| The emergence of color symbolism accompanied the formation of man's first view of the universe. What is the color of the sky? What is the color of the earth? What is the color of the chaotic world before the existence of mankind? All these answers depend on man's observation and imagination of astronomical objects. The ancients had a fixed mindset, i.e., man should "obey the law of nature" and "accept the mandate of heaven". Based on the operation law of the sun and the moon they had observed, the ancients developed the calendar which was related to the directions of astronomical objects and their corresponding objects, and designated them with specific colors.The Yi people, an ethnic group with rich color feelings and imagination, had an abundance of epics and myths about primitive views of the universe. They observed the nature from these ancient perspectives and tried to cover and simplify the variety of nature forms and color attributes with the things they were familiar with. By rendering them specific symbolic meanings, the Yi people created their unique culture.Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province hosts the largest group of Yi people in China. The culture there demonstrates the original traits of purity, innocence and simplicity with both the influence of Central Plains and neighborhoods and the maintenance of independent ethnic characteristics. Bimo culture, a representative of primitive religion, mainly originated there. The author made several trips to counties and townships in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, such as Zhaojue, Meigu, Xide, Butuo and Puge, to experience the local ethnic customs and feelings by means of fieldwork and interviews. The thousand first-hand pictures and information collected during those trips help construct a comprehensive and three-dimensional picture of the vertical and horizontal links between Yi's color appearances and their history and culture, and enrich the knowledge of Yi's color symbolism.Apart from clarifying the meanings of the study on Yi's color symbolism, the introduction part of this thesis focuses on the influence of the geography of Liangshan on the Yi culture.The thesis consists of five chapters. Based on fieldwork, Chapter1observes Yi's customs of color uses and its appearance features in terms of costume, lacquerware and Bimo Religion, and then brings about the links between Yi's color representation and cultural symbolism.Chapter2deepens the understanding of Yi's color feelings and complements a comprehensive and objective understanding of Yi's color representation in terms of epics and myths described in colors, rich color contexts, the relationship between pattern and color, and the origin of black-and fire-worship culture. Also in this chapter, the author presents with originality diversified color icons of the Yi ancestors'knowledge about the first color of the universe, including "the color of the sun, the moon, the heaven and the earth","the green and red air","the color of Yi's four regions","the color of the five regions in Central Plains", as well as the independent and mysterious color system of Bimo, and then suggests a coexistence of diversified color systems. In Meigu, the author got a color icon hand-painted by Eryeladu Bimo, which is useful to the study of Bimo's color symbolism. The link between fireplace and three-foot bird, first put forward by the author, deepens and widens the study of Yi's color symbolism.Chapter3describes the progressive structure of Yi's color symbolism from two-dimension, three-dimension to four-dimension in their traditional perspectives of the universe, and examines the progress of the evolving man's knowledge about color. By involving religion, customs, astrology, calendar and philosophy, it examines the link and integration between the Yi people in Liangshan and the "Five-Element Culture" in Central Plains.Ancient Chinese had a strict definition about the quality of color. In Chapter4, the author makes a specific analysis of Yi's color representation based on black, white, red, blue and yellow colors and selection of typical cases of Yi's color combination, and refines and establishes the imagination and symbolism of the close link between color and culture. By systematically defining the concepts of "Yin and Yan" and "Life and Death" with the combination of black and white colors, the symbolic relationship between the combination of red and black colors and fire and carbon, water and fire, the sun and the moon, winter solstice and summer solstice and worship, as well as the harmonious unity between the heaven, the earth and the people formed by red, black, and yellow colors, the author verified the existence of "the color of Yi's four regions "and representation of color symbolism, which is of originality.In Chapter5, by verifying the integration between science and culture with the literature on color both at home and abroad, the author suggests a return of value on color symbolism of Chinese ethnic groups, represented by the Yi people in Liangshan, and highlights the importance of research and maintenance of unique ethic cultures. It concludes that there is an uniformity in the various definitions of color at home and abroad, including Kay and Berlin's program of color perception, three primary colors, light and color, etc.Aimed at the research program of Yi's color symbolism, the author, with the help of the2009's students from the Department of Decorative Design in the College of Fine Arts, Central Minzhu University, accepted the task of logo design of Suomahua Foundation, a NGO dedicated to the Yi orphans in Liangshan. The practice further confirms that color symbolism plays an important role in design. Being designers, we must enter into the depth of ethnic cultures, and define accurately the true feelings of ethic groups and the meanings of color symbolism. In doing so, we can realize an accurate expression of design orientation. KEY WORDS Liangshan Yi, color symbolism, color combination...
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