Red

Red is the colour of Fire, of the south and of celebration — the default auspicious colour in Chinese practice. In the five-element colour system red is Fire's colour. Its popular use is broader than the system: red is the colour of weddings, of New Year, of the envelope money is given in, and of the paper that wards things off.

It depends on the setting rather than on the color alone. Red is the colour of Fire, of the south and of celebration — the default auspicious colour in Chinese practice. Red is one of the few colours whose meaning is stable across registers: unlike white or black, it does not carry a contradictory second reading.

Sources treat red as protective as well as celebratory — the red of door couplets and of the bride's dress is doing the same work in both cases. It is grouped under Fire (火) in the five-element system.