In the TV series When the Wild Geese Return, Wang Yan's character Aunt Zhou once said that wearing crimson red brightens the complexion. It seems she was right. In traditional Chinese colors, red is the most complexion - enhancing. Whether it's the bright red of the New Year or the peach pink of young girls, it brings to mind the vibrant spring.
Actually, the crimson Wang Yan mentioned, judging from her attire, is more like 'Feihong' (妃红) or 'Yanzhi' (胭脂). The term 'Fei' color is related to clothing. One theory says it was originally 'Lychee Color' and became 'Yang Fei Color' because of Yang Guifei's love for lychees. Another theory is that it's named after the colors of her clothes. Anyway, 'Yang Fei Color' is linked to this Tang - Dynasty beauty. It's a milder version of crimson red.
To understand its hue, we need to know about 'Fei' (绯) color. In ancient novels, 'Fei' robes describe women in fiery red. The character 'Fei' first appeared in Sui and Tang poetry and was defined by Xu Xuan in the Song Dynasty as 'a deep red dye for fabrics'. Historically, red was 'fire color', and 'Fei' is deeper, so 'Feihong' means deep red. Note that 'Fei' color belongs to the pink spectrum, different from the deep red 'Fei'.
There are various 'Fei' colors like 'Feihong', 'Yang Fei', and 'Xiang Fei', all elegant names for pink. Why does pink enhance the complexion? Chinese traditional pink has an orange undertone, which suits yellow - toned skin as it's a warm color. Some netizens found that rose pink or orange - pink looks best on yellow - toned skin, while blue - toned pink makes the skin look darker. Wang Yan's other costumes also tend to be orange - toned.
Pink symbolizes beauty and vitality. Ancient poets used 'Taoyao' (桃夭) to describe a woman's complexion, as in the Book of Songs: 'The peach tree is young and elegant; Brilliant are its flowers.' Ancient descriptions of pink include 'Taoyao', 'Bao Chun' (报春), 'Zijiang' (子姜), etc.
High - saturation pink is less versatile and requires fair skin and poise. In the drama, the mother and daughter wear different shades of pink. It makes sense that younger women wear light pink and older women wear deep pink. May every woman find her perfect pink at different stages of life.
