赤 Need help in the use of Red

[lipps]

Can I use the character 赤 to describe just the color alone or is it a loan word that must be used with another character to make it correct?

Can you please help me with the proper translation and usage.

Thank you very much

[monto]

lipps:

Can I use the character 赤 to describe just the color alone ... ?

Yes, you can. Here is an example

赤橙黄绿青蓝紫，谁持彩练当空舞

It's a line in a peom by late Chairman Mao.

If you want to emphasize on the color, you can add 色 after it to make “赤色”。There exists such need sometimes, becoz 赤 also means "bare", for example, 赤脚医生 is bare-foot doctor, not red foot doctor.

hoever, it is a trend that this character is gradually out of use for color, especially in mainland China.

Instead, we use “红”or “红色”.

[muyongshi]

赤 is seldom used as the color red by itself. 红 is the character that I think you are looking for.

赤 tends to be used more in certain chengyu's or other set phrases like 面红耳赤 which means to be flushed. It also has other meanings that aren't red like 赤足 can mean barefooted and 赤胆忠心 means loyal and devoted.

[floatingmoon]

赤子之心 A sincere and innocent heart.

e.g.

他是位成功的童話故事作家，因爲他擁有一顆赤子之心。

He is a successful children story writers, because he has a sincere and innocent heart.

[Outofin]

You probably have heard of 赤壁 Red Cliff, a Three Kingdom story and a coming movie this year.

I was alway thinking whether it's "red" cliff, or "barren" cliff 光秃秃的峭壁.

Red Cliff seems make better sense. It's a cliff reflecting the color of flames from the battlefield, or even is stained with blood. It should give people a feeling of bloody and ominous. Is there a more accurate and poetic word in English than "red" in this case?

[Kevin_D]

Outofin

Your explanation about 赤壁 is not so properly. There is a mountain named 赤壁山，that is the reason,not just like what you said. However, what the name 赤壁山 come from, I have no idea.Definitely there is no relationship between the 赤壁之战 of 三国 and the name of the mountain.

[Quest]

It's not not a loan word, but rather one of the five base colors of the classical periods: 黑、赤、青、白、黄。