Japanese traditional colors are much more than just colors.
They are fragments of time taken from nature. They are the poetry that the ancients solidified on fabrics and utensils after observing the changes of the four seasons, flowers, birds, wind and moon.
From the "Twelve Ranks of Crowns" in the Asuka era to the "Forty-Eight Tea Hundred Rats" that spread to the streets of Edo, behind each color lies a unique history and a humanistic memory.
Today, we will immediately start the topic and talk about some interesting colors that have typical Japanese style and inheritance, and see how they use colors to tell stories.
Why has purple become synonymous with nobility?
Established by Prince Shotoku Crown rank twelfth level , the highest-ranking official wears Purple .
This was not chosen haphazardly.
In Asuka's time, dyeing technology was extremely limited. Purple was extracted with difficulty from comfrey roots or shellfish.
The extraction process is extremely complicated, requires a lot of raw materials, and the output is small, making purple fabric extremely valuable.
In a period when so-called "color freedom" did not exist, purple naturally became a symbol of power and nobility, and only the highest-ranking officials were qualified to enjoy it.
The law of "rare things are more valuable" that tightly binds color and identity has been in place for thousands of years.
Is Yamachui Se related to "bribery"?
Mountain color It is a bright orange color and its name comes from the plant. Ditang flowers .
Its flower color is as dazzling as gold, so it is also called "gold color".
In the Edo period, when merchants paid bribes, they would quietly pass gold coins "small pen" under their sleeves.
The color and shape of koban are somewhat similar to those of Yamabuki-colored confectionery, so people use "Yamabuki-colored confectionary" as a lingo to refer to the money handed over during bribery.
There is such a beautiful color, and there is a black humor in urban life hidden behind it, which makes people smile involuntarily when they admire its elegance.
Why is the empty gall color considered an "evil color"?
Among the many bright traditional colors, Empty gallnut color It seems a little special.
It is a grayish brown that looks calm and even a little dull.
This color is used gallnut Dyed by this plant.
It has been the color of mourning clothing since the Heian period.
According to the concepts that existed at the time, such a color lacking vitality and vitality was regarded as an unlucky "evil color".
Nowadays, this color does have a somewhat "high-end gray" texture, but in the past thousands of years, it carried the sorrow and solemn etiquette for the deceased.
How popular was "high-grade ash" during the Edo period?
In the middle of Edo, the shogunate promulgated color ban , prohibiting common people from wearing red, purple and other bright colors.
But how can this trouble the beauty-loving Edo people?
They turned to colors with lower chroma, mouse color (Gray) series came into being.
With mouse, brown, and blue as the basic colors, the Edo people showed amazing creativity and derived countless subtle changes in gray.
The most popular among them is " Forty-Eight Tea and Hundred Rats ".
This is not a single color, but a huge color system, just like what we call "advanced gray" today, including various levels from light gray to dark gray, bluish overall gray, and brownish overall gray.
This popular trend has given birth to a very stylish page in Japan's traditional colors.
Xinqiao Color: The Fashion Code of Modern Flower Street and Willow Lane
Time comes to modern times, new bridge color Become popular.
It's a bright blue-green color named after Tokyo's new bridge area.
It was once a flower street visited by celebrities and dignitaries, and many geisha gathered there.
At that time, this fresh and eye-catching color was deeply loved by Shimbashi geishas, and this color became the fashion trend they led.
Noble purple started in the Asuka period, forbidden gray appeared in the Edo period, and fashionable blue and green became popular in Shimbashi in modern times. The development of Japan's traditional colors is a vivid history of social customs.
Each color is the Japanese's most delicate observation of nature.
Starting with plants, then minerals, and then animals, they choose colors between heaven and earth, give them names, and give them emotions.
Whether the color is as noble as purple, or as ordinary as mouse, every color has settled over thousands of years and has become an indispensable part of Japanese culture.
Next time, when you see these colors again, you may also be able to feel the changing seasons and human fireworks behind them that travel through time and space.
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