Jindai Zhongguo "huangse" ci yi bianyi kaoxi.

The Chinese word yellow (huangse), originally the word for a color that symbolized nobility and dignity, has now also acquired the meaning "pornographic." The word thus has two inherently contradictory meanings. This contradiction is the result of cultural communication between West and East and social and political interaction in modern China. The negative meaning of the word huangse in Chinese represetns a transformation of its traditional sense and also differs from the original meaning of the word yellow in the Western phrase "yellow journalism" (huangse xinwen). In the course of the evolution of the social environment and the semantic context, the word's signifier and signified have undergone various changes. By analyzing the process of its evolution and change and their historical and cultural causes, we can gain a better understanding of history and stimulate further exploration of this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]