【Abstract】 All people live in the same material world, an(5)
2013-06-16 01:04
导读：In addition, white and 白 also indicate failure. It often happens in a war or some games. The yielding part will hang a white flag or 白旗 as a sign of accepting the failure. White and 白 can both
In addition, white and "白" also indicate "failure". It often happens in a war or some games. The yielding part will hang a "white flag" or "白旗" as a sign of accepting the failure. "White" and "白" can both refer to people with white skin, such as "白人". If someone looks pale because of illness or strong emotion, such as "脸色苍白" which means somebody's face appeals pale, white and "白" can be used.
3.2 The differences between white and 白
“Under the western cultural background, white is considered the color of festival, connected with good luck. Ancient Greek and Roman offered the white oblation to
gods. According to the Bible, in Israel, the sacrifices to gods are also white. The reason is that white is the holiest color in Christianism, which is manifested in the belief that Jesus and his angels wear white dress.”[12] While in ancient Chinese wedding people like decorating everything with red. What’s more, in English, "white" also has some special meanings.
(1) "The white feather", deriving from cock-fighting, where a game cock displaying the white rim of feather under his hackle acknowledges defeat, waiting to give up, is an implication of fear, cowardice or timidity.
(2) Another example is "white elephant", in which "white" means "uselessness". “It derived from Thailand. At that time, white elephant was rarely seen, which was only in royal families. The royal made a rule that no one could use the white elephant to carry people or goods. Therefore, if the king did not like one of the courtiers, he would send a big elephant to him as a punishment. Because its owner didn’t dare to use it, and the white elephant had such a good appetite and ate so much that its owner could not afford it.”[13]
(3) "Bleed white" and "to leech somebody white" mean that people are oppressed to work heavily until they can not work any more, which are the metaphors of the capitalist sucking the last drop of blood from the poor.
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In addition, owing to some historical and political reasons, "白" has some specific meanings which "white" does not have. For instance,
(1) In Chinese "脸色白里透红" means someone is in good health. So here "白" can not be translated directing to "white", but "healthy" or "good".
(2) “There is a famous verse saying "谈笑有鸿儒，往来无白丁". Here the color term "白" refers to "illiteracy or commoner" as in "白衣".”[14] Because in ancient China, no matter how low an official ranked, his dress was colored. White had never been the color of officials, because the customary practice took white as the color of mourning dress. So "白丁" indicates the common people.
"白" can also be used to mean "poverty" as in the imperial examinations at the provincial level in Ming and Qing dynasties. As we know, in the traditional art of theatrical makeup in Beijing opera, red implies loyalty and honesty, and "白" implies crafty and treachery, such as Zhao Gao in Qing Dynasty, Cao Cao in Three Kingdom Period, and so on. What's more, in Chinese "白" also indicates "decadence" or "reaction", which are connected with Kuomintang. The reactionary government is called "白色政权"; "白区" is the area governed by Kuomintang; "白军"(white army) is the reactionary army; the cruelty of Kuomintang was called "白色恐怖"; the betrayers are named "白匪" or "白狗子". In other cases, "白" is not the same as "white", which has nothing to do with color at all. Such as "白菜"(Chinese cabbage), "白费"(in vain), "白卷"(blank examination), "白痴"(idiot) and so on. "白" also means plain and unadulterated, such as "白开水", "白肉".
4. The causes for their differences （科教范文网 lw.nseaC.Com编辑发布）
In the second part, we contrasted the cultural connotations of red and white between English and Chinese. A cultural phenomenon derives from the cultural foundations. Therefore, in this chapter, causes for the differences are to be discussed.
4.1 Environment
Perhaps someone will consider that environment is the same as geographical position, but it is not. Because culture is defined and generated on the three-fold reality of culture, society and people. The evolution of a culture is the result of the interaction between subject and object, which we can call "environment". So geographical position is only a part of it. For instance, because of the geographical position in European countries, European can always see snow——the color of white, which makes them have a strong feeling of white. So they think white is the color of purity, brightness. In ancient China, white is the color of common people, but not official robes. What's more, owing to Kuomintang (in Chapter Two we mentioned) "白" implies "decadence" and "reaction", which is one of the color terms carrying the obvious political tendency. Another example is "红", which is the symbol of revolution in the revolutionary time, as in "红军", "红色根据地", "红色接班人", and so on.
