Color Imagery

Color is of the visual senses. Although people may comprehend colors

differently, it is overall an intuitive sense. The color of plants can represent the change in seasons, and the color of the sky can represent different weather or time of day.

Seeing color is an intuitive act. In poetry, color can set the tone or atmosphere.

Therefore, a poet must choose wisely when incorporating colors in poetry. Mentally, color imagery is of transference nature, where the poet will connect a color to an emotion. In literature, colors are able to evoke emotions, but which emotions are evoked will depend on the receptor’s experience. Huang Yongwu⁵⁶ provides a few examples of the connection between color and emotion:

the emotions and association that colors bring to people has been categorized by many as chromatist and esthetician. Shades of red emit the feeling of blood, fire, warmth, passion, happiness, outgoing, heat, excitement, and thrill. It symbolizes celebration, progression, bravery, activeness, love, prestige, fortune, danger, and alert. A darker red can represent irascibility or catastrophe, while pink symbolizes health and love. Shades of yellow emit the feeling of sunlight, warmth, lively, smoothness, luxury, and seduction. It symbolizes light, fortune, prestige, ideals, and many more. A lighter shade of yellow can mean weakness, peace, honest, lasting, knowledge, pride, and mercy⁵⁷ (23).

Due to the diverse connotations of color, the poet must use them wisely. Wang Wei will often pair colors to show contrast. Yoo Sungjoon states that “in Wang Wei’s early and middle years, he preferred using colors that were golden, rich, or

extravagant; in his later years, Wang Wei preferred to colors that were seen in nature, such as blue, green, yellow, white, red, and most often used white and blue” (125-126). According to Peng Zhengde⁵⁸, in 133 of Wang’s poems, the color white appears 33 times, cyan 12 times, red 11 times, green 10 times, and yellow 6 times (qtd. in Q.Z.

Wu 83-84). Wang Wei’s preference for using colors may be attributed to his other celebrated achievement, which was painting.

Color can reflect the characteristic or nature of the poet, both of which are affected by life experience. It is also a reflection of the poet’s mind, which can be affected by emotions, his state of mind, or the situations he finds himself in. Color can convey the beliefs of the poet, such as religion, or reflect the poet’s age. Lin Shuyao⁵⁹ states that color preference is connected to one’s personality and values; it can be affected by one’s age, education, social environment, ethnicity, weather, economic status, and profession (175). Wu Qizhen discovered that out of 425 pieces of poems by Wang Wei, the most frequently used are white (白) (26.9%), followed by blue (青) (25%), yellow (黃) (21.5%), red (紅) (13.5%), green (綠) (8.8%), purple (紫) (2.2%), and black (黑) (2%) (100).

According to Wu, the most common forms of white to appear in Wang Wei’s poems include: white (白), plain (素), snow (雪), frost (霜), bright (皓), and silver (銀) The most common words containing white are: white cloud (白雲), white sun (白日), and white hair (白髮、白首) (Wu, 2008:100). According to the content of the poem,

莊嚴、理想、權威、和包羅萬有。淺黃表示柔弱、和平、誠實、永久、知識、光榮和慈悲。”

(Y.W. Huang 23).

58 Peng, Zhengde. [彭政德], 《王維禪詩創作技巧與藝術風格之研究》. 玄奘人文社會學院, 2003.

Print.

59 Lin, Shuyao. [林書堯], 《色彩認識論》. 4th ed. 台北市: 三民書局, 1983. Print.

white may represent a feeling of ease, for example in 天命無怨色，人生有素風。

(〈送綦毋秘書棄官還江東〉), there is a “plain color” (素色) in the subject’s life, suggesting a simple life. This is also seen in “新買雙溪何定似，餘生欲寄白雲中”

(〈問寇校書雙溪〉), where the subject lives the rest of his life in “white cloud” (白 雲), which is a life of ease and freedom. White imagery can also represent country life, such as “青菰臨水映，白鳥向山翻” (〈輞川閒居〉) and “屋上春鳩鳴，村邊杏花 白” (〈春中田園作〉), where the “white bird” (白鳥) and “the white apricot flowers”

(杏花白) are animals and plants seen in the countryside. However, white is also a sign of age progression, sadness, helplessness. In “白髮終難變，黃金不可成” (〈秋夜獨 坐〉), the “white hair” (白髮) of the poet is a sign of old age and being unable to change the circumstances, similar to the “white hair” (白頭) in “鄙哉匹夫節，布褐 將白頭” (〈獻始興公〉), creating a sense of helplessness. Finally, white imagery may also represent conquest, such as that in “白日為之寒，森深華陰城” (〈華岳〉) and “畫戟雕戈白日寒，連旗大旆黃塵沒” (〈燕支行〉), where both of the “white sun/day” (白日) creates a sense of barrenness, further enhancing the scene after or before a war.

