A comparative analysis of the characteristics and images of costume colors in the traditional plays of Korea,China, and Japan

The purpose of this study was to analyze quantitatively the characteristics and images of costume colors in the traditional plays of Korea, China, and Japan. The study focused on the Korean Masque, Beijing Opera, and Kabuki costume colors based on a selection of 1135 color samples. The collected source data were selected by extracting digital color data by using the Eyedropper Tool of Photoshop 7.0. The RGB color data were transformed to H V/C and the attributes of hue and tone were analyzed. Color images were analyzed with the color image scales of IRI Color Design Institute and Shigenobu Kobayashi to increase the validity of the evaluated images. As a result, the “five element colors (red, yellow, purple–blue (PB), white, and black)” from the theory of “Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing” were used in the common stage costume colors of the Korean Masque, Beijing Opera, and Kabuki. Red, a preferred Asian color, was used most frequently in the costumes of these three traditional plays. A comparison of the traditional stage costume colors in the three northeast Asian countries revealed a difference in tones rather than in hues. First, the Korean Masque frequently used white in accordance with the tradition of white‐clad people and the cultural view of colors in which natural colors were preferred. Additionally, in the Masque, Koreans used colors based on the theory of Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing with high‐chroma tones. On the other hand, the Beijing Opera exhibited the gorgeous and strong color images of China, by adopting high‐chroma colors in the Five Element Color: R, Y, PB, white, and black. Last, in the Kabuki costumes, a variety of white, black, dull, light, dark, strong, vivid, deep, bright, and grayish tones played an important role in showing various color images. The costume color images of the traditional plays of the three countries revealed that all shared the use of dynamic, springy/casual, and gorgeous images in the strong contrast of five element colors. Regarding the differences, the Korean Masque exhibited natural images in favor of natural colors, whereas the Kabuki displayed modern, decent/formal images by using dull, dark, and grayish colors. The study results suggested that the three countries commonly used five element colors from the theory of Yin‐Yang Wu‐Xing, but that their color images differed in terms of the tones used and the techniques for color combination. These results reflect that colors in the traditional costumes of the three countries are affected by their cultural codes, thereby representing the characteristics ofcertain peoples and cultural circles. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011     

Color characteristics of costumes for Korean folk festivals and color consciousness of Koreans

The purpose of this study was to identify the color characteristics of Korean culture, the color consciousness of Korean people based on their arche‐pattern sentiment, and to analyze the colors of the costumes of Korean folk festivals, which clearly suggest the archetype of Korean tradition. The range of this study is focused on Korea's important intangible cultural assets in which the colors used in folk festivals were fully expressed, and 20 folk games and plays were selected from among different festival events. Hundred and fifteen pictures from these 20 folk games/plays were used to extract the costume colors and conduct color analyses. Among 647 colors extracted in total, this article used 199 colors after excluding overlapping colors. The results show that Korean folk festivals have served as the medium of nondifferentiation that goes beyond the differentiated order of reality. Costumes for these Korean folk festivals, such as folk games and folk plays, have a sacred meaning as ritualistic robes. Five element colors in these costumes for the Korean folk festival are used as a means of circulatory thinking and as a symbol of Chaos—the very origin of undifferentiated thinking—beyond one's daily lives. It was found that these highly chromatic five element colors have always been used, wherever this undifferentiated thinking was strongly expressed. Delivering visually strong impacts, these five element colors symbolize the concept of the Arche‐pattern theory, being related to infinite freedom without any restrictions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2010     

A study on the application of an artificial neural algorithm in the color matching of Taiwanese cultural and creative commodities

In the recent years, great importance has been shown toward the cultural creativity in Taiwan. Cultural identification and determining how best to apply it to commercial products require investigating and compiling a vast amount of cultural information, along with the individual ideas of designers, to develop new cultural products. During the product development and design process, the color scheme is the final and most important element. It not only represents the first image of the product but also elicits the important first‐sight impression of consumers. Consequently, color ranks first in cultural commodity development. By understanding the Taiwanese culture, as well as assessing, verifying, and internalizing it into the materials that can be used by the designers, this study uses an artificial neural network system and simplifies the collected pictures that are representative of the Taiwanese culture into groups of different matching colors to assist designers in developing cultural commodities with different features and according to different cultural styles. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 40, 341–351, 2015     

