by Ming Leung, May 2011
02/ Pop Music Distribution
For the distribution of the pop music, we are not hard to think the situation in the old days. As Frith mentioned, if people need to listen music, they need to go to auditorium and listen lively in front of the performers or orchestra. Otherwise, the song can just only distribute in the way human by human. Hence, for the distribution in this way, it is very difficult to distribute compare with the technologies at this moment and then popular music is just only serving for a very less amount of people within the group.
Storage Media
Song recording devices is start from musical box, which can reproduce the songs that pre‐setup in the pins in the revolving cylinder, but the musical box can just only the sound only, it will not provide the whole songs including the human voices. Later on, phonograph disc recording has been invented and the songs with voices can be recorded, the disc which can just only record about 3‐4 minutes at the beginning. Since this 78 rpm disc is just too limited for recording and then longer recording time is need, hence LP have invented which have increased the recording time to 15 minutes each size and run in 33½ rpm.
Later on, the appearance of cassette tape have become one of the main device for the pop music carrier, then CD have appeared and each can carry about one hour long and now we can have other different storage media in digital format, mostly MP3, and the size of the player can from the desktop size to walkman to iPod now we have.
Selling Songs
In Hong Kong, the distribution of the pop songs in the pre‐Internet age is mostly through radio. Pay cable radio have fully covered most of the urban area in Hong Kong and then most of Hongkonger can have this broadcasting to receive the music. At that time these are nearly the only entertainment for them to receive new things from other world. The radio will broadcast the songs from western and even the Hongkonger cannot afford the services from the cable radio, they will go to some herbal tea shop to buy a cup of tea and listen to them, since these shops have the cable radio service subscription for them.
And so these shops can group the people together and hence the radio is the main media at that time. Later, in 1967, TVB have open. They are the first color television broadcast and free of charge to get their service. Hence, TV dramas are the main programme that the people will receive at that time. Pop music then naturally go into the most popular media and adjusted it’s a role in this period. They are not only just the songs themselves but work with the TV drama, when the drama become popular, the songs can popular also. In 70s‐80s, Hong Kong movies become famous and can sell to overseas, similar situation of TV and the movie also need to consume the songs also. Singer not just only singing, they also need to be a movie actor, when they become popular, their songs will also popular, until 1997.
In Internet age, Hong Kong popular songs basically working in the pre‐Internet period, even there are some online portal which is selling pop songs like moov.hk or kkbox.com, but they are actually not selling songs in the concept of selling a product to their customer. Yes, they claimed they are “selling” the songs to customer which from the concept of iTunes, but basically they are just rent the songs to the customer, which the rent period claimed is forever until they have closed. For the customers who buy the songs in old media age, they are bought the songs which offline from the controller/producer company, which they actually do what they want. When a person has brought the things, actually they want to own the things itself. So this type of online “buying” (or cloud buying) cannot let the user own the things, not like iTunes, even the have the encryption which control the files that copy to other locations, but they can provide the “owning” concept to the customer and they are really buy the songs actually, all stored in iTunes, which have not change much on the concept of buying.
Distribution in Mass Media
In the history of the pop music development, we can see that the music is selling itself only at the age before TV, and then in TV age, the songs cooperate with the TV drama together. The music itself has changed the position, or added one more position with the new media has appeared.
So in the current Mobile‐Interneted age, pop songs should have to be modernized with the new media. For the music itself, it still mostly development about 3‐4 minutes for each, which is the length in 78 rpm era. For the media we have now, for instance, YouTube, which can let the most normal user to upload a video up to 10 minutes7. So as the example from Kara Uemura, her songs God of Toilet have total length in 9 minutes, which is totally fit with the YouTube as a distribution media. This is a very nice try of the length for this media, and since the length have widen, the whole feeling have changed and not just limited to the length before, and can fit in other environment which is not just for karaoke.
Besides, in the Mobile‐Interneted age, most of the devices actually have a screen, which can provide individual content with each individual screen. This is not like in the TV dominant era, each home basically have just only one screen, all the family members need to follow the same content in the same time. The programme is chosen by the person who has the most power in that family. But if this situation has collapsed, each person can choose their favorite programme themselves and so music can have a wide range of media for distribution. For instance, we can see there is some professional recording of music, which for the user who buy to challenge their audio equipment at home. But they still need to have really have songs, the karaoke songs may not suit for these purpose and so this have come out and the songs is actually re‐produced from the old stuff but have high‐up version actually.
So with similar concept of development, pop music can also develop in different scenarios, or more personalize environment, like have Jazz mixing which already been done by William So, or design for have a Sunday drive with a family, or even one song about 10‐30 minutes which for the travel to work, or go to gym. Selling old songs with specific context is really, but why not selling the brand new song in this way. There is just a case from William So in the past, but the society have not such culture at that moment and so this try is not very successful, but if an advertising become better, then I think this will a new way for the pop music.
In the entertainment perspective, like in the past songs work with TV, we are now can work with video game at this moment like the Taiko no Tatsujin and Guitar Hero, these video game is also need to consume pop songs in their game also, not just only karaoke. These things have already been done long time ago but this still a huge opportunities which have not done for the Hong Kong pop music.
The Music Video
Music video are basically help to advertiser the pop music. In the karaoke age, this is a major material for the songs, since the people actually cannot accept a blank screen with nothing inside but lyrics when they focus on the karaoke screen. This is only the text machine but not karaoke. But in this mobile age, music video can be another presentation of the songs visually, the songs can be upgraded to let the audience to watch the songs. This can be another presentation, or see as a very short movie which a songs.
05 January 2012
Hong Kong Popular Music (Part 1)
by Ming Leung, May 2011
01/ About Hong Kong Popular Music
Definition
To discuss popular music, we need to define which music should be included in this discussion. With the reference from Simon Frith and Roy Shuker, their definitions are as follow:
From Simon Frith, he made the following definition for popular music as follow:
So the definition of the popular music in this discussion basically combined with these two approaches. Shuker is basically nearly the definition with Frith, but I agree with his approach since there need to have some adjustments for Hong Kong pop music, for instance, some serious music like Mozart have become popular in specific situation[1], or which have merged into the popular music in Hong Kong[2]. Beside, some popular songs are derived from movie sound track[3] and commercial music[4] and then find the lyricist to fill in lyrics and become also as popular music here.
In this discussion, I will put the history and the songs will be discussed together at the beginning, which try to provide the overview of what songs should be included as the type of popular music in Hong Kong.
02/ Introduction
At the Beginning
With the oldest record I have found in the history, the popular music in Hong Kong can back to the age around the beginning of 19 centuries. The 17th governor of Hong Kong, Sir Cecil Clementi, he have record the songs which sang by the people at that time. The songs mostly sang related to their daily life included love and jobs. These songs mostly produced by people who have not well educated, and the quality of the songs are actually low. Later, the popular song will include the Canton Chinese Opera (粵曲) and these local songs run in parallel.
