hypothesis, the pro-Indo-European language could be

traced back to as early as 4000 B.C. But it could hardly be testified.

38. Coincidently, William S-Y Wang has also contributed an article on this topic. See

Wang, 2006 for details.

39. The Old Testament has been completed around the age from 1440 B.C. to 400

B.C. Among them, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy have been

claimed to be the earliest.

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Documents

The Evolution of Basic Color Terms in Chinese