As this special Red Edition of ASIAN Geographic shows, few colours hold as deep a significance across Asia as red. The colour of luck and prosperity, red is featured in festivals and ceremonies, especially Lunar New Year, where more than a splash of the auspicious hue appears in decorations, clothing, and hóngbão envelopes, bringing good fortune and warding off evil spirits. Similarly, you’ll find Indian brides wearing plenty of red, as the colour represents not just love and commitment, but is also associated with the Hindu goddess Durga, who symbolises new beginnings and feminine power.
In the spiritual realm, the colours of monks’ robes vary significantly depending on monastic traditions and the Buddhist sects they belong to, but the most common are undoubtedly red and orange. Though Myanmar’s burgundy-clad Theravada Buddhists are an exception, there’s usually a preference for red in the Vajrayana and Tibetan traditions, a fact that will be immediately obvious to anyone travelling to the fascinating Kingdom of Bhutan (“Bhutan: A World of Its Own”, page 81).
Red is also central to the region’s culinary traditions. The unofficial birthplace of “curry”, Asia is home to rich, flavourful, generously spiced cuisines where red chilli is very often the hero ingredient (“Curry: A World of Flavour, Tradition, and Culture”, page 34). At the same time, Asian red fruits like lychees, rambutans and goji berries aren’t only bursting with flavour, but are also packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and other essential nutrients (“The Power of Asian Red Fruits”, page 28).
Finally, while red may be associated with fire rather than the earth element in traditional Chinese philosophy, it is the colour’s natural and cultural connection to the earth that we consider in our main feature, “70 Days for Our Land Animals” (page 40). As we did in our Blue Edition, which put a spotlight on our fragile ocean planet, in this issue, we celebrate the days dedicated to our land-dwelling species, and the many difficult challenges they face, from the illegal wildlife trade to climate change.
– Ian Bongso-Seldrup
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