Japanese and Korean ideas about clothing colors for elderly people: Intercountry and intergenerational differences

This study evaluated the clothing colors worn by elderly persons. We took photos, with elderly persons as models, displayed them on a computer screen, and used computer graphics to produce 75 colors of clothing worn by elderly persons. The 75 colors were evaluated by Japanese and Korean elderly women and female students. We compared the ideal colors and colors actually worn by elderly women in Japan and Korea. The ideal clothing color worn most often, and the images held concerning these colors, were found to differ between elderly women and female students in Japan and Korea, between Japanese and Korean elderly women, and between Japanese and Korean female students. In brief, the ideal clothing color for elderly women was the color satisfying brilliance, functionality, and elegance. We found that Japanese consumers prefer clothing of red hue or light grayish‐orange, whereas Korean consumers prefer colors of cold hues or achromatic colors. The differences observed between Japanese and Korean women seem to be associated with various factors, including traditions, culture, public morals, and racial consciousness. Differences in the rate of aging in the society and the timing of this change may also be involved. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 28, 139–150, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10132     

Gender difference in color preference across cultures: An archetypal pattern modulated by a female cultural stereotype

A gender difference in color preference among British participants has been repeatedly reported, in which both males and females show a preference for blue‐green colors, while females express an additional preference for pink‐purple colors. To investigate the robustness of gender difference in color preference in a different culture, we tested 81 young adult Indians from a school of design and compared them to 80 young British students in Psychology. The 35‐item International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) and Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) questionnaires were also administered to explore possible links between personality traits, gender schemata, and color preferences. Results confirmed a gender difference in both cultures; participants collectively expressed a preference for cool over warm colors, while in addition females showed a preference for pink colors, with a warm bias for Indian females and a cool bias for British females. While these results extend gender difference to Indian culture and support the universality of an underlying pattern they also reveal a culture‐specific contribution essentially observed in females. In British participants, color preference was correlated exclusively with BSRI scores in females and overwhelmingly with IPIP scores in males; this gender‐specific pattern of correlation was not replicated in the Indian sample. Results point to an archetypal pattern of gender difference in color preference with a remarkable cross‐cultural similarity in men and a subtle but significant cultural difference in women whose origin is yet to be explained.     

Dancheong colors used for Korean cultural heritage architecture restoration

Dancheong is Korean traditional decorative coloring on special wooden buildings, and it has been preserved by Danjeongjang as a national intangible cultural heritage—a craftman with a special skill to paint dancheong. All dancheong in the national heritage have been managed by the Cultural Heritage Administration following the standard procedure. However, there is no available information about final colors. In this study, a total of six different dancheong color paletts were prepared by six different apprentices of the living national treasures. In total, there were 20 different colors and 12 colors were shown in all six palettes. The color measurement result showed that well trained dancheong painter can reproduce the same colors repeatedly with fairly high precision with 1.8 on average except two colors—Ju‐hong and Yang‐cheong—showing high chroma differences, but with very similar lightness and hue angle indicating that hue of dancheong colors is the most important factor to judge the correctness of the color preproduction. The dancheong colors show large variations depending on the painters but the painters trained by the same teacher have the similar color palettes. Further in‐depth dancheong color investigation is needed to fully understand the contemporary dancheong colors.     

Color identification data obtained from photopic to mesopic illuminance levels

To use colors properly as an aid in visual tasks, it is necessary to know how colors are identified under various illuminating environments. In this study color identification was examined under a wide range of illuminances, from photopic to mesopic levels. Fifteen subjects named a color chip using one of the preselected color terms: red, orange, yellow, yellow‐green, green, blue‐green, blue, purple, pink, brown, white, gray, and black. The 256 color chips were selected from value planes of 4, 6, and 8 of the Munsell color space. The illuminance levels tested were 1000, 10, 1, and 0.1 lx. At 1000 lx the color chips were identified consistently by each of the color terms. At 10 lx the pattern of color identification was very similar to that at 1000 lx, though the consistency of the identification evidently declined. At 1 lx great changes in color identification occurred. By 0.1 lx reliable color identification was completely lost, though blue and red responses remained. At the lower illuminances green was replaced with blue, and red, orange, and pink were frequently confused with each other. However, the border between blue and purple was almost constant. These results provide a scientific basis for the appropriate use of colors in various illuminating environments. Also, they are useful for studies in color appearance modeling. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 27, 252–259, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10065     

