Investigation on Color expression of Chinese characters consisted of a radical of thread in the dictionary"Zhengzitong"

Abstract

"Zhengzitong", published in the 17th century in China, compiled 33,298 letters describing their interpretation and etymology. I think the interpretations of the color words are important when considering the color culture at the time. There are 31 Chinese characters with a radical “thread” express certain colors and 7 adjectives that modify these color nouns. This study checked up each interpretation and revealed a part of the color culture in the field of dyeing in Ming dynasty.