40s‐50s
Later, since the Mainland China has changed to be rule by Communist Party and many Mainland people came to Hong Kong to escape the rule of them, and these new immigrate have also brought their culture included their popular music and the production technique at that time to Hong Kong together. Most of them are came from Shanghai, since Shanghai have governed by many western countries and hence have learnt many advanced production technique at that time, so the production quality is good at that moment in the Chinese. When these productions came to Hong Kong, the songs produced have been accepted and then they also become the mainstream at that moment. And the popular songs are already sold with the movie at that time. Since these people are come from Mainland China, their language is Mandarin but this can still popular for the most people in the place speaking in Cantonese. But there is also local Cantonese song production, the quality is low compare the Mandarin Songs like Tang Kee‐chan, people there not like most since they content are vulgar.
Mandarin songs have become popular, and later on, around 60s, since Hong Kong is colonized by British government and hence students are learning English in their school, and so English popular music are popular also. The reason is actually the production of Mandarin songs is cloned from the western production, and so the youth listen the Western one directly, for instance, The Beatles, Don McLean, etc.
Late 60s and 70s
After then, in around 70s, most of the Mainland immigrate have stay in Hong Kong steadily and have the mind that there is not the necessary to “back” to their home town, and most of them also have learnt Cantonese at that moment, plus the governor have promoted the public housing and the free color television are in service, so Cantonese popular music then have the chance to be adopted by most of the people at that time, so these Cantonese is the prototype or the first generation of the popular music in Hong Kong we know today. But there is still some friction to promote at that moment, and so the well know agree with the first contemporary pop songs is from Sandra Lang, Lovers Lovers5. This is the first type since Sandra Lang is look like the Western people and this will easy to be accepted by the people at that time (Wong, Jum‐sum, 2003). Also in the similar time period, there is Sam Hui also popular who is mainly performing Cantonese pop music with diversified content such as lover, the living of the people at that time, the worries in puberty, etc. He has voice out the situation of the HongKonger and so he was very popular at that time.
80s
In 80s, the most famous singer is Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung, and also has Danny Chan, Anita Mui, etc. The songs from Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung are mostly brought the rights from other countries, mostly from Japan and fill with HongKongese lyrics, and hence there many lyricists have chance to present their works included Lin‐Xi, Pan Yuan‐lian, Richard Lam, Andrew Lam, etc. The productions of their songs are not like the one which all are produced locally included the songs composing, arrangement in the previously time. The songs are just brought from other countries, and fill in HongKongese lyrics. They adopted this approach since it is save time and cost for production. And since the record label are mostly from Western company like PolyGram, Warner Music, EMI etc and so they are easy to get these resources with their international network. Beside, since these songs are the “successful cases” from other countries, the companies will just follow the cases and reproduced one locally and this was accepted by the people at that moment, and so some scholar (Chu Yiu‐wai) said the people is just follow the singer, or pop star, but not the songs itself at that time.
In the nearly same period in 80s, apart from these pop singers, there is also a band sound movement appear in the local popular music industry included Beyond, Tat Ming Pair, Tai‐chi, etc. They have produced their songs originally from the topic and song composing. They are not like the mainstream one which mostly about love, their topic will discussed about the society situation like Ten Youth for Fire Fighting, etc.
90s
In the 90s, Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung have announced retired, and then the Hong Kong pop music move to the era of Four Kings and Queen. They still follow the production model previously, which buy the song directly from other countries and fill in the Cantonese lyrics. Basically most of their songs are related to love also. In this situation, Hong Kong Commercial Radio (CR) has announced to support the local production, which included the song composing, and they don’t broadcast the songs which are cover version from other countries. Besides, the wave of karaoke have come which need to consumed heavy on the pop songs, music videos and songs are highly demand from this time.
After 1997
After 1997, and in the new 21 century, there are only few local composers supported the whole Hong Kong pop music market, like Mark Lui, Chan Fai‐Young, Ronald Ng, they produced nearly all the songs in Hong Kong, with two lyricists, Lin‐Xi and Wyman Wong. These two lyricists have 204 and 105 songs produced respectively in year 2002. Covered version songs from other countries have minimized, but the society have another voice that the popular songs become karaoklized, which means most of the songs are standard in pattern and just have only one topic – lost love.
The characteristic of karaoke songs is let the user easy to sing, no need to remember so hard for the lyrics and repetitive composing structure, which meet with the two major lyricists fill in the lyric focus on lost love. I think this is match with the situation of this two lyrists: For Lin‐Xi, he said he have depression problem, for Wyman Wong, his famous work is discuss about the humble way to lost love like his well know lost love songs (You don’t have) Good Result and Knife into Your Heart. And since most people like to adopt these songs and so this period songs are sad songs on lost love. Besides, as the popular songs can be easy adopt by youth, lost love is the most common issue in the life and these topic will also easy to sell also. Famous singer in this period included: Eason Chan, Miriam Yeung, Joey Yung, Twins, etc.
2003 ‐ Current
More recently, around 02‐04, bad economic Hong Kong environment and meet with SARS, flat bubble crash. Pop music has also collapsed. Due to such situation, there is a demand of songs which can reflect that situation, other than the love songs only. Besides, more singers have become producer also and included all the things together. One man band become popular with the advance technologies now, production is just only need a computer and sits in front of computer, with a quiet room or rent some band room, then you can become the producer also. Besides, people not just buy a songs only, actually they are buying something that can fit to their equipment which claimed good quality of sounds, and one some singer have focus to developed with this market like Hacken Lee, Susan Wang, but most of their songs are reproduced from the old stuff. Also, Internet, Apple has iTunes which sell songs in US.
This service has not landed in Hong Kong and Mainland at this moment but there are similar platforms
have created in Hong Kong to sell pop songs online like moov.hk and kkbox.com.
01/ About Hong Kong Popular Music
Definition
To discuss popular music, we need to define which music should be included in this discussion. With the reference from Simon Frith and Roy Shuker, their definitions are as follow:
From Simon Frith, he made the following definition for popular music as follow:
- Music made commercially, in a particular kind of legal (copyright) and economic (market) system.
- Music made using ever‐changing technology, with particular reference to forms of recording or sound storage.
- Music, which is significantly experienced as mediated, tied up with the twentieth‐century mass media of cinema, radio and television.
- Music which is primarily made for pleasure, with particular importance for the social and bodily pleasures of dance and public entertainment.
- Music which is formally hybrid, bringing together musical elements which cross social, cultural and geographical boundaries. (Frith, 2004)
So the definition of the popular music in this discussion basically combined with these two approaches. Shuker is basically nearly the definition with Frith, but I agree with his approach since there need to have some adjustments for Hong Kong pop music, for instance, some serious music like Mozart have become popular in specific situation[1], or which have merged into the popular music in Hong Kong[2]. Beside, some popular songs are derived from movie sound track[3] and commercial music[4] and then find the lyricist to fill in lyrics and become also as popular music here.
In this discussion, I will put the history and the songs will be discussed together at the beginning, which try to provide the overview of what songs should be included as the type of popular music in Hong Kong.
02/ Introduction
At the Beginning
With the oldest record I have found in the history, the popular music in Hong Kong can back to the age around the beginning of 19 centuries. The 17th governor of Hong Kong, Sir Cecil Clementi, he have record the songs which sang by the people at that time. The songs mostly sang related to their daily life included love and jobs. These songs mostly produced by people who have not well educated, and the quality of the songs are actually low. Later, the popular song will include the Canton Chinese Opera (粵曲) and these local songs run in parallel.
