The Five Correct Colors

[choppi]

Does anyone here know which are referred to as
THE FIVE CORRECT COLORS ? This is a reference from Legge's translation of 30 The Clinging. Below: The Clinging, fire. Above: The Clinging, fire.
He mentions that YELLOW is one of the 'five correct colors'.
Can someone tell me, what are the other 4 and what is your reference for this ?
Thanks - choppi (brand new member) )

 

[getojack]

"That's why Lao-Tzu said 'the five colors make a man blind, the five tones make a man deaf,' because if you can only see five colors, you're blind, and if you can only hear five tones in music, you're deaf. You see, if you force sound into five tones, you force color into five colors, you're blind and deaf. The world of color is infinite, as is the world of sound. And it is only by stopping fixing conceptions on the world of color and the world of sound that you really begin to hear it and see it."

- Alan Watts: Lecture on Zen

 

[bruce_g]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_color_theorem

I doubt this was what Lao meant, but who knows? Maybe 10th century BC was ahead of our time.

 

[frank_r]

I think that he is referring of the colours related to the 5 elements/phases.
The five colours related to the 5 elements are.
Green - wood, Red -fire, - yellow- Earth, white - metal and blue water.

 

[ewald]

I agree with Frank.
However, as far as I'm aware of is the 5 elements proces model from a later time period than the Zhouyi core of the Yijing.

 

[Diogenes]

Lao Tzu mean by 5 colors

That part of the Tao Te Ching covers the following; "The five colors make man's eyes blind, the five notes make his ears deaf, the five tastes injure his pallate, riding and hunting make his mind go wild with excitement, goods hard to come by serve to hinder his progress, thus the sage is for the belly not for the eye, so he takes one and discards the other." If you cross reference this with the Chung Tzu (excuse my spelling) there's a section that recites; Toaists scale cliffs never dizzy, plunge in water never wet and walk through fire unburnt (referring to emotions particularly success (scaling cliffs), sadness (plunging in water) and anger (walking through fire), because, they 'eat food plain, sleep without dreams and wake without worries and breath deep....' if you cross this with chapter 5 Energy of Sun Tzu, 'there are no more than five musical notes, yet combinations of them give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard... there are no more than five primary colors yet combinations of them produce more hues than can ever be seen... there are no more than five cardinal tastes yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted... if you cross check this with the start of Lao Tzu, where it is written; Rid yourself of desire in order to observe its secrets but allow yourself to have desire in order to experience her manifestations... it seems clear to me that Lao Tzu later reference of the five primary colors making man's eye blind, the five cardinal tastes injuring his pallate, the five notes making him deaf (especially in view of the lines that following about good hard to come by serve to hinder his progress and riding and hunting making his mind go wild with excitement - this has to do excess and becoming lost to the 'way' by allowing appetite to rule and becoming absorbed in gluttony. As a Taoist that's how I interpret the words of the ancient sage, the old man Lao Tzu. If you want to continue this discuss you can email me tal@musicpeople.com.au - but I am not certain I will be coming back to this thread at the moment. all the best. Tal over and out.

 

[bradford]

I thought blue and green were lumped together as one color.
But 5 is not an appropriate scale for colors.
6 works a whole lot better, in four different ways

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_in_Chinese_culture
which call them black, red, blue-green, white and yellow