The most common forms of blue to appear in Wang’s poetry include blue (藍), bluish-green (碧), cyan/green (青), purple (紫), and deep blue (蒼). In Wang Wei’s poems, blue is typically the descriptor of animals, plants, nature, or objects. Blue images are often presented as adjectives, describing the color, and will occasionally appear in the form of reiteration (疊字) for emphasis, such as “green green” (青青).

According to the content of the poem, blue images may represent country life. For example, in “雀乳青苔井，雞鳴白板扉” (〈田家〉) and “谷靜秋泉響，巖深青靄 殘” (〈東溪玩月〉), where the “green moss” (青苔) and “cyan haze” (青靄) combined with the rest of the images in the poems create a sense of leisure in the country. Blue imagery can also represent a sense of lament for self, such as that in “青 雀翅羽短，未能遠食玉山禾” (〈青雀歌〉), where the “green sparrow” (青雀) has short wings and cannot fly high. It can also represent remembrance of a friend, where the grave of the subject has become “hills” (蒼嶺) in “古墓成蒼嶺，幽宮象紫台”

(〈過秦皇墓〉), and that the passing of a “green mule” is a sign of death in “尚憶青 騾去，寧知白馬來” (〈哭褚司馬〉). Blue imagery can create a sense of loneliness and zen. For example, in “泉聲咽危石，日色冷青松” (〈過香積寺〉), the “green pines” (青松) are under a setting sun, creating a sense of solitude in the mountains.

Common forms of red to appear include red (紅, 丹, 赤),and vermilion (朱).

Wang Wei’s use of red imagery is more commonly tied to nature, especially flowers, and is most often presented in contrast with blue and green. Red images are a sign of luxury, such as that in “群公朝謁罷，冠劍下丹墀” (〈送高道弟耽歸臨淮作〉) and

“側聞城外游，解驂弁朱輪” (〈晦日游大理韋卿城南別業四首〉), where the “red steps” (丹墀) and “vermilion wheels” (朱輪) are items that the rich retains. It

represents the pursuit of immortality, or the practice of alchemy. For example, in “未 共銷丹日，還同照綺疏” (〈賦得清如玉壺冰〉) and “自有還丹術，時論太素初”

(〈贈東岳焦煉師〉), the “丹” is not necessarily the color red, but the pill or tablet created to achieve immortality. Red imagery in Wang Wei’s poems can also represent seasons and expectations. The “red pomegranate” (紅榴) in “夕雨紅榴折，新秋綠芋 肥” (〈田家〉) is a sign that it is the time when fruits ripen and are ready for reaping, which is similar to the “red fruit” (朱實) in “朱實山下開，清香寒更發” (〈山茱 萸〉).

The most common forms of yellow images are yellow (黃) and gold (金).

Wang Wei mostly associated yellow with objects, animals, and buildings. Yellow images represent the following according to the content. It can present a sense of luxury, such as the “golden tiger” (金虎) in “阡陌銅台下，閭閻金虎中” (〈送熊九 赴任安陽〉) and the “golden gates” (金門) in “銀燭已成行，金門儼騶馭” (〈早 朝〉). Yellow imagery combined with other images in the poems can also create a sense of conquest and sorrow. For example, in “笳悲馬嘶亂，爭渡金河水” (〈從軍 行〉) the “golden river” (金河水) that the subject are fighting to cross combined with

the disorderly sounds of the horse set the tone for the chaos of war. Yellow can also represent religion, where items offered to the gods are often painted gold or referred to being as the color gold. Such as the “golden sky” (金天) in “上帝佇昭告，金天思 奉迎” (〈華嶽〉), and the “golden catalogue” (金籙) of the gods in “玉京移大像，

金籙會群仙” (〈奉和聖製慶玄元皇帝玉像之作應制〉). Finally, animals with the color yellow can represent country scenery. Such as the “yellow oriole” (黃鸝) or

“yellow birds” (黃鳥) in “黃鸝轉深木，朱槿照中園” (〈瓜園詩〉) and “紫梅發初 徧，黃鳥歌猶澀” (〈早春行〉).

The most common forms of green to appear in Wang Wei’s poems include green (綠), emerald (翠), and deep green (蒼). Green imagery is often associated with blue, which are complementary of one another in nature. Green images are often used in contrast to red. Wang Wei most commonly used green imagery in the form of plants. According to the contents of the poem, green represents the country scenery.

Such as the “spring grass autumn green” (春草秋綠) in “萋萋春草秋綠，落落長松 夏寒” (〈田園樂七首〉之四) and the “green trees” (綠樹) in “綠樹村邊合，青山 郭外斜” (〈過友人莊〉). Finally, green imagery can also represent farewell when combined with the scenery, for example the spring grass which will “turn green next year” (明年綠), the poet wonders if the friend will also return “春草明年綠，王孫歸 不歸” (〈山中送別〉).