A culture of color

Recently more attention has been given to the topic partly as a result of the increasing popularity of Chinese costume dramas. Whether it's the smashing TV series The Story of Yanxi Palace, or the historical costumes presented in the series The Longest Day in Chang'an that restored the standard color cards of the Tang Dynasty, all these authentic renderings have taken the audience by storm and aroused in them a yearning for Chinese classical colors.

Low saturation color systems are featured and the restrained color matching, subdued and somber, consists mainly of muted whites and grays, complemented by beige, cream, almond and grayish blue. Many netizens claim that the color palette of The Story of Yanxi Palace strikes a remarkable resemblance to colors used by Italian painter Giorgio Morandi. The colors exude understated vintage quality.

"The color number on the Pantone color card defines the trend of international fashion and has become a popular symbol sought after by trendy people and the general public," says Wu Qing, a designer at the China Fashion & Color Association.

"It seems that Chinese colors have not yet lived up to their unique charm in the fashion industry. Those ancient Chinese colors with elegant names and charms have been lost for a long time in the piles of old paper and the long river of history. Fortunately, these dramas are encouraging signs of an artistic revival."