This character refers to the color purple. Purple is the symbolic color of nobility and divinity in traditional Chinese culture. It often appears in words relating to the emperor or palace. The idiom Ziqi Donglai (purple gases from the east) is used to convey an auspicious atmosphere, because Chinese legends state that purple gases came from the east before Laozi travelled through the Hangu Pass.

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万紫千红总是春
wàn zǐ qiān hóng zǒng shì chūn
Wan zi qian hong refers to innumerable flowers in blossom. Zong shi chun literally means that spring is here. The term depicts a vivid spring scenery, where colorful flowers bloom and usher after winter.

This is a verse from a poem named “A Spring Day” by Zhu Xi (1130–1200), a famous philosopher whose synthesis of neo-Confucian thought long dominated Chinese intellectual life. “I seek for spring by the riverside on a fine day,/ O what refreshing sight does the boundless view bring?/ I find the traces of vernal wind in easy way:/ Myriads of reds and violets reveal only spring.” The poem conveys the impression of sketches made during travel in the spring. In fact, however, the travel portrayed in this poem is fictitious, because the aforementioned riverside, which refers to Sishui (a region in today’s Shandong Province), had been taken up by the Jurchens after the Song lost control of its northern half to the Jurchen-led Jin Dynasty in the Jin-Song Wars at that time. Zhu had never been to the riverside in Sishui. The reason why he imagined this trip is because Confucius used to teach in Sishui during the Spring and Autumn Period.

This is a poem full of philosophical meaning. “Seek for spring” indicates seeking for the truth in Confucianism while the “boundless view” reveals the grandness of knowledge. The “vernal wind” that brings the first of the spring warmth is a metaphor for civilization and cultivation, and the vivid spring scene represents the richness and vitality of Confucianism. Zhu’s philosophy emphasized logic, consistency and the conscientious observance of classical authority, especially that of Confucius. This poem best portrays his longing for the essence of Confucianism and his emphasis on the value of inquiry and study, even when living in troubled times.

 

(edited by REN GUANHONG)