40s‐50s
Later, since the Mainland China has changed to be rule by Communist Party and many Mainland people came to Hong Kong to escape the rule of them, and these new immigrate have also brought their culture included their popular music and the production technique at that time to Hong Kong together. Most of them are came from Shanghai, since Shanghai have governed by many western countries and hence have learnt many advanced production technique at that time, so the production quality is good at that moment in the Chinese. When these productions came to Hong Kong, the songs produced have been accepted and then they also become the mainstream at that moment. And the popular songs are already sold with the movie at that time. Since these people are come from Mainland China, their language is Mandarin but this can still popular for the most people in the place speaking in Cantonese. But there is also local Cantonese song production, the quality is low compare the Mandarin Songs like Tang Kee‐chan, people there not like most since they content are vulgar.
Mandarin songs have become popular, and later on, around 60s, since Hong Kong is colonized by British government and hence students are learning English in their school, and so English popular music are popular also. The reason is actually the production of Mandarin songs is cloned from the western production, and so the youth listen the Western one directly, for instance, The Beatles, Don McLean, etc.
Late 60s and 70s
After then, in around 70s, most of the Mainland immigrate have stay in Hong Kong steadily and have the mind that there is not the necessary to “back” to their home town, and most of them also have learnt Cantonese at that moment, plus the governor have promoted the public housing and the free color television are in service, so Cantonese popular music then have the chance to be adopted by most of the people at that time, so these Cantonese is the prototype or the first generation of the popular music in Hong Kong we know today. But there is still some friction to promote at that moment, and so the well know agree with the first contemporary pop songs is from Sandra Lang, Lovers Lovers5. This is the first type since Sandra Lang is look like the Western people and this will easy to be accepted by the people at that time (Wong, Jum‐sum, 2003). Also in the similar time period, there is Sam Hui also popular who is mainly performing Cantonese pop music with diversified content such as lover, the living of the people at that time, the worries in puberty, etc. He has voice out the situation of the HongKonger and so he was very popular at that time.
80s
In 80s, the most famous singer is Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung, and also has Danny Chan, Anita Mui, etc. The songs from Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung are mostly brought the rights from other countries, mostly from Japan and fill with HongKongese lyrics, and hence there many lyricists have chance to present their works included Lin‐Xi, Pan Yuan‐lian, Richard Lam, Andrew Lam, etc. The productions of their songs are not like the one which all are produced locally included the songs composing, arrangement in the previously time. The songs are just brought from other countries, and fill in HongKongese lyrics. They adopted this approach since it is save time and cost for production. And since the record label are mostly from Western company like PolyGram, Warner Music, EMI etc and so they are easy to get these resources with their international network. Beside, since these songs are the “successful cases” from other countries, the companies will just follow the cases and reproduced one locally and this was accepted by the people at that moment, and so some scholar (Chu Yiu‐wai) said the people is just follow the singer, or pop star, but not the songs itself at that time.
In the nearly same period in 80s, apart from these pop singers, there is also a band sound movement appear in the local popular music industry included Beyond, Tat Ming Pair, Tai‐chi, etc. They have produced their songs originally from the topic and song composing. They are not like the mainstream one which mostly about love, their topic will discussed about the society situation like Ten Youth for Fire Fighting, etc.
90s
In the 90s, Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung have announced retired, and then the Hong Kong pop music move to the era of Four Kings and Queen. They still follow the production model previously, which buy the song directly from other countries and fill in the Cantonese lyrics. Basically most of their songs are related to love also. In this situation, Hong Kong Commercial Radio (CR) has announced to support the local production, which included the song composing, and they don’t broadcast the songs which are cover version from other countries. Besides, the wave of karaoke have come which need to consumed heavy on the pop songs, music videos and songs are highly demand from this time.
After 1997
After 1997, and in the new 21 century, there are only few local composers supported the whole Hong Kong pop music market, like Mark Lui, Chan Fai‐Young, Ronald Ng, they produced nearly all the songs in Hong Kong, with two lyricists, Lin‐Xi and Wyman Wong. These two lyricists have 204 and 105 songs produced respectively in year 2002. Covered version songs from other countries have minimized, but the society have another voice that the popular songs become karaoklized, which means most of the songs are standard in pattern and just have only one topic – lost love.
The characteristic of karaoke songs is let the user easy to sing, no need to remember so hard for the lyrics and repetitive composing structure, which meet with the two major lyricists fill in the lyric focus on lost love. I think this is match with the situation of this two lyrists: For Lin‐Xi, he said he have depression problem, for Wyman Wong, his famous work is discuss about the humble way to lost love like his well know lost love songs (You don’t have) Good Result and Knife into Your Heart. And since most people like to adopt these songs and so this period songs are sad songs on lost love. Besides, as the popular songs can be easy adopt by youth, lost love is the most common issue in the life and these topic will also easy to sell also. Famous singer in this period included: Eason Chan, Miriam Yeung, Joey Yung, Twins, etc.
2003 ‐ Current
More recently, around 02‐04, bad economic Hong Kong environment and meet with SARS, flat bubble crash. Pop music has also collapsed. Due to such situation, there is a demand of songs which can reflect that situation, other than the love songs only. Besides, more singers have become producer also and included all the things together. One man band become popular with the advance technologies now, production is just only need a computer and sits in front of computer, with a quiet room or rent some band room, then you can become the producer also. Besides, people not just buy a songs only, actually they are buying something that can fit to their equipment which claimed good quality of sounds, and one some singer have focus to developed with this market like Hacken Lee, Susan Wang, but most of their songs are reproduced from the old stuff. Also, Internet, Apple has iTunes which sell songs in US.
This service has not landed in Hong Kong and Mainland at this moment but there are similar platforms
have created in Hong Kong to sell pop songs online like moov.hk and kkbox.com.
04 January 2012
...
by Ming Leung, December 2009
Hang a flat plasma display on the living-room and connect it to a wall socket that also taps into the home grid and have another modest display in other room, too, which subscribe the service from pay TV. Also, when leave the bedroom and say "off" to the screen, and then enter the kitchen and say, maybe, to the microwave oven: "Oven, show me my stock numbers." During a commercial on the TV, using a wireless remote to instruct the hidden gateway box to find and download an original Star Trek episode. When the episode ends and grabs the game controller off the coffee table, become Captain Kirk on the plasma screen and engage in a live, on-line dogfight in the Neutral Zone with an opponent from Tokyo.
This seems similar to the life mentioned in Minority Report and I think most likely my mother say "off" to ask me off the screen actually and also I don't why the microwave oven need to connect Internet until now. But anyway, the above scenario quoted by Livingstone [1] is more or less near to my daily life now, 2009.
iPhone, nearly can do all the things mentioned above. On everyday that need to work, the first thing I need to contact is my iPhone, since he is the morning alarm who tell me it is the time back to the hell. If unlucky there is any colleague have sent an "urgent" email into my mailbox the night before, the iPhone will have a smart indication which told me "I'VE GOT ONE NEW EMAIL" at the right-top corner of the email icon. When I see the indication, of course, I will read this email, at least read this very rough even though I still have not brush my teeth in the morning.
