<p>As a side note, "青" is not simply cyan in old Chinese text.  It is a collective term, which may be 綠 (green)，藍 (blue)，碧 (light-er blue)，蒼 (deep-er blue)，or even 黑 (black).</p>

<p>For example, "青出於藍" means that the dye "青" (indigo) is produced using plant called "靛藍".  On the other hand, "青衣" is clothes of dark color in general.</p>

<p>That explains why they say "中國黑青通用"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-13T03:23:16.703Z
2015-06-13T03:23:16.703Z
Henry HO
<p>The best I can find is that jet (lignite), an extremely black stone, may have been powdered and used as a dye. Natural jet is found in Germany and if you are a native English speaker you may have heard the term "jet black" in reference to the deep black color of the stone. It may also just be the ancient Chinese version of "jet black", being used as an adjective in this case to describe the color of the fabric.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-12T15:45:11.987Z
2015-06-12T15:45:11.987Z
ZhangMeihua
<p>In the classic Xiangsheng <a href="http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/xhfk/2012-01/27/c_122621010.htm" rel="nofollow">《賣布頭》</a>, they mention various ways the street peddlers sing (<a href="http://www.zdic.net/c/6/150/334184.htm" rel="nofollow">吆喝</a>) about their wares, among them the textiles merchants sell a kind of black fabric called "德国青". Here is the exchange:</p>

<blockquote>
<pre><code>  甲：他們吆喝的德國青，黑色（shai）的。
  乙：黑的。
  甲：那真叫黑，吆喝這味兒。
  乙：您學一學。
  甲：」（拍了一下）哎，這塊吆喝，吆喝賤了就是不打價啊。」
  乙：是嘍。
  甲：「說這塊德國青，這塊怎麼那麼黑，您說怎麼那麼黑？」
  乙：還是…我知道怎麼那麼黑啊？
  甲：「氣死張飛，還不讓李逵，氣死了唐朝的黑敬德（dei）呀」
  乙：不錯。
  甲：「怎麼那麼黑，在東山送過碳，西山挖過煤呀，又當過兩天的煤鋪的二掌柜的吧。還真正是德國青啊，真正的德國染兒，真正是德國人製造這塊布兒的」。
  乙：是嘍。
</code></pre>
</blockquote>

<p>From this, I gather it's some kind of high quality German black fabric or made using black dye. What exactly is it? I didn't find anything useful by searching for "German black fabric" or "德国青".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-13T03:02:51.720Z
On a side note, how the hell does drink also come to mean shout? Try shouting whilst drinking, you get splutter
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-14T05:25:23.000Z
Prussian blue maybe?
neubau
<translation><word>
What is 德国青? 德国青?
# What is 德国青? 德国青?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-12)

In the classic Xiangsheng 《賣布頭》, they mention various ways the street peddlers sing (吆喝) about their wares, among them the textiles merchants sell a kind of black fabric called "德国青". Here is the exchange:

  甲：他們吆喝的德國青，黑色（shai）的。
  乙：黑的。
  甲：那真叫黑，吆喝這味兒。
  乙：您學一學。
  甲：」（拍了一下）哎，這塊吆喝，吆喝賤了就是不打價啊。」
  乙：是嘍。
  甲：「說這塊德國青，這塊怎麼那麼黑，您說怎麼那麼黑？」
  乙：還是…我知道怎麼那麼黑啊？
  甲：「氣死張飛，還不讓李逵，氣死了唐朝的黑敬德（dei）呀」
  乙：不錯。
  甲：「怎麼那麼黑，在東山送過碳，西山挖過煤呀，又當過兩天的煤鋪的二掌柜的吧。還真正是德國青啊，真正的德國染兒，真正是德國人製造這塊布兒的」。
  乙：是嘍。


From this, I gather it's some kind of high quality German black fabric or made using black dye. What exactly is it? I didn't find anything useful by searching for "German black fabric" or "德国青".

**Tags:** translation, word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: On a side note, how the hell does drink also come to mean shout? Try shouting whilst drinking, you get splutter  
> **username_2**: Prussian blue maybe?  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-06-13. Score: 1

As a side note, "青" is not simply cyan in old Chinese text. It is a collective term, which may be 綠 (green)，藍 (blue)，碧 (light-er blue)，蒼 (deep-er blue)，or even 黑 (black).

For example, "青出於藍" means that the dye "青" (indigo) is produced using plant called "靛藍". On the other hand, "青衣" is clothes of dark color in general.

That explains why they say "中國黑青通用"


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### Answer by username_4 on 2015-06-12. Score: 1

The best I can find is that jet (lignite), an extremely black stone, may have been powdered and used as a dye. Natural jet is found in Germany and if you are a native English speaker you may have heard the term "jet black" in reference to the deep black color of the stone. It may also just be the ancient Chinese version of "jet black", being used as an adjective in this case to describe the color of the fabric.


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