Search

The preferred flesh colour was surveyed in Japan, China and South Korea to investigate the influence of cross-cultural effects. The three groups of observers exhibited common factors, i.e. geographic environment (large cities in temperate Far East Asia), race, age and knowledge of image technologies. The mean lightness (L*) of flesh colour accepted by 50 per cent or more of the observers in each country was in descending order China > Japan > Korea, with a significant difference. Similarly, the mean values of CIELAB hue angle, h[subab], and chroma, C[subab][sup*], were in descending order Korea > Japan > China, and the Chinese mean values were significantly low. Differences between the preferences of male and female observers were common to all three countries. The results suggest that the preference for fresh colour is determined not only by memory colour but also by cultural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Seki Teisyo (see text for symbol), a manuscript compiled by Seki Takakazu (see text for symbol)) in 1686, is known to consist of 15 treatises which Seki extracted from an early Qing astronomical and astrological corpus, the Tianwen Dacheng Guankui Jiyao (see text for symbol). Containing a detailed account of the Shoushi Li (see text for symbol) as well as a comparative study of Chinese and Islamic calendrical systems, these treatises have drawn the attention not only of Seki but of modern historians. In this paper, I show that 14 of the 15 treatises Seki selected had been composed by a late Ming scholar, Zhou Shuxue (see text for symbol), who discussed issues with Tang Shunzhi (see text for symbol). Their time predates the era in which the mathematical basis of the Shoushi Li was scrutinized and a new Chinese calendrical system was invented incorporating Western astronomical knowledge. I also mention some earlier works that Tang and Zhou could have consulted. Although Seki never knew the author of the treatises nor their background, his concern centered on themes that seem to have derived from one of those earlier works: the Liyuan(see text for symbol).