Abstract
IN NATURE of January 11 (p. 246) Mr. A. H. Crook refers to some colour terms used by Chinese. Ts'eng Cantonese) or ch'ing (Pekingese) is a vague Chinese term applied to black, grey, “neutral tint,” ocean green, sky colour, blue, &c., but nearly always with a gloss or sheen upon it. The fresh turnip-like pears of China are called Canton süt0 li, or “snow-pears” (the small circle following the t indicating the “tone” of the word). Williams's Dictionary of 1878 gives hsüeh-ch'ing Pekingese) or süt0-ts'eng (Cantonese) as “a purple colour,” and the allusion is evidently to that bluish glassy tinge that frozen snow takes, as seen in glaciers, icebergs, and so on; in short, all “vitreous” or glassy hues, from beer-bottles to mother-ofpearl, are ts'eng.
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PARKER, E. Chinese Names of Colours. Nature 73, 297 (1906). https://doi.org/10.1038/073297c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/073297c0
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