Universität zu Köln

Chen, Xiaolingtong (2026). The Role of Colours in Shang and Zhou Divinations: A Perspective on Tian-Worship. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

In Chinese textual history, it is asserted that the people of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties revered the colours black, white, and red, respectively.1 To investigate this claim of colour worship, this dissertation chooses the role of colours in pre-Qin divination practices as the focus. This study argues that colours within divinatory practices were understood to exert a tangible influence over reality in ancient Chinese belief sys tems, distinguishing them from colours used in other textual or artistic contexts. Evidence from oracle bone inscriptions and the Zhouyi2 supports this view, revealing how colour functioned as both a symbolic and operative element. One significant finding of this research is that, during the Shang (ca. 1600–1046 BCE) and Zhou (1046–256 BCE) dynasties,3 characters denoting colour terms were derived from celestial phenomena: white, yellow, and red symbolised aspects of the day, while black was associated with the night. This conclusion draws upon both the visual characteristics of the sky at various times and a detailed analysis. This inquiry arises from the observable regularity in the associations between colours and specific ritual objects and affective disposition in early Chinese texts and material evidence. The recurrence of such con nections, together with the fact that these patterns differ markedly between the Shang and Zhou dynasties, suggests an underlying logic linking colour, cosmology, and political symbolism. It is this pattern that prompted the following research questions: 1. What divine functions were ascribed to the various colour terms during the Shang and Zhou dynasties? How were these colours perceived to mediate Heaven’s (Tian 天) will and favour in earthly matters? 2. What are the principal differences in the symbolic meanings of these colours between the two dynasties, 1“夏后氏尚黑... 殷人尚白... 周人尚赤.” Robert Eno, trans., Liji, Chapters 3-4: “Tan Gong”: Translation, Notes, and Com mentary (Bloomington: Indiana University ScholarWorks, 2016), 2, “Tan Gong I,” sec. 3. 2In this dissertation, a distinction is maintained between the terms Zhouyi 周易 and Yijing 易經 (commonly translated as the Book of Changes or Classic of Changes). Zhouyi is used in a narrower and more historically specific sense to refer primarily to the received divination text itself, namely the hexagram names, judgments, and line statements that emerged from the late Shang and Western Zhou divinatory tradition. By contrast, Yijing refers to the broader canonical and interpretive tradition that developed around the text, particularly following its incorporation into the Confucian classics and its association with the so called “Ten Wings” (Shiyi 十翼). Since this study is principally concerned with early religious thought, divinatory practice, and the cosmological background of colour symbolism in early China, the term Zhouyi is generally preferred when discussing the early textual and historical strata, while Yijing or the Book of Changes is employed when referring to the later classical tradition or the text’s broader intellectual reception. 3The chronological framework adopted here follows the results of the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project (夏商周断代工 程), an interdisciplinary initiative conducted between 1996 and 2000 under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The project combined archaeological, astronomical, and radiocarbon data to establish a scientifically grounded timeline for early Chinese history. See Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan Kaogu Yanjiusuo 中国社会科学考古研究所(ed.), Xia Shang Zhou Duan dai Gongcheng: Zongshu Baogao夏商周断代工程综述报告 (The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project: Final Report) (Bei jing: Shijie Tushu Chuban Gongsi, 2000). 1 and what might explain this transition? We need to identify shifts in colour associations and link these changes to broader shifts in cosmology and governance, and to understand the role of colours as tools for political symbolism. Previous scholarship on colour terminology in early China, such as Wang Tao’s “Colour Terms in Shang Oracle-Bone Inscriptions” (1996), “Shang Ritual Animals: Colour and Meaning” (2007),4 and Wei Bi’s “Five Basic Colour Terms and Colour Taboos in Ancient China” (2024),5 has laid important groundwork for identifying lexical and symbolic uses of colour in early ritual contexts. Among these, Wang Tao’s study is the closest to my own research; however, his analysis remains confined to the Shang dynasty and does not trace the transformation of colour patterns into the Zhou period. This limitation is not merely chronological. By focusing on a single dynasty, his study is unable to fully reveal the structural connections between colour and divination, despite his extensive use of oracle-bone inscriptions. While Wang Tao acknowledges the religious nature of colour in a general sense—as religion permeated virtually all aspects of Shang society— he does not single out colour as a distinct religious category or examine how its functions differed from other ritual elements. A comparative reading that incorporates Zhou dynasty materials, particularly the divination texts the Zhouyi alongside other contemporaneous sources, brings these connections into sharper relief and highlights both the continuity and transformation of colour symbolism between the Shang and Zhou periods. This comparative dimension, which also exposes significant dynastic differences, constitutes a major aspect missing from his otherwise foundational work. This dissertation builds upon and extends his approach by reconstructing colour as a patterned mediating structure between the divine and the human order, understood as a shared logic of perception, expression, and interpretation through which meaning is deciphered, decisions are made, objects are selected, and emo tions are structured, and by tracing how this patterned logic transforms from the Shang to the Zhou dynasty. This study finds that during the Shang dynasty, the night was venerated as much as the day, a balance re flected in the Shang people's equal reverence for black, yellow, and white. Red at this stage was primarily associated with sacrificial offerings bearing red fur. In contrast, the Zhou dynasty’s worship centred on the day, marked by the devaluation of black and the exaltation of white and red, while yellow assumed a sec ondary, modifying role linked to metal. Evidence from mythology and ancient astronomical records suggests 4Tao Wang, “Shang Ritual Animals: Colour and Meaning (Part 1),” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 70, no. 2 (2007): 305–372. 5Wei Bi, “Five Basic Colour Terms and Colour Taboos in Ancient China (Part One),” Roczniki Humanistyczne 72, no. 9 (2024): 101-120, Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL. 2 that this transformation in colour symbolism functioned as both a political strategy, meaning distinguishing the Zhou from the Shang hegemony, and a reflection of broader shifts in cosmology and agricultural practice. This research is grounded in the premise that colour in early China was understood as possessing a distinct divine efficacy and therefore occupied a privileged position within religious and divinatory practices. This premise is established through an examination of the etymology and semantics of key terms—yan (颜), cai (采), and se (色)—in conjunction with archaeological evidence, especially oracle bone inscriptions, contem poraneous textual sources, and early debates concerning the relationship between religion, divination, and colour. Building on this foundation, the dissertation reconstructs a patterned logic through which colour mediated between the divine and the human order. As applications and extensions, related themes such as kongsang 空桑), Zhaomu (昭穆), wen (文) and zhi (质), the Name–Reality debate, ritual (li 礼), and broader pre-Qin symbolic thought are addressed as further manifestations of this underlying logic.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Chen, Xiaolingtong xchen26@smail.uni-koeln.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-813543
Date:	2026
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 4: Außereuropäische Sprachen, Kulturen und Gesellschaften > Ostasiatisches Seminar
Subjects:	Philosophy Language, Linguistics English The arts History of ancient world
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Heaven Worship English Bronzeware China English Colour English
Date of oral exam:	7 September 2026
Referee:	Name Academic Title Stefan, Kramer Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/81354