What did these colors mean?

What-did-these-colors-mean
    What did these colors mean?
  In Chinese, people use the phrase "hongde fazi"
 to describe someone who enjoys great popularity
(受欢迎). Why do people use hong(red) and zi (purple)
 to refer to popularity?
  The red and purple colors originally(原来) referred
 to(指) the color of ancient officials' clothes.
 Clothing color could show social status(社会地位) in
 ancient China. officials of different ranks(级别)
 needed to wear clothes with certain(特定的) colors.
  During the Tang Dynasty, for example, only
 officials of the top three ranks were allowed to 
wear purple clothes, while those of the fourth and 
fifth ranks wore red clothes. Therefore, purple 
and red could stand for success in one's career(
事业). They later were used to refer to popularity.
  By contrast(相比之下), officials who ranked sixth
 and seventh wore green clothes. Blue was for those
 in the two lowest ranks. The poet Bai Juyi once
 wrote, "Of all the company at table who wept most?
 It was none other than the exiled blue-robed host
(座中泣下谁最多？江州司马青衫湿)". He used "blue-rebed
 host" to refer to himself, as he had been demoted
(贬职) to a lower rank.
  Yellow was even more respected(受到尊重的) than red
 and purple. Only the royal family(皇家) could use
 it. For example, the emperor's robe was yellow.