The earliest ancestor of the Chinese race was the "Yellow Emperor." Chinese culture originated on the "Yellow Plateau," the cradle of the Chinese nation is the "Yellow River," and descendants of the Yan Emperor and the Yellow Emperor have "yellow skin." Since ancient times, the color yellow has been inseparably linked with Chinese traditional culture. During the time of the Yellow Emperor, about 5,000 years ago, Chinese society advocated single colors. Confucius, in his effort to uphold the "Rites of the Zhou Dynasty," defined black, red, cyan (blue-green), white, and yellow as the "pure colors" and "superior colors." He applied these colors to the rites and incorporated them into the traditional values of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trust." Up until the Qin and Han Dynasties, the emperors had each chosen a symbolic color for their respective reign based on the correspondence of the colors of black, red, cyan, white, and yellow to the five elements of water, fire, wood, metal, and earth based on the Yin Yang theory. The ancient Chinese believed that the five elements were the fundamental elements that created all things in nature; they were the origin of everything, including colors, and were connected to the principle of five elements in the operation of heavenly laws. They also chose the color of their clothing according to the natural change of seasons and the theory of the five elements.
 
The emperors in the Han Dynasty believed that, after the Han took over from the Qin Dynasty, it symbolized the virtue of earth. According to the theory of five elements, the earth overcame water, and the earth was yellow, so yellow was very popular in the Han Dynasty. At that time, astrologers also combined the theory of five elements and the concept of five dimensions – the color yellow stood for earth, symbolizing the center of the universe; cyan stood for wood, symbolizing the east; red stood for fire, symbolizing the south; white stood for metal, symbolizing the west; and the color black stood for water, symbolizing the north. Because the color yellow was in the middle of the five elements, it was viewed as a neutral color and was superior to all colors. It was also viewed as the most noble color, a color for the clothing of emperors. The prime minister of the court at that time was granted a "gold seal with a purple silk ribbon." It was a symbol of the highest power next to that of the emperor. This was how the colors yellow and purple gained their important places in Chinese traditional culture.
 
In the Tang Dynasty, yellow was widely used in traditional culture and arts. In the Dunhuang Caves, there are over 10,000 precious frescoes, covering a total area of over 50,000 square meters. The frescoes from different time periods vary in color. For example, the frescoes done in the Northern Wei period are mainly red-brown, accompanied by blue and black. From the Tang Dynasty onward, yellow became more popular, and these frescoes are diverse and charming, bright and gorgeous – a brilliant page in the frescoes of the Dunhuang Caves.
 
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beijing became the capital city, and the color yellow became the exclusive color for the imperial family. Ordinary people were not allowed to wear yellow. The emperors wore "yellow robes," their carriage was called a "yellow carriage," the path they walked on was called a "yellow path," the flags used on their tours were "yellow flags," and the wrapping cloth for their seals was also yellow. Consequently, the color yellow became a symbol of supreme power. Only the imperial family members and their relatives could live in residences with red walls and yellow-colored glazed tile roofs. Ordinary people could only use blue or green-colored bricks and tiles. If you climb up to the top of Jingshan in Beijing and overlook the forbidden city, you can see a stretch of yellow glazed tile roofs. On both sides of the halls, front and back, there are huge, gold-plated bronze vats and animal figures. They look magnificent, enhancing each other's brilliance and radiance, representing the supreme sovereign.
 
In fact, yellow was the most common color in the Buddha school. The Buddha figure was called a "golden body," temples used yellow and were called "golden temples," the monks' robes were made of a yellow material, and the Buddha figures were plated with gold to show their nobility and preciousness. Since ancient times, the Chinese people believed that the color yellow came from Heaven. In traditional Chinese culture, "Heaven" represented gods at higher levels, and the reason that an emperor could rule the land was because "Heaven" had granted him the power to rule. Therefore, although the emperor was the supreme ruler of a nation, he was only a "son of Heaven," not the Heaven, and beyond him there was "Heaven" to restrain him. In other words, an emperor was restrained by morals, and such restraint indicated that the power of gods was superior to that of an emperor, and the emperor had to "respect Heaven and act in line with his duty." The emperors had to handle affairs in the human world according to the will of Heaven, and those who obeyed Heaven would thrive, and those who went against Heaven would perish. Only those who followed the will of Heaven could become "clear-sighted emperors with morals." Yellow was used by emperors, dynasty after dynasty, representing their divinely-entrusted power, boundlessly sacred and noble.
 