Just with this function, iPhone has changed my habit of the reception of the information evolutionally. In the past when the time that the mobile phone is not so advanced, I am wake up by my mobile phone also, but then I can go to the toilet to brush my teeth and change my cloth and take the bus and back to work. Before I change my cloth, I can turn on the TV and watch several minute morning news (also the beauty reporter on TV) and get the current temperature to see if I need to put more cloth or not.
But now, when I bought the iPhone, live is changing.
First, there is an uncertainty that I will receive such "urgent" emails when I just opened my eyes in the morning. If so, I may need to response this BEFORE I back to my working place. Besides, since iPhone is like a toy that I play frequently, so I can get weather report with the application inside to see the tomorrow temperature and have already prepared suitable clothing before I go to bed. In the next morning, the beauty reporter have say bye to me for a long time already since I need not to turn on the TV to get such information anymore. Then how about the news in the morning? Don't worry, Apple Daily can may me happy. There is an application from Apple Daily which can be installed in my iPhone to read the real time news, today newspaper and also "interactive news" from them. In the "interactive news", they have, actually produced some video news since they known the Hong Kong people don't know how to read texts, so they produced these content for them. When I click (actually touch on the iPhone) on the video news, a beautiful young-model appear in my iPhone, this actually the supplement of the newspaper and the beautiful young lady is introducing the shop that selling a fruitful hamburger, so I lost the beauty reporter, but I can get another beautiful lady instead. Technologies changed, sequence of media reception changed, but the content basically not changed. This is just as Livingstone mentioned in the audience research, for new media, basically they are just changed the media they used, but the content is basically the same like the old wine in bottles (p.346) and the media may have different understanding compare to the past, for instance, emails, it is a convenience way for communication with the people far away from my place at the time when it is invented, but in this case, it is a annoying thing for me when I see this in the morning.
Apart from this, Livingstone also mentioned about the changing social and cultural contexts can also shape the audience practices (p.339). In leisure time, I will login to my facebook and see is there any news feed available in my account. These feeds are included, the advertisements from some shop that I go often, update news from newspaper, friend sharing, etc.
Besides checking my email, I will login to my facebook to check is there any updates from these "content provider" periodically. Sometime, if my friend just working not happy on that day, she update her facebook status like: "I want to scream......~", and I then replied: "Go ahead~^^v". So each of us actually is the content provider and the audience in the same time, and checking facebook will become one of the activities in my daily life.
Since the content provider can be actually the same person of the audience, so they are "interactively" affect to each other and this will also shape the content provider and hence the social and cultural contexts can changed in the reversed direction. For instance, by the advanced technology nowadays that nearly all the mobile phones have a camera to shot the photos. This will have the "environment protection problem" in my experience: I having lunch with colleague in one afternoon, when the lemongrass pork chop is come and he suddenly take photos for this pork chop with his mobile phone. Actually I cannot see any problem of the dish so I asked why need to do this and he replied: "It so cute!" (Come on, how come a lemongrass pork chop is so cute!??) After a day, I see he really posted that photo on the facebook and tag me beside the pork chop. (actually I cannot see any part of my body but just the shadow)
In the example above, my interpretation of such activities is that: since there is already a new media platform available for use, and he, my colleague, when he as an audience from other facebook account, he feel interesting about these content and want to create one also, but he have no content available to share and the mobile phone is a convenience capture device and so he shoot all the things in his daily life, since the digital camera need not to pay for the film, and "share" to the friend in the facebook. These shared content, actually have no meaning and wasted the power of the mobile phone, wasted the storage space on facebook, etc. (so that why I called this is a environment protection problem) But unluckily, he is not a special case in Hong Kong and I have seen so many such "cute" things in my facebook account already. And since he is not a special case in Hong Kong, if you can observe a little bit detail in the place around us, you will very easy to find these activities occur even though when a couple making love on the bed, they are also need to take a mobile phone out for this, so that why I say it is reversely changing the society and cultural contexts by the audience.
As conclude, I not talking about the technologies which carry many bad things to my daily life, (actually I like to use my iPhone), the problem is about the audience/user how to use these technologies/media as McLuhan mentioned in his book. It is not the fault of the email tools but is the sender that find people in the night if the stuff is not really urgent, but still keep in the old mindset that sent the email in the night and think the receiver will open the email when he back office tomorrow. Besides, I think the "environment protection problem" cannot be solved since the society have already get use to put these "interesting" content and the audience are like to see this, it is a part of the daily life and cannot be back already, so nothing can say and just like my title "..."
Remarks
[1] The paragraph I quoted from Livingstone which I have modified a little bit and she have not mentioned about the microwave oven actually
References
Livingstone, Sonia. "The changing nature of audiences — From the mass audience to the interactive media user." A Companion to Media Studies. Wiley-Blackwell, 2003. 337-359.
Hang a flat plasma display on the living-room and connect it to a wall socket that also taps into the home grid and have another modest display in other room, too, which subscribe the service from pay TV. Also, when leave the bedroom and say "off" to the screen, and then enter the kitchen and say, maybe, to the microwave oven: "Oven, show me my stock numbers." During a commercial on the TV, using a wireless remote to instruct the hidden gateway box to find and download an original Star Trek episode. When the episode ends and grabs the game controller off the coffee table, become Captain Kirk on the plasma screen and engage in a live, on-line dogfight in the Neutral Zone with an opponent from Tokyo.
This seems similar to the life mentioned in Minority Report and I think most likely my mother say "off" to ask me off the screen actually and also I don't why the microwave oven need to connect Internet until now. But anyway, the above scenario quoted by Livingstone [1] is more or less near to my daily life now, 2009.
iPhone, nearly can do all the things mentioned above. On everyday that need to work, the first thing I need to contact is my iPhone, since he is the morning alarm who tell me it is the time back to the hell. If unlucky there is any colleague have sent an "urgent" email into my mailbox the night before, the iPhone will have a smart indication which told me "I'VE GOT ONE NEW EMAIL" at the right-top corner of the email icon. When I see the indication, of course, I will read this email, at least read this very rough even though I still have not brush my teeth in the morning.
Just with this function, iPhone has changed my habit of the reception of the information evolutionally. In the past when the time that the mobile phone is not so advanced, I am wake up by my mobile phone also, but then I can go to the toilet to brush my teeth and change my cloth and take the bus and back to work. Before I change my cloth, I can turn on the TV and watch several minute morning news (also the beauty reporter on TV) and get the current temperature to see if I need to put more cloth or not.
But now, when I bought the iPhone, live is changing.
First, there is an uncertainty that I will receive such "urgent" emails when I just opened my eyes in the morning. If so, I may need to response this BEFORE I back to my working place. Besides, since iPhone is like a toy that I play frequently, so I can get weather report with the application inside to see the tomorrow temperature and have already prepared suitable clothing before I go to bed. In the next morning, the beauty reporter have say bye to me for a long time already since I need not to turn on the TV to get such information anymore. Then how about the news in the morning? Don't worry, Apple Daily can may me happy. There is an application from Apple Daily which can be installed in my iPhone to read the real time news, today newspaper and also "interactive news" from them. In the "interactive news", they have, actually produced some video news since they known the Hong Kong people don't know how to read texts, so they produced these content for them. When I click (actually touch on the iPhone) on the video news, a beautiful young-model appear in my iPhone, this actually the supplement of the newspaper and the beautiful young lady is introducing the shop that selling a fruitful hamburger, so I lost the beauty reporter, but I can get another beautiful lady instead. Technologies changed, sequence of media reception changed, but the content basically not changed. This is just as Livingstone mentioned in the audience research, for new media, basically they are just changed the media they used, but the content is basically the same like the old wine in bottles (p.346) and the media may have different understanding compare to the past, for instance, emails, it is a convenience way for communication with the people far away from my place at the time when it is invented, but in this case, it is a annoying thing for me when I see this in the morning.
