In the late Paleolithic Age, primitive people began to have an idea of aesthetics and know how to beautify their life, and invented dyeing. China was the first country that had textile and ceramics sectors. All these are reflected in Chinese characters.

In Jiaguwen (scripts on tortoise shells and animal bones) there were four characters indicating colors -- blue, white, red and yellow. Shuowen Jiezi (Elucidations of the Signs and Explications of the Graphs) included 75 characters related to colors and people of the later generations added some new ones.

For instance, the character  (red) at the first beginning meant rose pink silk, and later referred to bright red silk fabric. Now, it refers to the color of pink or bright red. The character  (blue) originally referred to indigo, a kind of coloring matter commonly in use in ancient times. Later, the character meant blue or deep blue and sometimes it also means black.

From all these characters indicating colors we can see the acute discernment and outstanding creativeness of ancient people.