Study On The Color System In Shan Hai Jing

Throughout all ages,Shan Hai Jing has attracted the attention from numerous scholars out of its unique charms.Substantial research achievements have been made in this field.In ancient times,groups of scholars represented by Guo Pu,Bi Yuan and Hao Yixing had proofread and reviewed Shan Hai Jing.Along with the passage of times,the study on Shan Hai Jing becomes more and more comprehensive than ever before.Prime scope of research covers mythology,plant,plant medical values,and mineral resources.However,rare attention has been paid to the study on the color in Shan Hai Jing.There are altogether nineteen categories of colors recorded in Shan Hai Jing,including crimson,minium,cinnabar,red,reddish brown,orange red,purple,gromwell,cyan,green jade,green,yellow,black,dark,dark black,dark green,white,plain white,and plain.All of these colors could be grouped into the five major color systems of �crimson,cyan,yellow,black and white�.�Color� is not only the important practice experience accumulated by the ancients from the observation of phenomena,but also the vital cultural carrier of a nationality or a region,and more importantly the folk culture root exclusive to a nationality or a region.The study on colors in Shan Hai Jing could on the one hand have insights into the color use conditions and social development conditions of the ancients in pre-Qin period and on the other hand explore the folk culture implications hidden behind colors and provide a new research idea for the classical folk literature work Shan Hai Jing.Accordingly,the main body consists of nine parts.The first part is introduction which presents the reason of topic selection,research significance,research condition,research purpose,research contents and research method in the thesis.The second part briefly summarizes the content,structure,completion time,author,and property of Shan Hai Jing and expounds the color recording system in Shan Hai Jing.The third to seventh parts classify the nineteen colors recorded in Shan Hai Jing into the five major color systems of �crimson,cyan,yellow,black and white� and subdivide each color system into several few parts for elaborate description,such as name of mineral,name of animal,name of plant,name of mountain,name of water,name of country,animal,plant,god and person so as to probe into the cultural significance of colors in Shan Hai Jing.The eighth part conducts a full analysis on the colors recorded in Shan Hai Jing,namely Shan Hai Jing: the root of folk color symbols in China�.This part is composed of �Shan Hai Jing under the folk culture perspective�,�color recording in Shan Hai Jing�,and �evidence of the five major color systems�.