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On the character: 红

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2016-04-20 15:42The World of Chinese Editor: Yao Lan

Now that we find ourselves in a populist paradise where anyone (good or bad) might easily find Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame—be it by footage of carnal acts in the romantic setting of the UNIQLO fitting room or by bold and largely inadvisable political statements online—red, or 红 (hóng), has become the most sought after color of them all. To become "web red", or 网红 (wǎnghóng, online celebrity), is a dream many hold.

Red is undoubtedly China's favorite color, with connotations of auspiciousness, revolution, and now a large and diverse internet celebrity community.

It took a long time for the character 红 to rise to its current fame. On the left side, the "silk" radical, 纟, represents its meaning, as many once associated the color of red with dyed silk. The 工 (gōng) radical on the right indicates pronunciation. The modern dictionary may tell you 红 is the color of blood, but in ancient times the character referred to the color pink—a color created by weaving red and white silk threads together.

The words representing red in ancient times were 赤 (chì) and 朱 (zhū) and are still in use. A poem famously depicted the gap between the rich and the poor, "朱门酒肉臭,路有冻死骨."(Zhūmén jiǔròu chòu, lù yǒu dòng sǐ gǔ. Inside the red doors flows the fragrance of wine and meat, while falling bodies of the starved dot the road.)

When red was mostly associated with revolution, to call someone "red" was a compliment to their great loyalty to the revolution. Today, "red tourism", or 红色旅游 (hóngsè lǚyóu), themed tours of the Communist Party's historic sites, is still very popular.

  

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