編者按：青色，在中國文化中，是一種神秘的色彩，它可以用來表色顏色的深淺，也可以用來描寫景物的變換，我們用英語來對青色做一些解析。

　　"Qing(青/qīng)" is an interesting color that doesn't appear in the standard western set of colors. Fitting "qing(青/qīng)" into the western spectrum, some Chinese say it's a sort of blue, while others say it's part of the green family. What color is "qing (青/qīng)" anyway?

　　Actually, "qing(青/qīng)" is a color that sits anywhere in between blue and green. The character "青 (qīng)" can be used to describe different entitles when it goes with different nouns to form fixed words and phrases.

　　In most cases, "qing(青/qīng)" refers to green, such as 青草 (qīngcǎo, green grass), 青山 (qīngshān, green mountains), 青菜 (qīngcài, green vegetables), and 青椒 (qīngjiāo, green pepper). "Qing(青/qīng)", like the color of things born,is birth. 青春 (qīngchūn), literally “green spring”, means youth.

　　青草 (qīngcǎo, green grass)

　　青山 (qīngshān, green mountains)

　　青菜 (qīngcài, green vegetables)

　　青椒 (qīngjiāo, green pepper)

　　But "qing(青/qīng)" can also sometimes mean blue. The Confucian philosopher Xunzi(荀子/Xúnzǐ) once said: “青，取之于藍(lán)，而青于藍(lán)” (qīng, qǔ zhī yú lán, ér qīng yú lán), or “Qing comes from blue, yet excels blue”. Blue, in this context, refers to bluegrass, which was used to dye items the color of "qing". The sentence “青出于藍(lán)而勝于藍(lán)” (qīng chū yú lán ér shèng yú lán) has become a fixed expression, used to describe how the student could excel the teacher.

　　Finally, "qing(青/qīng)" may also refer to the color black. 青絲 (qīngsī, black silk)means black hair, which was a term that often appears in many ancient literature works. The poem, 將進(jìn)酒(jiāngjìnjiǔ/bring in the wine), written by Libai(Lǐbái/李白), a great poet in Tang dynasty, was a good example.

　　《將進(jìn)酒》 李白

　　君不見， 黃河之水天上來， 奔流到海不復(fù)回。

　　君不見， 高堂明鏡悲白發(fā)， 朝如青絲暮成雪。

　　......

　　Jiāng Jìn Jiǔ Lǐbái

　　Jūn bù jiàn,huánghé zhī shuǐ tiānshàng lái, bēnliú dào hǎi bù fù huí;

　　Jūn bù jiàn,gāotáng míngjìng bēi bái fà, zhāo rú qīngsī mù chéng xuě.

　　......

　　Bringing In The Wine Libai

　　Have you not seen,the Yellow River's waters come from upon Heaven,

　　surging into the ocean, never to return again;

　　Have you not seen,in great halls' bright mirrors, they grieve over white hair,

　　at dawn like black threads, by evening becoming snow.

　　......

　　This is "qing(青/qīng)", a mysterious green-blue-black color in Chinese.

　　公眾號：HanFan漢風(fēng)

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