红与白-中西方的颜色词内涵对比

2. The different connotations of red
2.1 The similarities between red and 红
Red is the earliest color used by peoples in the world. In Chinese, it is the color of fire or blood. In English, as the explanation in Oxford American Dictionary, red means the color of blood or a color approaching this. Therefore, people almost use the color of blood instead of "red". What’s more, in the early period of human history, red was the sun and fire that made life better. Therefore, in both English and Chinese, red and "红" are connected with "dignity"、"love"、"beauty"、"happiness", and so on. In English we find such expressions: “a red letter day” refers to holidays such as Christmas and other special days. Such days are printed in red on calendars, and other days printed in black. “To paint the town red” means to enjoy a lively, boisterous time in public places, often attracting the notice of, or causing some disturbance to, others.
As the representative color of China, Chinese people like "红" best, which is used to be in a positive sense. It may originate from its association by ancient Chinese people with the sun and fire. According to the ancient Chinese legends and mythologies, people had been inclined to think of themselves as the product of the nature, in which they got direct benefits from the warmth of the sun and fire. Therefore, they connected the color of the sun with anything happy, lucky and prosperous. Nowadays, we always see that the Chinese teams are usually dressed in red in international games. What's more, "红" is the most frequent color in celebrations and joyful occasions, which we mentioned in the first part. For example, on New Year's Day and Spring Festival, red lanterns are hung up, red character "福" put up on the wall or door, red paper-cuts attached onto the windows, red antithetical couplets stuck on both sides of the door, and New Year money gifts to the younger generation is wrapped in red packages.
Besides, red and "红" are also connected with solemnity and acceptance, which are embodied in the red color of seals of both government and common people. In English, the phrase "red carpet" has this meaning. “Traditionally, a red carpet is placed on the ground to welcome the visiting leaders of another country. It is a way of honoring the important visitors. So the expression "rolling out the red carpet" describes an especially warm welcome of any kind. You may give someone the royal treatment, even if the person is not a king or queen. A city may "roll out the red carpet" for its baseball team, when the team arrives home after winning a championship. A group of supporters go to the airport to greet the team. The red-carpet welcome includes a lot of cheering by thousands of fans, a parade, music and speeches of praise by local politicians.”[3] In China, this custom can also be dated back to ancient times, when most things in the authorities are painted in red. If the emperors read the memorial to the throne by making red notes, which was called “朱批”, it indicated getting the permission of rulers. Moreover, red is associated with certain emotions in both English and Chinese. In Chinese "脸红" shows embarrassment or shyness, so does it in English "to become red-faced" or "one's face turn red".
Red also stands for revolution in both the western countries and China. “In English, this meaning originated from the red flag and bonnet rouge (French) used in the French Revolution from 1789 to 1794. In 1917, the famous October Revolution in Russia won, and Lenin organized the Red Army.”[4] In China, so is it. Because where revolution is where blood is. Chinese national flag is red which means being dyed red by the blood of the revolutionaries, and red scarf(红领巾) is an angle of it. In the Cultural Revolution, "红" was used politically. Chairman Mao was titled "红太阳" and his works were called "红宝书"; the socialistic country governed by the proletariat was called "红色江山". Moreover, we have "红袖章"、"红色政权"、"红色司令部"、"红小鬼"、"红色歌曲" and so on. Furthermore, at that time, people liked to paint the wall and door red, and wrote the political slogans on the wall. The whole country looked like a red sea. In both English and Chinese, red is associated with communism. Due to some political reasons, its meaning is degraded in some capitalistic countries. It has been a slightly insulting word for someone who has communist or very left wing ideas or opinions, so the western politicians are alert to "red".
The red color is not always associated with something joyful. The positive use of "red" in English is very limited. Instead, it is often used in a negative sense, and connected with "sanguineness", "danger" and "violence" in the minds of native speakers of English. Owing to the influence of Christianity, native speakers of English are not worshippers of the sun and other natural phenomena as the Chinese, because God has been the only Lord for them to worship. “According to Bible, when Adam and Eve, the alleged ancestors of human beings, committed the original sin, God said to Eve:" I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children." The great pain that a woman suffers in giving birth to a child is bleeding freely, and that may be the reason why "red" has the meaning of danger and warning for English-speaking people.”[5] In this sense, "red" is the same as "红".