佛制比丘六物圖 1.23

1.23

The Vinaya states: "One must not wear robes dyed with primary colors; one should spoil them to produce the kāṣāya color (translated here as 'dyeing with improper colors'), also called 'spoiled color' (durgandhi/kaṣāya)." These are the three kinds of spoiled dyeing in the Prātimokṣa, all of which conform to the Dharma: first, blue-green (the Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya refers to copper verdigris; the blue-green coarse wool worn by modern nuns is quite close to this); second, black (referring to what is dyed with dark black mud; the dark grey-black and deep greenish-grey coarse wool worn by contemporary Chan monks are both equivalent to black); third, magnolia bark color (referring to the magnolia of Western Shu, whose bark can be dyed to make a reddish black; ancient eminent monks of the Jin dynasty often wore this robe; today's sea-yellow dyed silk slightly resembles it, whereas the light yellow of the northern regions is definitely not in accordance with the Dharma).