The falling snow and the white expanse reminded me of a book I had read some time ago, called The White Book by Han Kang. At the time of reading, it left me with an unsettling, alien feeling. How the words, the sentences, the white pages marked with inky strokes warped around the colour white was beautiful and slightly frightening. To the scientific reader, this ‘prismatic’ description may be more literal. Taken most literally, white is “the lightest colour and achromatic”, meaning it is a ‘colour’ that encompasses all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum.
However, the colour white has connotations and a web of history that weaves it into existence just as much as wavelengths create the colour in real life. White was a familiar colour of purity, innocence, and cosy happiness for me: the thick, untouched snow you see out the window on Christmas morning, the thin lace wet with a bride’s happy tears, the flutter of feathers on the wings of angels. It was through reading The White Book that I realised the varying shades of white, the prismatic brilliance of the colour.
To me, at least, the colour white represents aspects of innocence, purity. These connotations have become common and widespread in the modern world, but the origins can be traced back to the Roman Empire, and even the Bible. It was said that the Roman goddess of chastity, Vesta, wore white robes: in turn, Roman priestesses wore white robes as well. Such tradition of wearing white was carried on by Christianity, with priests and even the Pope wearing white for ceremonial occasions. Elsewhere in the world, in a less eurocentric view, white was also worn by pilgrims in Islam and the Shinto religion of Japan. Many religious structures, for this reason, were erected in white.
Now, the religious connotations of white have been translated into the secular world and form a part of the wider connotations which the colour carries. More broadly, the colour white has come to represent ‘goodness’, or virtue. White knights, white hats, even white lies: it has become such a ubiquitous stand-in for ‘good’. Yet what makes white such an interesting point of discussion is that, across cultures, across histories, it has come to bear slightly different and at times remarkably similar meanings. Although more specific differences exist between cultures, broadly speaking, there is a more general difference between the Western and Eastern perceptions of the colour white. In many Asian cultures, white represents death.
Inevitably, these slight differences in the perception of colour white have led to differences in rituals. A prime example of this is funerals. Although white is often thought of fondly as the colour of good, many Asian countries grieve in white. White, as the colour that bids a loved one, the colour of tears and mourning. Traditionally, service attendees dressed in white, though this tradition has faded away with time and the superimposed Western rites that have permeated most Asian cultures.
The symbolic colour of white in the shadow of death was more preeminent historically in Asia, and this is reflected in Joseon period dramas. Every time a king tragically dies, leaves his politically weak son undefended, prompting the son to either turn into the main character or villain of the film, the servants weep histrionically in their dingy white clothes, the crown prince kneeling tragically in his silk white hanbok… Certainly, such tradition has continued to some extent into modern-day Korea, where condolences are expressed by the white hearts, and white ribbons blossom quietly on the dark heads of the recently bereaved. However, on the other side of the world, the heartache of loss dons itself in black.
Yet interestingly enough, there was a time when Western cultures also dressed in white for funereal occasions. Although the tradition of wearing black dates back to Roman times as well, white was worn by the mourning mass largely since it was affordable – even the French royalty followed this suit of wearing white for sombre occasions of death. Despite the differences in the way we perceive and use the colour, there are many more similarities to appreciate as well. Around the world, white has also come to bless weddings and light the way for a lifetime of happiness for couples, and it is also commonly a colour of ecclesiastical worship. Regardless of culture, white has both bid welcome to a happy couple into existence and a wandering soul out of one.
On account of such subtle similarities and differences, I have come to appreciate white as the best medium to explore the overlaps and differences in human life. It’s amazing how, within one colour, an entire painting of history dwells in its invisible brushstrokes: all the intricacies of human behaviour encapsulated by a singular shade. Truthfully, this Christmas has been a slightly strange one for me, with the joy of Christmas married strangely with the sombre heart of the bereaved. This white Christmas, under the apse of a flawless white church, as the snowfall adorns the evergreen trees in a pristine coat of white, an otherworldly sense of sorrow blankets my heart in an unfamiliar shade of white.
Gyuyeon Victoria (Viki) Park
NLCS Jeju Student
