Traditional Chinese Colors
Qing, red, yellow, white, black — the five canonical colors. The ancients named hues after landscapes, objects, and verses: every color is a scene, an artifact, a line of poetry.
Qing青 · Color of the East — sprouting grass and trees
天缥#C6E0DB
tiānpiǎo · Sky Misty Blue
A wisp of pale blue at the sky's shallow edge
缥碧#A3C8C4
piǎobì · Watery Jade
Water so jade-clear one sees a thousand fathoms down
艾绿#A4CAB6
àilǜ · Mugwort Green
The grey-green freshness of festival mugwort
豆绿#9ECCAB
dòulǜ · Pea Green
The tender hue of freshly shelled peas
竹青#789262
zhúqīng · Bamboo Green
The settled green of seasoned bamboo
梅子青#9EBE8F
méizǐqīng · Green Plum Celadon
The mellowest glaze of the Longquan kilns
松花绿#057748
sōnghuālǜ · Pine Pollen Green
Where pine pollen falls, a pool-deep green
石青#1685A9
shíqīng · Azurite
Mineral pigment, the bones of blue-green landscapes
群青#2E59A7
qúnqīng · Ultramarine
The blue that has not faded on Dunhuang walls
绀青#3D4470
gànqīng · Deep Indigo
The solemn hue of sutra cases
鸦青#424C50
yāqīng · Raven Teal
The teal sheen on a raven's wing
雨过天青#A8CDD2
yǔguòtiānqīng · Sky After Rain
“Make me the color of sky where clouds break after rain”
Red赤 · Color of the South — sun and fire
桃夭#E0A7B0
táoyāo · Peach Blossom
Peach trees young and fair, dazzling their bloom
退红#D9A8A0
tuìhóng · Fading Red
A red washed thin, almost not there
莲红#CC7B8B
liánhóng · Lotus Pink
The light blush of lotus rising from water
海棠红#C35C5D
hǎitánghóng · Crabapple Red
The crabapple spares no rouge
银红#C04851
yínhóng · Silvered Red
Red shot through with silver, a textile hue
朱红#C3272B
zhūhóng · Vermilion
The canonical red of palace walls and seal paste
朱砂#B0403C
zhūshā · Cinnabar
The grave red ground from cinnabar ore
胭脂#9D2933
yānzhi · Rouge
On a beauty's cheek, on fallen plum petals
殷红#A24343
yānhóng · Deep Maple Red
The deep red of maples after frost
绛紫#8C4356
jiàngzǐ · Crimson Purple
Red deepened to purple, quietly noble
柿红#D2691E
shìhóng · Persimmon
A string of warmth under late-autumn eaves
琥珀#CA6924
hǔpò · Amber
Time itself, set in pine resin
Yellow黄 · Color of the Center — the bounty of earth
鹅黄#E8D283
éhuáng · Gosling Yellow
Tender as a gosling's down
缃色#D2B042
xiāngsè · Pale Wheat Gold
Pale yellow silk; wheat at first ripening
缃叶#E2C672
xiāngyè · First-Turned Leaf
The first leaf to turn in early autumn
姜黄#C89B40
jiānghuáng · Turmeric Gold
A spice turned color, warm of its own accord
桂子黄#DBB54C
guìzǐhuáng · Osmanthus Gold
The unseen fragrance that fills mid-autumn streets
藤黄#D9A40E
ténghuáng · Gamboge
The brightest botanical yellow on the painter's table
鞠衣黄#E3BD5B
jūyīhuáng · Robe Yellow
The yellow of the queen's mulberry-rite robe
琉璃金#C9963F
liúlijīn · Glazed-Tile Gold
Light flowing along palace roof ridges
麦芽#C7A252
màiyá · Malt
Sweetness slow-cooked out of grain
腊梅黄#D9B611
làméihuáng · Wintersweet Yellow
Small waxen lamps lit in deep winter
赭石#955539
zhěshí · Ochre
The earth-color that texture-strokes mountains
驼色#A16B47
tuósè · Camel
Steady warmth, like an old wool blanket
White白 · Color of the West — frost and snow
月白#D6ECF0
yuèbái · Moon White
The faint blue of moonlight on white porcelain
霜色#D7E1E8
shuāngsè · Hoarfrost
A thin silver on dawn grass-tips
雪青#B0A4C4
xuěqīng · Snow Lilac
Snow reflecting a violet sky
鱼肚白#ECF5F4
yúdùbái · Fish-Belly White
The first pale light before daybreak
缟色#F2ECDE
gǎosè · Raw Silk White
The hue of undyed silk
乳白#F0F2EB
rǔbái · Milk White
A white that is warm, never glaring
蚕茧白#F2EADA
cánjiǎnbái · Cocoon White
Soft light wrapped in cocoon silk
梅蕊白#F2EDE5
méiruǐbái · Plum Stamen White
The plain heart of a winter plum blossom
苇花#D9CDB8
wěihuā · Reed Flower
Grey-white swaying at the autumn water's edge
云峰白#EFF2EF
yúnfēngbái · Cloud Peak White
The bright rim of towering summer clouds
玉色#EAF0E5
yùsè · Jade White
Gentle and warm, as the gentleman is like jade
粉米#EFDFD4
fěnmǐ · Powdered Rice
The faintly pink white among the Twelve Ornaments
Black黑 · Color of the North — deep mysterious waters
玄色#3B3A42
xuánsè · Profound Black
Heaven's dark hue — black with hidden red
黛#4A4266
dài · Eyebrow Ink
Shared by painted brows and distant hills
青黛#45465E
qīngdài · Indigo Ink
The deep dark settled out of indigo plants
黛灰#6B7775
dàihuī · Ink Grey
Mountain mist where the ink has thinned
宿墨#46474F
sùmò · Aged Ink
Overnight ink in the inkstone — deeper, more muted
漆黑#26262A
qīhēi · Lacquer Black
The dark gloss of a hundred coats of lacquer
乌金#5C4827
wūjīn · Dark Gold
The faint gold sheen on an inkstick
玄青#3D3B4F
xuánqīng · Deep Black Blue
The night sky on the verge of dawn
远山黛#4A535E
yuǎnshāndài · Distant Peak Ink
Layered mountain shadows at the horizon
墨灰#758A99
mòhuī · Charcoal Wash
Where a light ink wash meets the blank page
鸦雏#36353B
yāchú · Raven Chick
The warm black of a raven chick's down
苍黑#395260
cānghēi · Hoary Black
The blue-black of ancient pine bark