2025-03-28 Chinese Traditional Color Collection and Detection Research Ⅰ
Over thousands of years of cultural evolution in China, color has not only been an expression of aesthetics but also a deep code for understanding rituals, beliefs, and craftsmanship. Today, with the advancement of digital technology, how to scientifically restore and document the traditional colors in Chinese cultural relics has become an important task entrusted to us by this era.
Recently, the Color Research Institute of the Art and Science Research Center at Tsinghua University, and the Color Design and Application Laboratory of Tsinghua Qingdao Art and Science Innovation Research Institute, have joined forces with the "Eastern Traditional Color Plan" supported by Guizhou Moutai Group. They have initiated a research project that combines art and science, aiming to provide solid technical support and scientific basis for the inheritance and application of traditional colors. This collaboration establishes a more rigorous and systematic research support for the protection and dissemination of traditional Chinese colors.
Currently, the project team has utilized international leading hyper-spectral color measurement equipment to conduct high spectral resolution and high spatial resolution data testing on traditional color samples restored from the Qianlong Chromatography Silk Dyeing Restoration objects of the "Eastern Traditional Color Plan" and the "Chinese Five-Color Color Card" (Mineral Color Plate), which are flat and have uniform color appearance. They have also completed the digital transformation of color standards such as RGB, CMYK, and Lab.
Silk color dyeing restoration sample reflectance spectrum measurement.
"Chinese Five-Color Color Card" (Mineral Color Plate, Lead White) Sample Reflectance Spectroscopy Measurement.
Digital preservation of mineral color plate (realgar) with spatial uniform light field + D65 light source + color calibration.
The Chinese Traditional Color Collection project is not only an academic research but also a dialogue across thousands of years with Chinese traditional culture.
We hope to use technology to respect every color of the years and give them new vitality. In the future, we will continue to expand the extraction and verification of the color appearance of three-dimensional, high-gloss, transparent/semi-transparent objects with complex colors and textures. Based on sample characteristics, we will design and implement reasonable color collection schemes to extract representative "color fingerprints" – these colors are no longer subjective descriptions but "scientific traditional colors" that can be supported by data and withstand testing.
