No matter where you visit in Tibet, you can see very colourful paintworks on wooden buildings. These fancy works usually contain five colours, and each of them has a meaning: blue – sky, white – cloud, red – fire, green – water, and yellow – land. These five harmonious colours are believed to bring luck to people as well as banning all the gloom.

Every single house is decorated with these wooden paintworks, especially on doors and windows. These colours also apply on the position of people and the usage of buildings. The colour in Tibet, according to its usage, is something more than just a colour – it is a language, and something that reflects its culture.

by Yong Kyou Lee