Changes in hue and saturation of chromatic lights presented in the peripheral visual field

The perception of ten different colors on a CRT display presented across the horizontal meridian of the visual field were measured to determine the range of relevant test stimuli for color zone map measurement. Hue and saturation judgments were used based on the opponent‐colors theory. The changes of the unique hue components for eccentric displays of red, yellow, green, and blue fall within the distribution range of previous results obtained using monochromatic lights. Chromatic displays of nearly unique hues with high saturation would be significant as test colors for measurement for a color zone map. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 28, 413–424, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10194     

Effects of color on expectations of drug effects: A cross‐gender cross‐cultural study

To study the role of color in expectations of drug effects, 80 Chinese participants (40 females and 40 males) were asked to classify each of seven single colored capsules and six differently colored two‐piece capsules into one of four classifications of drug effects. The results from the Chinese sample were also compared with that from four other cultural groups studied elsewhere. The Chi‐square test results showed that all seven single colored capsules yielded non‐chance distributions in classifications of drug effects, with six showing specific effects; and that five two‐colored capsules had non‐chance distributions, with four significantly associated with specific effects. Notable gender differences were observed in the expectations of drug effects. While the cross‐group comparison revealed consistent red‐stimulant and blue‐depressant associations across the five cultural groups, disagreements existed for other colors among the groups. The findings emphasized the importance of color in drug design and administration in support of drug differentiation, medication adherence, and drug efficacy, and suggest gender and cultural implications on the basis of color to achieve better drug effects. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 42, 124–130, 2017     

Basic Mandarin color terms

In comparative studies of basic color terms of various ethnic groups, Berlin and Kay found that the number of basic color terms used is greater, the more highly developed a culture becomes and vice-versa (Berlin and Kay 1969: 16). According to their thesis, peoples possessing the most highly developed cultures use 11 basic color terms, or the equivalents of white, black, red, yellow, green, blue, brown, orange, purple, pink, and gray. These 11 color terms are found in Japanese, Korean, and Cantonese. However, as only six are found in Mandarin, Mandarin was assigned to a lower stage of cultural development. This is incorrect. In an effort to prove this assertion, this author has conducted numerous studies. Based on research of Mandarin color terms and mapping response, this study attempts to prove that Mandarin has long contained the 11 basic color terms noted by Berlin and Kay. However, after conducting a mapping response study, it was discovered that the Berlin-Kay color set (i.e., the Berlin-Kay-MacLaury Munsell set) is inadequate for examining low saturation basic color terms such as he (Br) and cang (grayish BG), the representative colors of which are difficult to fully ascertain. During this study, this author discovered a certain degree of difficulty hindering mutual understanding between Eastern and Western cultures. Consequently, this study seeks to promote a degree of such understanding. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 22, 4–10, 1997.     

Use of gray system theory in product‐color planning

A quantitative evaluation method for the CIE color‐planning activity within the product design cycle is proposed in this article. The questionnaire‐based process that is traditionally employed to obtain objective color psychology tends to be time‐consuming. Accordingly, this study proposes the use of gray system theory to overcome this problem. In the CIE color system, colors are defined by three primary colors, R (red), G (green), and B (blue). Using these three principal hues with fixed equigap sequences to simulate specific basic color samples is an efficient means of investigating unicolor images on a personal computer. However, a gray relational generating operation can be used to simulate colors beyond these basic samples and to predict the corresponding membership values for semantic words. In addition, the gray clustering operation is introduced to predict the overall color image evaluation of multicolored products. The predicted evaluation results of the gray system theory and a back‐propagation neural network are both compared with experimentally verified results. The results indicate that the gray forecasting model is the more effective means of predicting the image evaluation, and therefore, the method is adopted within the color‐planning activity. Although this study takes the example of the Internet‐aided color planning of a baby walker as a case study, the proposed method can also be used on other products. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 29, 222–231, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20009     

Comparative studies on color preference in Japan and other Asian regions,with special emphasis on the preference for white