Apart from this, Livingstone also mentioned about the changing social and cultural contexts can also shape the audience practices (p.339). In leisure time, I will login to my facebook and see is there any news feed available in my account. These feeds are included, the advertisements from some shop that I go often, update news from newspaper, friend sharing, etc.
Besides checking my email, I will login to my facebook to check is there any updates from these "content provider" periodically. Sometime, if my friend just working not happy on that day, she update her facebook status like: "I want to scream......~", and I then replied: "Go ahead~^^v". So each of us actually is the content provider and the audience in the same time, and checking facebook will become one of the activities in my daily life.
Since the content provider can be actually the same person of the audience, so they are "interactively" affect to each other and this will also shape the content provider and hence the social and cultural contexts can changed in the reversed direction. For instance, by the advanced technology nowadays that nearly all the mobile phones have a camera to shot the photos. This will have the "environment protection problem" in my experience: I having lunch with colleague in one afternoon, when the lemongrass pork chop is come and he suddenly take photos for this pork chop with his mobile phone. Actually I cannot see any problem of the dish so I asked why need to do this and he replied: "It so cute!" (Come on, how come a lemongrass pork chop is so cute!??) After a day, I see he really posted that photo on the facebook and tag me beside the pork chop. (actually I cannot see any part of my body but just the shadow)
In the example above, my interpretation of such activities is that: since there is already a new media platform available for use, and he, my colleague, when he as an audience from other facebook account, he feel interesting about these content and want to create one also, but he have no content available to share and the mobile phone is a convenience capture device and so he shoot all the things in his daily life, since the digital camera need not to pay for the film, and "share" to the friend in the facebook. These shared content, actually have no meaning and wasted the power of the mobile phone, wasted the storage space on facebook, etc. (so that why I called this is a environment protection problem) But unluckily, he is not a special case in Hong Kong and I have seen so many such "cute" things in my facebook account already. And since he is not a special case in Hong Kong, if you can observe a little bit detail in the place around us, you will very easy to find these activities occur even though when a couple making love on the bed, they are also need to take a mobile phone out for this, so that why I say it is reversely changing the society and cultural contexts by the audience.
As conclude, I not talking about the technologies which carry many bad things to my daily life, (actually I like to use my iPhone), the problem is about the audience/user how to use these technologies/media as McLuhan mentioned in his book. It is not the fault of the email tools but is the sender that find people in the night if the stuff is not really urgent, but still keep in the old mindset that sent the email in the night and think the receiver will open the email when he back office tomorrow. Besides, I think the "environment protection problem" cannot be solved since the society have already get use to put these "interesting" content and the audience are like to see this, it is a part of the daily life and cannot be back already, so nothing can say and just like my title "..."
Remarks
[1] The paragraph I quoted from Livingstone which I have modified a little bit and she have not mentioned about the microwave oven actually
References
Livingstone, Sonia. "The changing nature of audiences — From the mass audience to the interactive media user." A Companion to Media Studies. Wiley-Blackwell, 2003. 337-359.
03 January 2012
Red
by Ming Leung, May 2011
The color of red is one of the basic colors as we know. In this paper is to try to discuss the color of red with it corresponding culture, especially the color of red is the favorite color of Chinese, and the PRC have also identify red called China Red which try to represent the Chinese in the world.
Definition of Red
Color, which our primary sense that we contact to the world. With color, our emotion and impression with be affected. For instance, when we see the photos, with one is black & white and the other is color, the color one will be provide a more realistic environment and the black and white one might provide an old style mood to us.
The color is actually wavelength signal that detected by our eyes. In our eyes, the color is sense on the retina, there is some cells called opsins, which will absorbs different wavelength from the object. Red, green and blue basic color that detected on the retina and convert to signal that transfer to the brain and let us feel the object have the color (Petru, 2010).
This is the physical operation in our human body that detects colors. As a human, we received many single from a light source and we actually cannot defined the standard red accurately, we just can defined an area from a color spectrum or focus a main point to defined these area are red in color. (Berlin, 1969)
So to interpreted color, we need much method for this. For instance, in the wavelength perspective, the wavelength of red is between 630‐740 nm, in RGB notion #FF0000 is meaning the red which have the most brightness on the mixture of light, red is (0%, 100%, 100%, 0%) in CMYK, which means you need not mixed with Cyan and Black ink when you mixed this color on the printing materials. And Pantone is just defined with color giving a number for this, and they generate this number that can reproduce with their formula.
Beside these technical methods to define the color more accurate, humans actually have defined the color using their own language long time ago. Since our language is affected with the culture activities and so the color will have connotation with the meanings with the language. In this discussion, color of Red the main focus. This color is one of the basic colors derived from the human, as described by John Gage, Red can be derived from blood, with is the basic color of white, black and yellow.
But from Berlin and Kay, there is a development of the language from human for the basic color terms. The development is divided into 7 stages:
Stage I: Black, White
Stage II: Red
Stage III: Green or Yellow
Stage IV: Green and Yellow
Stage V: Blue
Stage VI: Brown
Stage VII: Purple, Pink, Orange, Grey
As we have seen in the early stage, human can classified the color BLACK and WHITE, which actually included deep color like blue in BLACK and light color like yellow in WHITE. The third stage is RED, like the four basic color terms as I mentioned before from blood. Compare with other color, Red can provide the feeling like warm, potent, strong, and active in most of the language in the world (Adams & Osgood, 1973). Since Red have this feeling and so people can use for warm and active, so some countries will use red for their celebration, such as Chinese Luner Year, all the things are in red, which meaning lucky and happy. Besides, red also have used as the sexual maturity in Congo (Jacobson‐Widding, 1979). But if red have mixed with the meaning of active and potent, it will have different meaning like warning. For instance, the no entry sign, it is use red since red can provide a strong message to the viewer to take attention on the sign and instruct the viewer to follow the message.
Use of Red
As Red is the one of the primary color perceived by human, so human will have natural action that received red color before the others. In the age of Neolithic, human are using red as the most important color since they think red were giving the powers to them and they place the red ochre into the graves for the hunter. Besides, for the painting in the same period, they think there is a major power for their fertility. The word “magic” translates to “taufr” in Old Norse and this is related to the Anglo‐Saxon “trafor” which means “red ochre” and so their painting animals are in red ochre or iron oxide to fit this functionality.
Red also has the protective powers against evil influence in common many cultures. Animals and trees are covered in red paint, warriors are painted their weapons into red and they also believe that their spear‐catapults can have more power if they painted in red. The Neolithic hunters and Germanic warriors are even using real blood from animals for their painting materials. Roman gladiators drank blood from their dying competitors to take over their strength. Besides, for the warriors, the painting on their body which also to protect against insects, which similar to the animals to protect themselves by rolling in mud.
