红色和白色在中国代表什么？
What colours mean in China: red for luck, white for funerals
Name: ________________ Date: ________
安娜第一次参加中国朋友的生日聚会，想送她一张卡片。她拿出一支红笔，认真地写下了朋友的名字，后面还画了一朵小花。没想到，朋友看到以后，竟然不笑了。安娜很吃惊：在中国，红色不是代表好运吗？
红色确实代表幸福和好运。过春节的时候，人们都会贴红色的春联，挂红灯笼，老人还会把红包送给孩子。结婚的时候，到处也都是红色：红色的“喜”字，红色的衣服，红纸包着的糖。所以，中国人把结婚这样的喜事叫作“红事”。
和红色相反，白色在传统上常常和死亡有关。以前，家里有人去世，家人要穿白色的衣服，所以人们也把葬礼叫作“白事”。人们还常常把这两种事放在一起，叫“红白喜事”。参加葬礼的时候，大家一般不会穿红色，因为红色太热闹了，让人觉得不礼貌。
那么，为什么不能用红笔写名字呢？有一种说法是，古代被判死刑的人，名字是用红色写的。因此很多人觉得，用红笔写别人的名字，就好像希望他遇到不好的事。当然，老师还是可以用红笔改作业，只是写名字的时候，最好用黑笔或者蓝笔。
颜色的意思也不是一直不变的。比如，如今很多新娘会穿白色的婚纱，这在以前是很难想象的。不过，到了晚上请客吃饭的时候，不少新娘又会换上红色的传统衣服。此外，还有一个让外国人吃惊的例子：在中国的股市里，红色表示上升，绿色表示下降，正好和美国等很多国家相反。
于是，安娜用黑笔重新写了一张卡片。朋友笑着对她说：“谢谢你！不过下次送红包的话，红色越多越好。”
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 聚会 | jùhuì | party; gathering; to get together |
| 吃惊 | chījīng | to be surprised; to be startled |
| 确实 | quèshí | really; indeed; true; reliable |
| 幸福 | xìngfú | happy; blessed; happiness; well-being |
| 挂 | guà | to hang; to put up |
| 红包 | hóngbāo | red envelope (gift of money); digital red packet (on apps) |
| 叫作 | jiàozuò | to be called; to be known as |
| 相反 | xiāngfǎn | opposite; contrary; on the contrary |
| 热闹 | rènao | lively; bustling; fun; excitement |
| 礼貌 | lǐmào | courtesy; manners; polite; courteous |
| 说法 | shuōfǎ | version; account; view |
| 因此 | yīncǐ | therefore; consequently; for this reason |
English (for the teacher)
Anna was going to a Chinese friend’s birthday party for the first time and wanted to give her a card. She took out a red pen, carefully wrote her friend’s name, and drew a little flower after it. To her surprise, when her friend saw it, the smile disappeared. Anna was taken aback: doesn’t red stand for good luck in China?
Red really does mean happiness and good luck. At Spring Festival people put up red couplets and hang red lanterns, and the old give red envelopes to the children. At weddings there’s red everywhere too: the red character for “joy”, red clothes, sweets in red wrappers. That’s why Chinese people call a happy occasion like a wedding a “red event”.
White is the opposite: traditionally it is often linked with death. In the past, when someone in the family died, the family wore white, so a funeral is also called a “white event”. People often put the two together, too, as “red and white events”: weddings and funerals. At a funeral people usually don’t wear red, because it’s too festive and seems disrespectful.
So why can’t you write a name in red? One explanation is that in ancient times, the names of people sentenced to death were written in red. So many people feel that writing someone’s name in red pen is like wishing something bad on them. Of course, teachers can still mark homework in red; it’s just best to write names in black or blue.
The meanings of colours don’t stay the same forever, either. Many brides today wear a white wedding dress, for example, which would once have been hard to imagine. But at the evening banquet, plenty of brides change into traditional red clothes. And here’s one more example that surprises foreigners: on China’s stock market red means a rise and green a fall, the opposite of the US and many other countries.
So Anna wrote a new card in black pen. Her friend smiled and said: “Thank you! Next time you give me a red envelope, though, the more red the better.”