The results of three surveys are presented. The first survey was carried out in four large cities in Japan, and the findings were analyzed by factor analysis and cluster analysis. The second survey was carried out in Seoul, Korea and Tokyo, Japan to determine color preference in the two countries, focusing on the preference for white. The last survey compared color preference in Taipei and Tokyo, also with emphasis on the preference for white. In these successive studies on color preference in Japan and other Asian cities, the subjects were mainly asked to choose from a color chart the three colors they liked most and the three they liked least, and to state the reasons for their choices. The results of Survey 1 showed that color preference could be influenced by differences in age, sex, and geographical region. Also factor analysis and cluster analysis indicated some relation between color preference and the subjects' life styles. Dual scaling analysis of the results of Surveys 2 and 3 indicated that each Asian area has unique color preference tendencies and that there are statistically significant differences in the frequency of selection of colors of certain hues and tones. However, a high preference for white was common to all areas, along with preferences for some other colors. These results thus demonstrated a common strong preference for white in three neighboring Asian areas. The reasons given for the choices suggested that besides the factors of age and sex, associative images based on environmental and cultural aspects may be an important factor influencing color preference. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The influence of color on student emotion,heart rate,and performance in learning environments

In this study, six colors (vivid red, vivid blue, vivid yellow, pale red, pale blue, and pale yellow^?) were manipulated in a simulated study environment to determine their effects on university students' learning performance, emotions, and heart rate. It was hypothesized that learning, physiological and emotional states would be affected by different colors in private study spaces. A total of 24 undergraduate and postgraduate students participated in this study. The dependent variables were reading task performance, emotional responses, and changes in heart rate. The results showed that, although participants assessed the situation as relaxed, calm, and pleasant in the pale color conditions, reading scores were significantly higher in the vivid color conditions. Heart rates were significantly affected by hue; they increased in the red and yellow conditions. In addition, the results suggested that, regardless of the degree of whiteness, the hue had a significant impact on participants' emotions; blue increased relaxation and calmness feelings of participants compared to the other colors. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 41, 196–205, 2016     

Hue,chroma, and lightness preference in Chinese adults: Age and gender differences

Recent studies have shown cultural differences in color preference. However, the color preference of people in China, which was found to have its own pattern, was yet to be studied in depth. The current study investigated color preference and the associated age and gender differences in an adult national sample (N = 1290) to provide a culture‐specific characteristic of color perception. Participants rated how much they liked each of 31 colors (four chroma‐lightness levels of red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, plus three achromatic colors). We found a unique saturated color preference pattern characterized by red, cyan, and blue being preferred the most and orange as the least preferred chromatic color. The “red preference” phenomenon was observed in Chinese adults. Light colors were preferred the most in terms of chroma‐lightness level, followed by saturated, muted, and dark colors. The results of a principal component analysis of the 28 chromatic colors showed that blue‐green‐like colors (cool colors) constituted the largest proportion of color preference. The preference for orange and several dark colors increased with age, while that for bluish colors, purple, yellow, white, black, and light colors decreased. In terms of gender, women liked cyan, white, pink, and light colors and disliked red, orange, and dark colors more than men did. Our findings provide new empirical evidence about the color preference of Chinese and may offer some insight into the study of color preference and lay the foundations for future theoretical and practical research.     

Dictionary‐based estimation of spectra for wide‐gamut color imaging

With the widespread use of commercialized wide‐gamut displays, the demand for wide‐gamut image content is increasing. To acquire wide‐gamut image content using camera systems, color information should be accurately reconstructed from recorded image signals for a wide range of colors. However, it is difficult to obtain color information accurately, especially for saturated colors, if conventional color cameras are used. Spectrum‐based color image reproduction can solve this problem; however, bulky spectral imaging systems are required for this purpose. To acquire spectral images more conveniently, a new spectral imaging scheme has been proposed that uses two types of data: high spatial‐resolution red, green, and blue (RGB) images and low spatial‐resolution spectral data measured from the same scene. Although this method estimates spectral images with high overall accuracy, the error becomes relatively large when multiple different colors, especially those with high saturation, are arranged in a small region. The main reason for this error is that the spectral data are utilized as low‐order spectral statistics of local spectra in this method. To solve this problem, in this study, a nonlinear estimation method based on sparse and redundant dictionaries was used for spectral image estimation—where the dictionary contains a number of spectra—without loss of information from the low spatial‐resolution spectral data. The estimated spectra are represented by a mixture of a few spectra included in the dictionary. Therefore, the respective feature of every spectrum is expected to be preserved in the estimation, and the color saturation is also preserved for any region. Experiments performed using the simulated data showed that the dictionary‐based estimation can be used to obtain saturated colors accurately, even when multiple colors are arranged in a small region. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2013     

