# Red



## Lugubert

I’ll at least start in the Japanese subforum.
 
When searching dictionaries for English ‘red’, it seems to me that Chinese prefers 红, but that the first Japanese choice is 赤 despite both languages having both characters. Is there a difference in redness, and what about other ‘red’ adjectives like 丹 or 朱?


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## EddieCai

All these four characters mean red in Chinese. But we Chinese prefer 红, while 赤、丹、朱 are more used in literary writings. It seems this is also a good question for Chinese sub-forum. 

And there's no significant difference between these redness.


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## Wishfull

Hi.
I think 朱 is different color from red.
It is "vermillion".
If you intermingle a little yellow with a lot of red, you can make 朱.

朱肉　is vermillion ink-pad. We Japanese use personal seal, not signature. We use stamp with 朱肉.
Red is the color of blood, and nowadays we hate red colored seal. We use vermillion colored seal.
Not red, but vermillion is the important point as common sense or common courtesy for personal seal.

In that sense, you have to distinguish　朱　and red color.


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## EddieCai

Wishfull said:


> Hi.
> I think 朱 is different color from red.
> It is "vermillion".
> If you intermingle a little yellow with a lot of red, you can make 朱.
> 
> 朱肉　is vermillion ink-pad. We Japanese use personal seal, not signature. We use stamp with 朱肉.
> Red is the color of blood, and nowadays we hate red colored seal. We use vermillion colored seal.
> Not red, but vermillion is the important point as common sense or common courtesy for personal seal.
> 
> In that sense, you have to distinguish　朱　and red color.


 
yes, you reminded of that. 朱, to be precise, is vermillion. We also use personal seal, with 印泥, literally ink-paste, same thing as 朱肉 in Japanese.
Wish I could find some pictures to demostrate the slight difference between these redness.


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## Starfrown

I often see 紅 translated as "crimson."
 
I'm not sure how 丹 might differ from 赤, though, other than that the former may also be used to mean "sincere."


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## Flaminius

I think 丹 is ruddy red like the paint used in 天安門 in Beijing.

*Lugubert*, I am so glad you are here!  Indeed 赤 (_aka_) is the most general word for "red" in Japanese.  紅 turns up in specific words with different pronunciations such as 口紅 (_kuchibeni_; lipstick), 紅葉 (_kōyō_; autumn color) and 紅蓮 (_guren_; crimson; a set phrase for describing a flame: 紅蓮の炎; _guren-no honoo_).


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## Lugubert

Thanks all. While preparing for Uni Japanese next spring, what triggered my question was the textbook こうちゃ: 'red tea' like the Chinese 红茶 but different from the European black tea.


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## Flaminius

Hi,

I am sorry but I am not sure if I understand you.  こうちゃ is indeed 紅茶 in kanji representation and it is black tea.  Whenever I fly out of or into Japan, cabin attendants offer the same thing as black tea when speaking English and 紅茶 when speaking Japanese.


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## lilhelper

紅　Is amber if I am not mistaken.


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## lilhelper

Flaminius said:


> I think 丹 is ruddy red like the paint used in 天安門 in Beijing.
> 
> *Lugubert*, I am so glad you are here!  Indeed 赤 (_aka_) is the most general word for "red" in Japanese.  紅 turns up in specific words with different pronunciations such as 口紅 (_kuchibeni_; lipstick), 紅葉 (_kōyō_; autumn color) and 紅蓮 (_guren_; crimson; a set phrase for describing a flame: 紅蓮の炎; _guren-no honoo_).


丹　As far as I know is like rustic red, kind of like RUST。


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## Lugubert

Flaminius said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am sorry but I am not sure if I understand you.  こうちゃ is indeed 紅茶 in kanji representation and it is black tea.  Whenever I fly out of or into Japan, cabin attendants offer the same thing as black tea when speaking English and 紅茶 when speaking Japanese.


Sorry; I meant that we use different colour names in describing the same kind of tea.


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## lammn

lilhelper said:


> 紅　Is amber if I am not mistaken.


 
Amber is こはく色, not 紅.



Lugubert said:


> Thanks all. While preparing for Uni Japanese next spring, what triggered my question was the textbook こうちゃ: 'red tea' like the Chinese 红茶 but different from the European black tea.


 


Lugubert said:


> I meant that we use different colour names in describing the same kind of tea.


 
That is because 黑茶 means something different to 红茶 in Chinese language. According to the Wikipedia:



> In Chinese and Chinese influenced languages, black tea is known as "crimson tea" (紅茶, Mandarin Chinese _hóngchá_; Japanese _kōcha_; Korean _hongcha_), perhaps a more accurate description of the colour of the liquid. The name black tea, however, could alternatively refer to the colour of the oxidized leaves. In Chinese, "black tea"(黑茶) is a commonly used classification for post-fermented teas, such as Pu-erh tea(普洱).


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