1.
pale ink; sumi ink thinned to a light gray
Sumi ink diluted with water so that it writes in a light gray rather than deep black. Used in calligraphy and ink painting for shading, and by long-standing custom for writing condolence letters and the outside of 香典 (condolence gift) envelopes.
薄墨で名前を書く。
Write the name in pale ink.
香典袋の表書きは薄墨で書くのが習わしだ。
It is customary to write the front of a condolence envelope in pale ink.
墨絵では、薄墨の濃淡だけで山の遠近を表現する。
In ink painting, the distance of the mountains is expressed through gradations of pale ink alone.
Formed from 薄い (thin, light) + 墨 (sumi ink). The opposite is 濃墨 (dark ink).
CULTURAL CONTEXT:
Writing a condolence envelope in 薄墨 expresses mourning: it symbolizes tears diluting the ink, or that the writer was too grief-stricken to grind the ink fully. Congratulatory writing, by contrast, uses deep black ink.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 薄墨で書く: to write in pale ink
- 薄墨色: light gray (ink) color
- 薄墨の手紙: a letter written in pale ink