Apart from the warriors and hunters, red also be using in other place like for the newborn baby, they will be bath into blood for stronger and have a good looking. Red gems were used to against the evil, wearing a red ruby was think to bring extra power from god and red bed‐clothes which were believed to have a protection against from “red illnesses” like fever, rashes, etc in Germany.
Red, in terms of red rose, is the symbol of love. Red was a part of wedding in many cultures. Red wedding gown was popular in Nurnberg of the 18th century, which is the tradition goes back to roman times: the brides were wrapped in red veil that bless them to have a warrant love. Chinese also using red for the wedding, and also all celebrate activities using red such as Lunar New Year or become a master in the public examinations, etc.
There are also negative connotations of red. Red is the color of the desert and of the destructive god Seth who impersonated the Evil in the ancient Egypt. “Making red” was mean to killing someone and “Red Affairs” which is referred to doing something for evil. And for the signage on the road, red which means to forbidden something like “No entry”, or “Cannot turn left”, etc.
Red in Chinese
In China, people in past or somewhere far from city, they think red can scare the evil or bad things in natural and make them lucky, so Chinese have the mindset that red make them lucky. For the color in China, it is initially described as the color on face, which has the meaning reflected from the person physically and psychologically. If the person is red on face, he may be shy or angry, or there is green on face, he most likely in sick.
The color has used to describe as the color as we know today around 5000BC. Chinese have described the color with the Wu‐Xi (五行). As Wu‐Xi is about Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Land which have the color of Black, Red, Green, White, Yellow, which have match the first five stages of the color language development from Berlin. Red means fire, providing warm to the people and also can protect people from the attack of animals the wild. In the history of the energy resource of human, when people used fire, they have stepped forward that using fire to cook and scare the animals in the wild to protect their family.
Since China is a farming society in the past, the farmer basically have not much weapon to protect their farm, so fire is the most effective weapon for them at that moment. Besides, fire can provide warm to them and so this will produce a thought that fire will be some kind of god that can protect them. Also, Chinese have no universal God concept like Western, when they need to find way for pray and fire will naturally for them as a lucky icon and hence the red color will also provide them similar feeling for good and lucky naturally.
For instance, an idiom Red Luck From Head (紅運當頭) , red means warm, red luck from the head we can think of this is a good weather day that the sun provide warm to us and we feel good for that day. In such situation of the human it is easy to get the things done and so if the person is always doing jobs fail, to wish this as least this may also provide luck to him.
Besides use for good luck, red have used to represent the level of the society classes in the past. For the man who has power and a rich, they will paint the door to red, and also some house columns also paint in red, which we still can see in the Forbidden City at Beijing nowadays.
Other than red, yellow actually also a favorite color also. Yellow means premium, but this is the color of the king. And since yellow is only be used by the king family, the relation things have come out such as the king can issue a yellow cloth to his relative and so this relative will be assign the power from the king and hence most people need to treat this person like treat to the king.
Political Color
For Red, we know red flag as the symbol of left‐wing politics in the Western political spectrum. This red flag have used by the communism and socialism in the world. Actually this red flag have first been used in the Middle Age: the ships in combat have flew a long red streamer, which called Baucans to signify a fight of death. By the 18th century, this Baucans have modified into a red flag. This flag was raised in the cities and castles that indicate that they would not surrender.
Later in the French Revolution, the red flag used to associate with patriotism in the early state of the revolution and at last the red flag have been an unofficial national emblem. In 1871, the banner of the Paris Commune was red and which have became the symbol of communism. Then in the international labor movement later on, they have use red flag as the symbol from this and it have been widely spread during the Russian Revolution in 1917. The Soviet flag with a hammer, a sickle and a star on the red background.
For the king in China, many of them are also like red and use this as a represent for them. But red is not only the color to represent the power from king. Black and yellow also have used. Black have used in Chun Dynasty, the king have changed the color to black according to the logic of Wu‐Xi, that black is the turn of that dynasty. Yellow have been used from Han, the king adopted yellow as their power color since yellow with the same pronouncing as king, which mean power and so other than the king relatives, no people is allowed to use yellow for anything. In Ching, since China need to have contact with the Western, they also using yellow as the first country flag to represent China.
Then in Republic of China, yellow have not used and the flat have changed in to the current flag. For People Republic of China, they have used red to represent the power again.
For each change of the political power, the king or the control until will change the color. As the beginning, the king like to use red, this is naturally use for the concept of lucky, and also from the most people understanding at that moment. As Chun Dynasty, they used Black to represent its power, Black is a higher potency color then Red and which match to the king desire at that moment. Yellow, which actually is not so powerful if we only care the perception of this color, actually this is a softer and natural color compared to Black and Red. But this have changed is meaning since it is derived from the language that have speak as the same sound, and so its connotation have also changed. And now, red have use again, but this time have one more meaning other than the lucky of China, it mean the power of the control of Communist Party in China.
Why Chinese Like Red
Red is the favorite color of China people. They believe red can bring them lucky and so they like most of the things in red. But why China people seem always need so much of luck? In case if the people feel the life is bad, or need to get some extra power to help them to face the problem ahead, then need luck.
If required luck, since they are always live in the uncertainty. For instance, most of Chinese are farmers in the past, actually they just depending on the weather, which they cannot control by themselves, so luck is very important for them. Besides, even in study in college, if they want to get the high mark they also depending on luck, even they have work hard. Since the examiner can be corrupted let him not pass in the public examinations.
So before any important events in the life, they especially pray for luck with them. This actually similar to the psychology like the warriors in the past, paint all the weapons in red, red is the color that stimuli them unlike the other color and give them a short time of feeling good.
Unlike the warriors, the warriors just need to face to their competitor one time only, win or die. But for Chinese, even the farmer or the studying have run for several thousand repeatedly and have no improvement as well, they just need to pray the luck always.
People may think the China Red is just only representing the China Communist Party, this is not represent the China People. But for China people have several characteristics, for instance, red can provide luck for them, as I mentioned before. Besides, many China people think that the entire world is around him to move, they always mentioned “I”, all the people should need to put that attention to him, which red is fit for this purpose. Red is an attention color compared with the others color, and so beside Red, Yellow is a favorite color also. And for Blue, they think this is the color of dead. For course the China Communist Party have sell this color to their people in the country, but actually most of the people happy to think that red is their color, they always choose the color which is drawing attention one, like red and yellow. Red means China, actually the Communist Party, and the country can make them pound just in terms of money, construction, etc. So in simple thinking the red can represent them. But this is just the market that the people need to have something which with they pound of, and they need red for them to give them some power in their life. But under the sticky control and the power cannot be balanced, justice absent and people have no way to represent this and red can provide them warm and stimuli in the mind that everything will be right later. So Red actually is the China people required more that represent them.
As red, that Chinese want to represent them, but the red have not such meaning like France, the color of the national flag is red, white and blue, which mean liberty, equality and fraternity. Yes, you can say that red can mean friendship, enthusiastic love, passion, but this just a part of this, the red in the Chinese perspective is meaning what they need: luck, extra power to face the problem, hope all the world look at them, and for the Western culture, red mostly means danger and their bloody Apple and Nike products.
