The meaning of red in Oracle Bone Inscriptions

The meaning of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's "red": people are warm by fire and blush.

Knowledge expansion

Among the Chinese characters we are familiar with now, the word "red" is definitely a Chinese character with clear meaning: it represents a color, red. But back to 4000 years ago, did the corresponding Oracle word "red" also express the color of red?

For the simplified word "eat", it is impossible for us to understand the meaning of the word from the shape because of the evolution of the shape. But Oracle Bone Inscriptions is completely different. The lines of Oracle bones will clearly tell me that there is no meaning to be expressed in Oracle bones, such as the word "red".

The word "red" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions consists of two symbolic features. Here is the word "fire" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which stands for flame and its meaning. However, what is debatable is the significance represented by the above symbolic features of Oracle Bone Inscriptions's "Qi".

In some documents, people think that the symbol "red" on Oracle Bone Inscriptions even refers to "people", because it really looks like the shape of a person with open limbs, so Oracle Bone Inscriptions's "red" is interpreted as: putting people on the fire and giving them the stake. But we know that in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, there is a special word called "ren", and many related Oracle characters, such as the Oracle word "prisoner", all use the Oracle word "ren".

Therefore, we still believe that the above symbolic features of "eating" in Oracle bone inscriptions do not represent people, but the most commonly used meaning of "beating" in Oracle bone inscriptions. In this case, the word "red" on Oracle Bone Inscriptions is very interesting.

As far back as 4,000 years ago, either to celebrate or because of some ancient ceremonies, our ancestors lit a bonfire, and the raging flame went straight into the sky, dyeing the whole sky red. Isn't the word "red" in this Oracle Bone Inscriptions soaring to one meaning: in full bloom!

The simple and interesting word "red" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions can be understood from the lines depicted! The true color of the flame is red! It's a pity that the evolution of writing made the word "red" in later generations completely lose her original spirituality.