Elderly ethnic Va women in rural Yunnan province apply purple dye made from shellac, a material once commonly used in manufacturing records and chewing gum. In Kaifeng's Zhuxian town, Henan province, a woodblock New Year picture artisan surnamed Zhang insists on keeping secret the mysterious techniques he claims to have developed after experimenting more than 1,000 times to produce delicate purple hues in his woodblock printing.

Historically, the Chinese developed quite a literary system to name and recognize colors, drawing inspiration from daily life, such as "lard white", "pot-bottom black", "furnace-fire azure" and "goose-down yellow", which adds to the color a fluffy texture.

"These names reflect ancient people's intuitive understanding of the world," says Guo An, executive chief director of the documentary.

Modern people's knowledge of color is largely shaped by RGB or Pantone color systems that define colors with numbers. "To some extent, we've lost the subtle synesthesia of color. We want to awaken the audience's awareness for a richer appreciation of what they see, as indicated by color names."

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