etymology of Belarus - and chinese compass colors

[Francoise Rosset]

>I am in doubt that the inhabitants of the Ancient Rus' had any knowledge
>about the White Sea at that time. Is there any evidence of that?

Maybe not, but the point of a system is that you can apply it on
principle. So, if the people of ancient Rus' conceptualized the
points of the compass by color, things to the North would be white
whether of not they knew they were there; then the corollary issue
becomes *when* the White Sea came to be called that, and whether it
could still be seen as part of the compass color scheme.

I found the idea fascinating anyway, so I sent it for comments to
a few of my colleagues in other fields. Here's what our East Asian
expert answered - same colors, but only one is the same compass point:

>Francoise,Here is how the Chinese related colors to directions in ancient
>times:East,green;South,red;Center,yellow;West,white;North,black --Vipan.





Francoise Rosset                          phone:  (508) 286-3696
Department of Russian                     fax:    (508) 286-3640
Wheaton College                           e-mail: frosset at wheatonma.edu
Norton, Massachusetts 02766

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