Colours of China

In the Chinese system of Wu Xing, Green is associated with the element of wood, the season of spring and the direction east which faces the sunrise at the beginning of each new day. A fitting point for our cycle of energies to begin.

Red is the colour most associated with China and for good reason. Red is the colour seen everywhere from commercial packaging to sacred buildings and represents good luck, prosperity, love, joy and the direction, south.

In Wu Xing's theory, the cycle of life moves through five seasons - echoing nature's rhythms of growth, movement, and rest. Wu Xing assigns a color to each part of this cycle; Late summer is yellow; connected to the element of Earth.

In Wu Xing White is connected to the element of metal; either silver or gold. It symbolizes purity but also sadness and grief.

The final phase of the Wu Xing system, when all things have reached the utmost Yin, is represented by black, the element of water and the cold ice of winter. Black points north and and to the night sky. The energy of black is stillness and conserving.