―A language carries a lot of culture and history‖ (常宗林 2005: 174). The difference in the use of colour can be traced back to different historical backgrounds of different nations. Many colour terms are related to specific historical events and have their own allusions. In the eyes of Chinese people, red is the symbol of success, auspiciousness, loyalty and prosperity, etc. This derives from the adoration for the God of Sun. In ancient times, the house of the rich and officials are called 朱门. ―朱门酒肉臭, 路有冻死骨‖ (杜甫《自京赴奉先县咏怀五百字》). The clothes they wear are called 朱衣 and their transportation tool is called 朱轩. In Chinese, 朱 equals red when it refers to a colour.
Take the well-known 红娘 for example. There is a background for the emergence of this expression. 红娘 is originally the name of a maid in the classical play The West Chamber (《西厢记》)，whose good demeanor helps bring about the union of two lovers. Gradually, 红娘 is used to denote the kind-hearted go-betweens.
In Qing Dynasty, the book that was authorized by the emperor was called red book. It is different from the red book in those English-speaking countries, which only means a book with a red cover. In China, during the cultural revolution, everyone should keep one book about Chairman Mao. At that time, it was called red treasured book. Similarly, in English-speaking countries, words related with history and geography also have their own special meanings, such as red lining, red coat and red brigade. The fact that the American financial institution enclosed the poor area with red line and refused to provide housing loans to this area made the area poorer. This was called red lining. During the American Civil War, the British soldiers wore scarlet service uniform. So they were called red coat. Red brigade is an Italian terror organization, specializing in kidnapping, murder, destruction, etc. The usage of red between these two languages is largely different.
5. Conclusion
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This thesis focuses on a contrastive study of meanings of red in both English and Chinese. At the very beginning, I cite a poem to arouse readers‘ interest in colour terms. Then I list a lot of examples related to red in English and Chinese and analyse their sense relationship from three aspects: exact equivalence, partial equivalence, no equivalence. Through so many examples, readers may have a good understanding of meanings of red. Some readers may have read some of the examples somewhere, but they do not know how to exactly express those phrases related to red. Some readers may have misunderstood some phrases, while after reading the thesis, they will have a better understanding. If someone has never touched this field, he or she will find how interesting it is. Next I try to explain the factors that cause semantic similarities and differences of red in English and Chinese from the perspective of cognition and culture.
In the reason part, I also list many examples, and sometimes compare red with another colour term, such as white. This helps to make clear the culture between different nations. From so many examples, I have found the association of red with happiness, success, fortune, prosperity, as well as danger, anger, etc. The examples are more convincing in that they cover many fields, including politics, aesthetics, and history. I can say that there do exist many semantic similarities and differences of red in both Chinese and English. Only when we understand them correctly can we have a good command of colour terms. And only when we have a good command of colour terms, can we achieve better cross-culture communication.
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