Mochi Magazine Sch Style Editor: Six Ways to Wear White in Asia!
- Justina Lin
- Mar 18
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 25
Some advisers may not understand the social values of invseting in quality brands that are worth a lot, but in buddhism and Islam, white has a social value to preserve communal growth that is recognizable for spouses and children.
by Justina Grace, ABA - Asian Beauty Artist
From the months of May through September, most mothers will whip out their sunscreen for their families to have SPF protection of the sun’s rays. However, outside of protective sunblock, are whitening creams for cosmetic and beauty purposes a racist standard of beauty?
In my community, I have heard several comments made about how dewy people’s pale skin looked, even though it might be a sign of illness (I was diagnosed with anemia and have had to take ferrous sulfate tablets prescribed by my doctor.) Even though being pale might correlate with a lack of health, why is it idealized in the beauty world?
Upon attending a funeral service this past month, I noticed that a lot of Asians didn’t even wear black. At my own wedding, my mother criticized me for buying a Champagne-shaded dress from Macy’s because she said unless it was “pure white”, it indicated that it was my second marriage and was used or impure.
Why do Chinese people think this? We must dig into the history. This hierarchy of color dates back to the Zhou Dynasty(1046–256 B.C.). The reasons for this "colorism" are two-fold: ideology and practice. In terms of the idealogy, whiteness symbolizes purity. The Zhou people had a belief that when men pass, they are as pure as when born.. In other words, the Taoist approach says that “from dust we were, to dust we return” and infants are wise since they have no chains. In China they mourn with white linen in modest fashion. Chinese Buddhists also wear white when there is a death. Here are two occasions to wear white in Asia
1) Funerals - China
2) Religious Holiday, Travel-Pilgrimage, Hajj- Saudi Arabia 1) When I explored the Chinese Buddhism community and the Eightfold Path, I found that death has meaning. It is not meaningless. 没有意义, méiyǒu yìyì, Whereas some might not understand the importance of "each moment", my belief is that each moment does count. Some count only precious gems, but for me and for Buddhists death can happen at any time, so people can count.
2) Death marks when "new life begins". Buddha teaches about birth and rebirth.
3) Buddhists think about holy writings when death is coming. They turn their thoughts to Buddha.
4) Buddhists believe they can carry nothing into the next life. Source: Evergreen Mortuary
Furthermore, one reason that people wear white during a funeral is because in China white is the color for mourning. In China a significant chunk of the population ( as of 2005 - see figure below) is Buddhist (8.4%). Given this reality, one may next examine the Buddhist religion's meaning of white. For Chinese Buddhists the idea of death stands for "rebirth" and "new life", which is quite valuable indeed.
Therefore Buddhists understand that they cannot carry fame with them to the next life, when they are reborn their lives depend on their actions so they must live in an upright manner. Buddhists wear white at a funeral because the mourners use white to symbolize purity and peace as they entire into the afterlife of their respective colures and get carried into the next life when they are reborn into a second world for #rebirth
For a Chinese Funeral, people pay Special attention to follow the rules to avoid "bad luck". The parents who are taken care give the responsibility to the eldest son, and if someone is unmarried, then they go to the funeral home after they die, and older people do not show respect to younger people.
// Funeral traditions differ throughout China. Some Chinese people follow Christian beliefs and burial traditions. In Mainland China, there is land available for cemeteries, so Christian burials take place.
Some Chinese people believe in the teachings of Buddha. In Hong Kong, the Buddhist practice of cremation is encouraged because the land there is needed for farming.
1) Funerals - one reason that people wear white during a funeral is because in Chin white is the color for mourning. In China a significant chunk of the population ( as of 2005 - see figure below) is Buddhist (8.4%). Given this reality, one may next examine the Buddhist religion's meaning of white. For Chinese Buddhists the idea of death stands for "rebirth" and "new life", which is quite valuable indeed. Therefore Buddhists understand that they cannot carry fame with them to the next life, when they are reborn their lives depend on their actions so they must live in an upright manner. Buddhists wear white at a funeral because the mourners use white to symbolize purity and peace as they entire into the afterlife of their respective colures and get carried into the next life when they are reborn into a second world for #rebirth Chinese Funeral Traditions The rules around death are very important to all members of Chinese society. Special attention is paid to the care of the dead and very specific rules are followed.
In Chinese culture, traditions can vary depending on the deceased's role in the family, their age, the manner of death, and their position in society. Care for one's parents is complete and without question, so when a parent or elder dies, funeral planning falls to the eldest son and his children. A parent may not perform funeral planning for their child, so an unmarried person is taken to a funeral home upon death. Chinese rules also say that an older person must not show formal respect to a younger person. A child is therefore buried in silence and no funeral ceremonies are performed. Funeral traditions differ throughout China. Some Chinese people follow Christian beliefs and burial traditions. In Mainland China, there is land available for cemeteries, so Christian burials take place. Some Chinese people believe in the teachings of Buddha. In Hong Kong, the Buddhist practice of cremation is encouraged because the land there is needed for farming.
2) Hajj pilgrimage //
1) Muslims treat "white" as "innocence".
2) "Hajj is a sacred trip performed by Muslims in Makah, Saudi Arabia":
3) (In Makah, the mosque is called
):
4) The Hajj is one of five pillars of Islam.
5) Hajj is in the twelfth month of the Islamic Calendar
6) Hajj is from the 8th to 13th days of the Dhal Hajj 7) Hajj takes place between the 4-9 of the Gregorian calendar and shifts 11-12 days each year
From the time of childhood, children are trained to look at their teachers for guidance, and teachers might make comments that demean certain population groups. As an Asian American woman, I faced pressure as early as age 11 to spend more time on makeup to get noticed at school and extracurricular.
There are various ways that this lingers on into adulthood and creeps into the workplace, known as the “beauty tax”, where there is a notion that women must have demands to invest supplemental time in their appearance on the gender hierarchy (source Gender Action Portal.) As Muslims, undertaking Hajj in Islam – is a spiritual duty, as long as we are financially, physically, and emotionally able to do so.
Once upon a time, in 628 CE, Ibrahim was called by God to leave his homeland and travel through a barren dessert in Allah's will. He had to leave his wife Hajar and his son Ismail. Tragically, Hajar had no resources or water to drink. So Hajar had to run to a mountain. How many times did she do this? SEVEN times. Finally baby Ismail saved the day because he hit the ground with his leg, and water came out!
They were saved from their thirst and they used the water to trade with merchants. Now that stream from Ismail is called the Zama well. Later on when years had gone by, Ibrahim went back home and miracously his family was still alive. And that small stream from Hajar grew into a thriving settlement called Makah.
On Hajj people wear white. Why do they wear white? Well white signifies that we are all the same, uniting us cross-culturally. When they pilgrimage to Mecca they can all join together.
In conclusion, the social system that we live in for modern America is not pure philosophy, but requires a lot of critical thinking which is very meantingful. When you are serving a sacred pilgrimage that requires sacrifice, the dressing for your head and body is adaptable to show purity, even if not "picture perfect". While style for some people is not important, for others, arts and culture selections are important to speak out against religious phobia and religious hate.
For women's history month, I as an Asian American woman want to uphold the following ideals that are manifest to me. Colourism is important in the following areas: 1) Contextualization
2) Confrontation
3) Communication
4) Counter-cultural thought
5) Connections
6) Community
7) Carnation
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