The Naming of Colours

Abstract

PERHAPS some of your readers would be interested in, and could suggest some explanation of, the following rather fanciful colour term. A light purple, almost a mauve, is called by the Chinese (süt₀) (Ts'eng), (shik,) “snow green colour.” I have asked many educated Chinese for some explanation of the name, but the best I can get is the Chinese are very “fanciful” in the use of colour terms. I may say that the term I have translated “green” is sometimes applied by the Chinese to the colour of the sky.