根据中国的阴阳五行学说，世界上所有的事物都是由金、木、水、火、土五种元素构成，这五种元素相生相克，白色代表金，绿色代表木，黑色代表水，红色代表火，黄色则代表土。中国社会发展到汉代以后，黄色开始被人所接受，并认为是最尊贵的颜色。唐代以后，服饰制度规定只准皇室穿黄色的服饰，其他人一概不允许。

　　【参考译文】

　　According to the Chinese thought of yin, yang and the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth), all things in the universe consist of the five elements; there is a phenomenon of mutual promotion and restraint among the five elements. The white stands for metal, the green for wood, the black for water, the red for fire and the yellow for earth. Since the Han Dynasty in Chinese history, the yellow had been accepted by all people and regarded as the most distinguished color. By the Tang Dynasty, the clothing system stipulated that all the people were prohibited from wearing yellow clothes except the imperial family.