References
English References
Adams, Francis & Osgood, Charles, A Cross‐Culture Study of the Affective Meanings of Color, Journal of Cross‐cultural Psychology, June 1973.
Aslam, Mubeen, Are you selling the right colour? A Cross‐cultural Review of Colour as a Marketing Cue, Journal of Marketing Communications.
Berlin, Brent and Kay, Paul, Basic Color Terms – Their Universality and Evolution, University of California Press, 1969.
Burchett, Kenneth, Color Harmony, Color Research and Application, Vol.27, No.1, Feb 2002.
Friedman , Thomas, The New York Times, 23 Sep, 2007, <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/opinion/23friedman.html>
Gage, John, “Colour in History – Relative and Absolute”, Colour and Meaning – Art, Science and Symbolism, Thames and Hudson, pp.67‐89.
Gage, John, “Colour‐Language, Colour Symbols”, Colour and Culture – Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction, Thames and Hudson, pp.79‐92.
Gage, John, “The Fortunes of Apelles – The four‐color Theory”, Colour and Culture – Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction, Thames and Hudson, pp.29‐30.
Jacobson‐Widding, Red‐White‐Black as a Mode of Thought, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 1979.
O’connor, Zena, Colour Harmony Revisited, Colour Resrach and Application, Vol.35, No.4, August 2010.
Osgood, Charles, “The Semantic Differential as a Measuring Instrument”, The Measurement of Meaning, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, pp.76‐124, 1957.
Petru, Somona, The Power of Colour, IFRAO Congress, Sep 2010 – Symposium: Signs, Symbols, myth, ideology.
Whitfield, T.W.A, Color Psychology: A Critical Review, Genetic, Social & General Psychology Monographs; Nov 90, Vol.116, Issue 4, p387, 25p.
Wikipedia, Red Flag, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag>
Chinese References
心缘, 中國文化簡介(五)：中國傳統文化中的顏色, <http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2006/6/12/37821.html>
中國的顏色信仰, <http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_439be44a0100084q.html>
中國顏色信仰—黑色與白色, <http://211.67.81.35/wlkc/guoke3/xinyang/ZhongGuoYanSeXinYang_HeiSeYuBaiSe/>
青女, 中國傳統色彩名錄, <http://www.blueidea.com/design/doc/2003/1411.asp>
The color of red is one of the basic colors as we know. In this paper is to try to discuss the color of red with it corresponding culture, especially the color of red is the favorite color of Chinese, and the PRC have also identify red called China Red which try to represent the Chinese in the world.
Definition of Red
Color, which our primary sense that we contact to the world. With color, our emotion and impression with be affected. For instance, when we see the photos, with one is black & white and the other is color, the color one will be provide a more realistic environment and the black and white one might provide an old style mood to us.
The color is actually wavelength signal that detected by our eyes. In our eyes, the color is sense on the retina, there is some cells called opsins, which will absorbs different wavelength from the object. Red, green and blue basic color that detected on the retina and convert to signal that transfer to the brain and let us feel the object have the color (Petru, 2010).
This is the physical operation in our human body that detects colors. As a human, we received many single from a light source and we actually cannot defined the standard red accurately, we just can defined an area from a color spectrum or focus a main point to defined these area are red in color. (Berlin, 1969)
So to interpreted color, we need much method for this. For instance, in the wavelength perspective, the wavelength of red is between 630‐740 nm, in RGB notion #FF0000 is meaning the red which have the most brightness on the mixture of light, red is (0%, 100%, 100%, 0%) in CMYK, which means you need not mixed with Cyan and Black ink when you mixed this color on the printing materials. And Pantone is just defined with color giving a number for this, and they generate this number that can reproduce with their formula.
Beside these technical methods to define the color more accurate, humans actually have defined the color using their own language long time ago. Since our language is affected with the culture activities and so the color will have connotation with the meanings with the language. In this discussion, color of Red the main focus. This color is one of the basic colors derived from the human, as described by John Gage, Red can be derived from blood, with is the basic color of white, black and yellow.
But from Berlin and Kay, there is a development of the language from human for the basic color terms. The development is divided into 7 stages:
Stage I: Black, White
Stage II: Red
Stage III: Green or Yellow
Stage IV: Green and Yellow
Stage V: Blue
Stage VI: Brown
Stage VII: Purple, Pink, Orange, Grey
As we have seen in the early stage, human can classified the color BLACK and WHITE, which actually included deep color like blue in BLACK and light color like yellow in WHITE. The third stage is RED, like the four basic color terms as I mentioned before from blood. Compare with other color, Red can provide the feeling like warm, potent, strong, and active in most of the language in the world (Adams & Osgood, 1973). Since Red have this feeling and so people can use for warm and active, so some countries will use red for their celebration, such as Chinese Luner Year, all the things are in red, which meaning lucky and happy. Besides, red also have used as the sexual maturity in Congo (Jacobson‐Widding, 1979). But if red have mixed with the meaning of active and potent, it will have different meaning like warning. For instance, the no entry sign, it is use red since red can provide a strong message to the viewer to take attention on the sign and instruct the viewer to follow the message.
Use of Red
As Red is the one of the primary color perceived by human, so human will have natural action that received red color before the others. In the age of Neolithic, human are using red as the most important color since they think red were giving the powers to them and they place the red ochre into the graves for the hunter. Besides, for the painting in the same period, they think there is a major power for their fertility. The word “magic” translates to “taufr” in Old Norse and this is related to the Anglo‐Saxon “trafor” which means “red ochre” and so their painting animals are in red ochre or iron oxide to fit this functionality.
Red also has the protective powers against evil influence in common many cultures. Animals and trees are covered in red paint, warriors are painted their weapons into red and they also believe that their spear‐catapults can have more power if they painted in red. The Neolithic hunters and Germanic warriors are even using real blood from animals for their painting materials. Roman gladiators drank blood from their dying competitors to take over their strength. Besides, for the warriors, the painting on their body which also to protect against insects, which similar to the animals to protect themselves by rolling in mud.
Apart from the warriors and hunters, red also be using in other place like for the newborn baby, they will be bath into blood for stronger and have a good looking. Red gems were used to against the evil, wearing a red ruby was think to bring extra power from god and red bed‐clothes which were believed to have a protection against from “red illnesses” like fever, rashes, etc in Germany.
Red, in terms of red rose, is the symbol of love. Red was a part of wedding in many cultures. Red wedding gown was popular in Nurnberg of the 18th century, which is the tradition goes back to roman times: the brides were wrapped in red veil that bless them to have a warrant love. Chinese also using red for the wedding, and also all celebrate activities using red such as Lunar New Year or become a master in the public examinations, etc.
There are also negative connotations of red. Red is the color of the desert and of the destructive god Seth who impersonated the Evil in the ancient Egypt. “Making red” was mean to killing someone and “Red Affairs” which is referred to doing something for evil. And for the signage on the road, red which means to forbidden something like “No entry”, or “Cannot turn left”, etc.
Red in Chinese
In China, people in past or somewhere far from city, they think red can scare the evil or bad things in natural and make them lucky, so Chinese have the mindset that red make them lucky. For the color in China, it is initially described as the color on face, which has the meaning reflected from the person physically and psychologically. If the person is red on face, he may be shy or angry, or there is green on face, he most likely in sick.