Impact of the adapted white point and the cultural background on memory color assessments

With their inherent ability of serving as an internal reference, memory colors provide a very powerful concept in the evaluation of color rendering properties of white light sources with respect to visual appreciation. Recent results for example suggest fairly good correlations between memory-based color quality metrics and the observers' general color preferences. However, due to technical limitations in the design of the underlying psychophysical experiments, they generally lack the explicit inclusion of realistic viewing and adaptation conditions, which is supposed to have a nonnegligible impact on the model prediction performance. In addition, intercultural effects might play a crucial role in the context of memory colors. For these reasons, the current article investigates the impact of both the adapted white point and the observers' cultural background on memory color assessments in order to contribute to a better understanding of these dependencies and their interactions. For this purpose, the color appearance rating results of Chinese and German observers were collected for a selection of 12 different familiar test objects assessed under two different adaptation conditions at 3200 K and 5600 K, respectively. From the statistical analysis of the experimental data, it is shown, in accordance to previous studies, that the impact of the observed intercultural deviations is likely to be of no practical importance even though significance is found. Despite considerably larger effect sizes, the same must be concluded for the two tested adaptation conditions.     

A novel method for fabric color transfer

Fabric color design is a complex process in textiles and clothing industry. A new method for fabric color selection and transferring is proposed in this study. An automatic way to select the colors from the natural images is developed for fabric color design. Based on these colors, a fabric image is then used for color transferring. The fabric image is processed by a bias field estimation operation, and the membership function of the color deviations of the image has been obtained. According to the selected colors and the color membership function, the fabric image colors can be changed and transferred to a new image that preserves the similar texture appearance but with significantly different color effects. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 40, 304–310, 2015     

Chromatic behavior of inorganic pigments in restoration mortars (nonhydraulic lime,hydraulic lime,gypsum, and portland cement). A comparative study

Spectral diffuse reflectance was used to make a comparative study of the chromatic behavior (stability, coloring power and effects of time, thermal gradients, and high energy ultraviolet radiation) of the inorganic pigments ultramarine blue, green earth, molybdenum orange, zinc yellow, chrome yellow, chrome green, ochre, and natural sienna when mixed with the binders: nonhydraulic lime, hydraulic lime, Portland cement, and gypsum. The results show acute interference of the limes and the Portland cement, and, to a lesser extent, of the gypsum on the initial colors of ultramarine blue, molybdenum orange, and chrome yellow. The other pigments studied showed good stability in the four binders. Time, thermal gradients, and high energy ultraviolet radiation caused no appreciable color changes, except in the case of chrome yellow, which presented slight changes over time. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 65–70, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20289     

Applying image‐based color palette for achieving high image quality of displays

In the highly competitive display market, manufacturers continuously develop new technologies to improve the image quality of displays. However, color measurement and visual assessment are time‐consuming to production lines. A new method to measure and improve color quality of the displays automatically therefore, is urgently needed to the manufacturers. This article proposes a familiar color correction strategy to optimize the colors of different displays by means of creating an image‐based color palette which enables color correction for familiar objects (e.g., facial skin, blue sky, or green grass) in the multidisplay systems. To produce the image‐based color palette, the 8‐bit RGB value of each pixel in an image is transformed to L*d*n* (lightness/dominant color/nondominant color) color channels, and the dominant‐color regions in an image are subsequently extracted from the dominant color (d*) channel. The memory color data of familiar objects can be set in reference monitor in advance to determine the dominant color (d*) channel. Then a series of palette colors are generated around a displayed image. The color palette will be displayed as a target for two‐dimensional colorimeter shooting to obtain the measured color data. The familiar color correction model was established based on a first‐order polynomial regression to achieve a polynomial fit between the measured color data and the reference color data on the color palette. The proposed method provides a solution to correct familiar colors on a displayed image, and maintains the original color gamut and tone characteristic in the multidisplay systems simultaneously. It is possible to achieve the preferred intent of the displayed images by using the proposed familiar color correction method. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 154–168, 2014