- 天地玄黄 tiāndìxuánhuáng heaven and earth are dark and yellowThe first line of the [[千字文|千字文|qian1 zi4 wen2]], describing the colors of the universe at its beginning: 'dark' refers to the color of the sky and 'yellow' to the color of the earth.
- 玄黄翻覆 xuánhuángfānfù overthrow of heaven and earthUsed to describe a period of great chaos or a total social upheaval; literally heaven and earth being overturned.