The color has used to describe as the color as we know today around 5000BC. Chinese have described the color with the Wu‐Xi (五行). As Wu‐Xi is about Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Land which have the color of Black, Red, Green, White, Yellow, which have match the first five stages of the color language development from Berlin. Red means fire, providing warm to the people and also can protect people from the attack of animals the wild. In the history of the energy resource of human, when people used fire, they have stepped forward that using fire to cook and scare the animals in the wild to protect their family.
Since China is a farming society in the past, the farmer basically have not much weapon to protect their farm, so fire is the most effective weapon for them at that moment. Besides, fire can provide warm to them and so this will produce a thought that fire will be some kind of god that can protect them. Also, Chinese have no universal God concept like Western, when they need to find way for pray and fire will naturally for them as a lucky icon and hence the red color will also provide them similar feeling for good and lucky naturally.
For instance, an idiom Red Luck From Head (紅運當頭) , red means warm, red luck from the head we can think of this is a good weather day that the sun provide warm to us and we feel good for that day. In such situation of the human it is easy to get the things done and so if the person is always doing jobs fail, to wish this as least this may also provide luck to him.
Besides use for good luck, red have used to represent the level of the society classes in the past. For the man who has power and a rich, they will paint the door to red, and also some house columns also paint in red, which we still can see in the Forbidden City at Beijing nowadays.
Other than red, yellow actually also a favorite color also. Yellow means premium, but this is the color of the king. And since yellow is only be used by the king family, the relation things have come out such as the king can issue a yellow cloth to his relative and so this relative will be assign the power from the king and hence most people need to treat this person like treat to the king.
Political Color
For Red, we know red flag as the symbol of left‐wing politics in the Western political spectrum. This red flag have used by the communism and socialism in the world. Actually this red flag have first been used in the Middle Age: the ships in combat have flew a long red streamer, which called Baucans to signify a fight of death. By the 18th century, this Baucans have modified into a red flag. This flag was raised in the cities and castles that indicate that they would not surrender.
Later in the French Revolution, the red flag used to associate with patriotism in the early state of the revolution and at last the red flag have been an unofficial national emblem. In 1871, the banner of the Paris Commune was red and which have became the symbol of communism. Then in the international labor movement later on, they have use red flag as the symbol from this and it have been widely spread during the Russian Revolution in 1917. The Soviet flag with a hammer, a sickle and a star on the red background.
For the king in China, many of them are also like red and use this as a represent for them. But red is not only the color to represent the power from king. Black and yellow also have used. Black have used in Chun Dynasty, the king have changed the color to black according to the logic of Wu‐Xi, that black is the turn of that dynasty. Yellow have been used from Han, the king adopted yellow as their power color since yellow with the same pronouncing as king, which mean power and so other than the king relatives, no people is allowed to use yellow for anything. In Ching, since China need to have contact with the Western, they also using yellow as the first country flag to represent China.
Then in Republic of China, yellow have not used and the flat have changed in to the current flag. For People Republic of China, they have used red to represent the power again.
For each change of the political power, the king or the control until will change the color. As the beginning, the king like to use red, this is naturally use for the concept of lucky, and also from the most people understanding at that moment. As Chun Dynasty, they used Black to represent its power, Black is a higher potency color then Red and which match to the king desire at that moment. Yellow, which actually is not so powerful if we only care the perception of this color, actually this is a softer and natural color compared to Black and Red. But this have changed is meaning since it is derived from the language that have speak as the same sound, and so its connotation have also changed. And now, red have use again, but this time have one more meaning other than the lucky of China, it mean the power of the control of Communist Party in China.
Why Chinese Like Red
Red is the favorite color of China people. They believe red can bring them lucky and so they like most of the things in red. But why China people seem always need so much of luck? In case if the people feel the life is bad, or need to get some extra power to help them to face the problem ahead, then need luck.
If required luck, since they are always live in the uncertainty. For instance, most of Chinese are farmers in the past, actually they just depending on the weather, which they cannot control by themselves, so luck is very important for them. Besides, even in study in college, if they want to get the high mark they also depending on luck, even they have work hard. Since the examiner can be corrupted let him not pass in the public examinations.
So before any important events in the life, they especially pray for luck with them. This actually similar to the psychology like the warriors in the past, paint all the weapons in red, red is the color that stimuli them unlike the other color and give them a short time of feeling good.
Unlike the warriors, the warriors just need to face to their competitor one time only, win or die. But for Chinese, even the farmer or the studying have run for several thousand repeatedly and have no improvement as well, they just need to pray the luck always.
People may think the China Red is just only representing the China Communist Party, this is not represent the China People. But for China people have several characteristics, for instance, red can provide luck for them, as I mentioned before. Besides, many China people think that the entire world is around him to move, they always mentioned “I”, all the people should need to put that attention to him, which red is fit for this purpose. Red is an attention color compared with the others color, and so beside Red, Yellow is a favorite color also. And for Blue, they think this is the color of dead. For course the China Communist Party have sell this color to their people in the country, but actually most of the people happy to think that red is their color, they always choose the color which is drawing attention one, like red and yellow. Red means China, actually the Communist Party, and the country can make them pound just in terms of money, construction, etc. So in simple thinking the red can represent them. But this is just the market that the people need to have something which with they pound of, and they need red for them to give them some power in their life. But under the sticky control and the power cannot be balanced, justice absent and people have no way to represent this and red can provide them warm and stimuli in the mind that everything will be right later. So Red actually is the China people required more that represent them.
As red, that Chinese want to represent them, but the red have not such meaning like France, the color of the national flag is red, white and blue, which mean liberty, equality and fraternity. Yes, you can say that red can mean friendship, enthusiastic love, passion, but this just a part of this, the red in the Chinese perspective is meaning what they need: luck, extra power to face the problem, hope all the world look at them, and for the Western culture, red mostly means danger and their bloody Apple and Nike products.
References
English References
Adams, Francis & Osgood, Charles, A Cross‐Culture Study of the Affective Meanings of Color, Journal of Cross‐cultural Psychology, June 1973.
Aslam, Mubeen, Are you selling the right colour? A Cross‐cultural Review of Colour as a Marketing Cue, Journal of Marketing Communications.
Berlin, Brent and Kay, Paul, Basic Color Terms – Their Universality and Evolution, University of California Press, 1969.
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Friedman , Thomas, The New York Times, 23 Sep, 2007, <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/opinion/23friedman.html>
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Gage, John, “The Fortunes of Apelles – The four‐color Theory”, Colour and Culture – Practice and Meaning from Antiquity to Abstraction, Thames and Hudson, pp.29‐30.
Jacobson‐Widding, Red‐White‐Black as a Mode of Thought, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 1979.
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Wikipedia, Red Flag, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_flag>
Chinese References
心缘, 中國文化簡介(五)：中國傳統文化中的顏色, <http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2006/6/12/37821.html>
中國的顏色信仰, <http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_439be44a0100084q.html>
中國顏色信仰—黑色與白色, <http://211.67.81.35/wlkc/guoke3/xinyang/ZhongGuoYanSeXinYang_HeiSeYuBaiSe/>
青女, 中國傳統色彩名錄, <http://www.blueidea.com/design/doc/2003/1411.asp>
13 August 2011
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