What kind of color is 青?

[Iriya]

Most people seem to think it's green. As in 青菜. But there are some set phrases where it seems to be blue, as in 青天. And it can even be black, as in 青布. What gives?

The Japanese think it's blue, but then again they sometimes use it to describe grass.

I guess this is more of a rhetorical question. The character is originally 生 + 丹, for what it's worth. 生 is probably both phonetic and signific at the same time, but what is 丹 doing there?

[skylee]

Take a look at this old thread with discussion on 青 -> http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/29443-chinese-colour-words/

[Danny2312]

青 actually refers to three colours: green （绿), dark blue（蔚蓝或深蓝）and black (黑）, but most people use 青 for green. That's why you would realise that people are avoiding using 青 to describe anything green. If possible, they use 绿 as in 绿灯、绿油油，because using 绿 would avoid confusion. But bear in mind 青 and 绿 are not always interchangeable. So, try to avoid using '青' to describe the colour green, use 绿 if possible.

There's an idiom in Mandarin: 青，取之于蓝，而青于蓝。It says that the colour 'green' is derived from the colour 'blue', so I believe that explains why 青 can refer to 'blue', but I don't know why it can refer to the colour black.

[WestTexas]

The character is originally 生 + 丹, for what it's worth. 生 is probably both phonetic and signific at the same time, but what is 丹 doing there?

I always thought 青 was an associative compound of 月, the moon, and the top part, grass, both being things that are green. An online dictionary says that it is the grass on top with a well 井 underneath, the idea being that green grass grows by the well.

[Nakura]

青 has three meanings: dark green, indigo blue, and black.

Basically, "black-青“ is only used in classic chinese, for example 青衣 black cloth; 青衣乌帽: black cloth and hat.

[xiaocai]

青，取之于蓝，而青于蓝。It says that the colour 'green' is derived from the colour 'blue'

The 蓝 here refers to the plant 蓼蓝, not the colour "blue".

As for what colour 青 exactly is, I think 在线新华字典 explains well.

[Danny2312]

@xiaocai

Forgive me, but I am not sure about the story behind it. I know it's taken from the plant, but I assume the green colour is derived from the 'blue' pigment or some chemicals in the plant that is blue. Was I wrong? ==

But this theory about why 青 can refer to 'blue' is, as I mentioned earlier, just my hypothesis. Maybe there's some story other than that can truly explain why 青 too means 'blue'.

[xiaocai]

This is a quote from 荀子第一·劝学, which basically means "the purple-blue dye is extracted from the plant indigo, but its colour is more intense than the plant itself".

[aifeluna]

in daily life, it's green. in trational way, blue or similar color

[skylee]

For me 青 is a very light green (think adding a lot of white or even yellow in the green of a traffic light). But obviously it is different for different people.

[abcdefg]

It's the color of Kunming taxis. Kunming people refer to their taxis as 青 when talking about the color.

[shuhaier]

The 青 in “青衣" doesn't refer to the black costume the actress wear. Instead, it refers to the light blue color of the strips of the collar.

So 青 mostly refers to one kind of light blue mixed with a little green. or Light green with a little blue. 青黛 qing1 dai4， the traditional brow shadow which is also kind of herbal medicine, is an example