Since the very beginning of the Chinese civilization， yellow has been placed in a position far above all the other colors：the Chinese civilization originated in the Loess(yellow earth) Plateau , the mother river of the Chinese nation is the Yellow River. As long as theChinese are concerned， their love for the color yellow has gone to the extent of reverence.
黄色，在华夏文明的初始阶段，地位就超乎其他颜色：中华文明起源于黄土高原，中华民族的母亲河是黄河……中国人对于黄色，在热爱之余，更多的是一种崇拜。
The Chinese nation’s respect and worship of the yellow color is closely related to the tradition of the farming based civilization. The Chinese civilization originated in the Yellow River basin，where ancient Chinese turned the yellow earth into arable lands. They sowed yellow seeds in the lands and irrigated the lands with water from the Yellow River.Their hardwork brought them good harvests of yellow grain.
中华民族尊崇黄色与农耕文明传统息息相关。华夏文明起源于黄河流域，在这片土地上，先民把黄土地开垦为良田，播撒下黄色的种子，引黄河之水灌溉，辛勤的耕作换来沉甸甸黄澄澄的粮食。
Yellow pigment was the first pigment ever made in China. Ancient Chinese learnt to make yellow pigment from gardenia fruit which contains crocin which is a yellow coloring agent. After the Northern and Southern Dynasties，people discovered more yellow dyes，including vegetable based ones， e.g.radix rehmanniae， ash flower(flos sophorae) ，amur cork-trees， turmeric， cudrania tricuspidata，and mineral based ones， e.g.massicot.
黄色颜料是中国最早提取的颜料之一，中国的先民懂得用栀子的果实制成黄色的颜料，因为其果实中含有“藏花酸”的黄色素。到了南北朝以后，又有了地黄、槐花、黄蘖、姜黄、柘黄等植物染料，以及黄丹等矿物染料。
It was the Book on Changes (Yi Jing) that brought the yellow color to the cultural level:“The sky is black and the earth is yellow.”Ancient Chinese were very particular about the Five Elements and the five corresponding colors. In the series of associations between the Five Colors and cardinal directions, yellow is associated with the center and therefore is the principal color of the Five. The first Chinese dictionary of character forming (Shuo Wen Jie Zi) defines the word “yellow” in a concise way: ““Yellow
is the common color of earth that carries
life and sunlight that nourishes life”.
Therefore, yellow is the central color and
the harmonized color, representing the
source of life as well as the center of all
things.
将黄色上升到文化高度的则是《易经》，其中有“天玄而地黄”的说法。天为黑色，地为黄色。中国古代讲究五行五色，在与方位的关系中，黄色位居中央，是五色中的主色。在中国第一部探讨汉字造字规律的字书《说文解字》中，作者许慎言简意赅地道出黄色的品格：“黄，地之色也，从田，从芡。”田，是土地；焚即“光”，指的是“日光”。由此可见，在古人心中，黄色是承载生命的大地和滋养生命的日光共有的色泽，是中央之色、中和之色。黄色，表示着生命之源，
也表示着中央所在。
In addition tothe close association with earth and nature， yellow color is also the symbol of power， wealth， brightness and wisdom. It was once used exclusively bythe royalfamily and be a reda strong religious connotation. One may finda wide range of application of the color yellowin Buddhist architectures， clothes of monks， as well as decorations in the monasteries，
除了与土地、自然紧密相连之外，黄色还是权力、富贵、光明和智慧的象征。黄色除了曾经是皇族的专用色外，同时还具有着浓厚的宗教气息。从佛教建筑到僧侣服饰，以至寺院的装饰都会用到黄色。