“红花”“胭脂”考——兼论唐代敦煌艺术中的红色植物颜料

A Study on the "Safflower & Rouge"——On the Red Plant Pigment in the Dunhuang Art in Tang Dynasty

胭脂是中国古代一种重要的红色颜料,红花是制取胭脂的主要植物。二者都属外来之物,在传入中国的过程中,其身份特征变得非常复杂,故有待厘清。而在唐代敦煌艺术中检测出的胭脂,作为红色植物颜料在绘画中使用的较早样本,对于研究中国古代的植物颜料具有重要意义。

Rouge,which was mainly made from safflower,was an important red pigment often used in ancient China.However,as neither of them originated in China,their identities had become much complicated in the past historical periods,so it is necessary to clarify them.For now,to the discovery of rouge pigment in the Dunhuang art in Tang Dynasty provides us with an early sample of the red plant pigment used in Chinese paintings,and has important significance for the study on plant pigments in ancient China.