"这曾是血的颜色”——关于粉色
我曾经在某部纪录片中听这样一种观点：“'粉色属于女性，蓝色属于男性’，这一在今天看似理所应当的观念其实只形成了不到100年的时间”；最近翻看萨福诗及古希腊的时代背景时，又从某处跳出一句：“在古罗马时期，粉色被认为是血稀释后的颜色，是男性的、勇敢的、战争的象征”（但考据后发现这—说法并不正确）。
这两段隔着时空的捕风捉影，勾起了我对“粉色=稀释血液”的好奇。一日午睡如梦之际，脑海中弹射出：“这曾是血的颜色”这句话，顿时感觉非常有力量，遂想要自己用丝网版把这句话印在粉色t恤上招摇过市。后来在和Hu讨论时又弹出了“为这件t恤做一本Zine吧！"的想法与行动，由此开启了此项目。
历史上（或许）并没有在文献中确切记载过“粉色是血稀释后的颜色”这句话，但由此，我更加怀疑一些固定的东西了，但也开始相信一种柔软的事物曾/会无比有力。
本Zine中的文字内容脱胎于我所能读到的色彩类相关书籍/文献，但因我本人并非专业学者，在研究考据过程中必然会有大大小小纰漏，欢迎指正，请多包含。
"THIS WAS THE COLOR OF BLOOD."—about pink
I once heard a perspective in a documentary: "'The notion that ‘pink is for girls, blue is for boys'—which seems so natural today—actually took form less than 100 years ago." Recently, while reading Sappho's poetry and looking into the context of ancient Greece, another idea jumped out at me: "In ancient Rome, pink was considered the color of diluted blood—a symbol of masculinity, courage, and war." (Though upon closer examination, this claim turned out to be inaccurate.)
These two fragmentary notions, separated by time and space, stirred my curiosity about "pink = diluted blood." One afternoon, during a nap, a phrase flashed into my mind: "This was once the color of blood." It felt intensely powerful, and I immediately wanted to screen print it onto pink T-shirts and proudly display them out in the world. Later, while discussing with Hu, another idea emerged: "Why not make a zine to go with the T-shirt?" And so this project began.
Historically, there may be no definitive record in literature stating that “pink is the color of diluted blood." Yet because of this, I grew more skeptical of certain fixed ideas—but also began to believe that something soft could be, or could once have been, immensely powerful.
The text in this zine draws from books and literature on color that I've been able to access. As I am not a professional scholar, there must be oversights or inaccuracies in my research. I welcome corrections and appreciate your understanding.
FAQ
August 2025
The art book ”This Was the Color of Blood” consists of three parts:
- screen-printed T-shirt;
- tag zine, which includes:
- A brief history of pink in the Western context & epoch-defining pink stories + color chart; the development of systematic gender-color systems in the West
- Pink in traditional Chinese culture;
- The evolution of the word “pink”;
- Pink in science;
- Description of the work.
- garment label mini zine (Content: The development of systematic gender-color systems in the West).
Editing: FAQ
Design: FAQ
Illustration: Chumin Hu
Chinese to English Translation: Deepseek
Self-published
August, 2025
