Page 409 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 402
Yarrow (mugwort) or Artemisia is a strong-smelling plant which provides a green dye
and also the pellets used in moxibustion; the pellets are burned on the skin as a cure for
gout, rheumatism and various types of paralysis.
The plant should be picked on the 5th day of the 5th month, dried and hung up over
the door as a protective screen against poisons. In ancient times, yarrow stalks were used
as oracles, presumably because the medicinal properties of the plant have always been
highly valued. Yarrow is also one of the eight emblems of the scholar.

Yellow
Yellow

huang

The colour yellow is associated with the metamorphosis or ‘state of being’ earth, and
with the fifth of the ‘heavenly directions’, i.e. the middle. The coupling of ‘yellow’
and ‘middle’ (China is the ‘Middle Kingdom’) is no doubt connected with the annual
deposit of loess from the Gobi on the North Chinese plains, which then turn yellow; and
this too was the colour of the Emperor who ruled the Middle Kingdom.
In sharp contrast with Western ideas, yellow is looked upon very favourably in China,
where it is taken as symbolising fame, progress and advancement. The ‘Yellow Dragon’
is a good sign, and the ‘Golden Springs’ (huang quan) – originally a term denoting the
underworld – now means a well-irrigated region, rather than the sulphurous pits of hell.
Huang-di (‘Yellow Emperor’) was the mythical first Emperor, but it was not until the
6th century AD that yellow was accepted as the fitting colour for the Imperial Majesty;
hitherto, red had been the preferred colour. For many centuries, ordinary citizens
were debarred from wearing yellow garments. Buddhist monks were an exception to
this rule, being allowed to wear yellow robes on many occasions. These habits were

undecorated. On other occasions the monks wore red robes. In Tibetan Buddhism, a
distinction is made between the ‘yellow-hats’ (dGe-lugs-pa) and the ‘red-hats’ (bKa-
rGyud-pa), i.e. between the Gelugpa and the Kargyüpa schools.
It is only in the last few decades that the term ‘yellow literature’ meaning pornography
has become current in China. ‘Yellow films’ have also made their appearance. On the
other hand, a ‘Yellow-blossom woman’ is one who is still a virgin.
Yin