黄颜色在中国传统文化中的意义
 
中国的人文初祖为“黄帝”，华夏文化的发源地为“黄土高原”，中华民族的摇篮为“黄河”，炎黄子孙的肤色为“黄皮肤”，黄颜色自古以来就和中国传统文化有著不解之缘。约五千年前的黄帝时期，中国崇尚单色。春秋末期的孔子出于对“周礼”的维护，把黑、红、青、白、黄定为“正色”、“上色”，并把五色与仁、义、礼、智、信结合，运用于“礼”的形式中。黄帝之后至秦汉时期，帝王们根据“阴阳五行”学说依水、火、木、金、土之顺序，分别对应黑、红、青、白、黄五色，选择各个朝代的色彩象征。中国古人认为，五行是产生自然万物本源的五种元素，一切事物的来源都是如此，色彩也不例外，并与天道自然运行的五行法则有著不可分割的关系。他们还根据春夏秋冬自然万象之变及五行学说选择服饰的颜色。
 
汉代的皇帝认为汉代承秦朝之后，当为土德。五行学说又认为土胜水，土是黄颜色，于是服色尚黄。当时的星像学家还把五行学说与占星术的五方观念相结合，认为黄色为土，象征中央；青色为木，象征东方；红色为火，象征南方；白色为金，象征西方；黑色为水，象征北方；又因为黄颜色位居五行的中央，是中和之色，居于诸色之上，最为贵，定为天子之服色。当时丞相佩有“金印紫绶”，也就是金黄色的印章和紫色的系印绶带，它是皇帝一人之下，万人之上的最高权力象征，这最初奠定了黄色与紫色在中国传统文化中的重要地位。
 
唐代，黄色被运用于中国传统文化艺术的各个方面。中国三大石窟之一的敦煌石窟中，保存著一万多幅珍贵的壁画，面积达五万多平方米，但不同时期的壁画色彩也是不同的。如北魏时期主要用红棕色，配以蓝、黑色。唐代则开始多用黄颜色，多彩多姿，明亮而华美，成为敦煌壁画中最辉煌的一页。
 
明清两朝，北京成为首府，黄色更成为皇家专用色彩，平民百姓不得以黄色为衣。“九五之尊”的皇帝，穿的是“黄袍”，坐的御车叫“黄屋”，走的路叫“黄道”，出巡用“黄旗”，包扎官印用黄色织物，故黄色引申为权力的象征。只有皇亲国戚才能在红墙黄瓦的建筑中居住，百姓的建筑只能是青砖青瓦。登临北京景山俯瞰故宫，一片黄色琉璃瓦屋顶，宫殿前后安置的鎏金大铜缸、铜兽与之交相辉映，灿烂之极，至高无上。
 
其实，黄色原为佛家最常用之色，佛体被称为“金身”，寺庙用黄色，称为“金刹”，僧袍等一切装饰色都用黄色，佛像也以鎏金、漆金为贵，因为黄色自古被认为是天上的颜色。中国传统文化中的“天”代表著高层的众神，皇帝之所以能够得天下、治天下是“天”授予其的权力。所以皇帝虽贵为一国之君，但他只不过是“天子”，他不是天，他上面还有“天”来约束他，也就是说皇帝是有道德约束的，这种天道的约束，就是神权高于王权。他必须“奉天承运”，也就是秉承天意治理人事，顺天者昌，逆天者亡，这样才是“有道明君”。黄色被历代帝王所用，也代表了君权神授，无比神圣与尊贵。