Orange (colour) philosophy of ancient China, orange was the colour of transformation. In China and India, the colour took its name not from the orange fruit, but from saffron, the finest and most expensive dye in Asia. According to Confucianism, existence was governed by the interaction of the male active principle, the "yang", and the female passive principle, the "yin". Yellow was the colour of perfection and nobility; red was the colour of happiness and power. Yellow and red were compared to light and fire, spirituality and sensuality, seemingly opposite but really complementary. Out of the interaction between the two came orange,
Citrine (colour) than it is today and could be "reddish or brownish yellow; or orange; or amber (distinguished from yellow)". In today's English citrine as a colour is mostly confined to the contexts of (1) gemstones, including quartz, and (2) some animal and plant names. E.g., the citrine wagtail ("Motacilla citreola"), an Asian bird species with golden-yellow plumage, or the citrine warbler, citrine canary-flycatcher, citrine forktail, etc. Citrine (colour) Citrine is a colour, the most common reference for which is certain coloured varieties of quartz which are a medium deep shade of golden yellow. Citrine has been summarized at various times as