暮色蒼然 (bo-shoku-sō-zen) “the dusky grey of evening twilight”

A Japanese calligraphy work of 4 kanji characters. The characters are in black ink on white card. There is a brush to the right side and an ink stone to the left side. At the top is a paperweight and a small cat ornament.

Japanese has some beautiful words to describe colours. I love that there’s a specific 4-character phrase to describe this particular colour.

The kanji in this phrase are:

暮 = evening, twilight (Japanese learners will also recognise another meaning: livelihood, make a living, spend time)

色 = colour

蒼 = blue, pale colour

然 = like this

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