오방색

Five directions, five colours.

Obangsaek, the five cardinal colours, and the colours between them. They decide which side of a wedding bojagi faces out.

오방색 (formally 오방정색) are the five 'correct' colours, blue, red, yellow, white and black, each tied to a direction and one of the five phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, water); mixed 간색 sit between them. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture names these five as the main colours of embroidered bojagi and links them to a folk wish to 'drive off misfortune and invite blessing' (제액초복) through yin-yang harmony. Colour was also regulated: in 1408 owning a yellow cloth (reserved for the Chinese emperor) got two officials banished, and a 1469 order barred commoners from red-dyed wrappers. Bojagi were classed by colour as 청보, 홍보, 청홍보, 오색보 and more.