Zhóu

# Zhóu

## Philosophy

A vertical-axis ink language that reimagines liu bai (留白) as the hanging scroll under tension. The ground is inverted to a deep warm wet-ink black on which luminous bone-white type and a single cinnabar seal bloom. Content registers down one plumb line, the seal descends the margin, and the void is full, not blank.

### Values

- charged emptiness
- vertical descent
- cinnabar restraint
- luminous ink on dark
- sharp formal discipline
- slow attentive reading

### Anti-Values

- centred floating columns
- warm-paper minimalism
- chromatic hierarchy
- decorative seal wallpaper
- bouncy motion
- boxed-in chrome

## Tokens

### Colors

| Name | Value |
|------|-------|
| bg | `#16130f` |
| surface | `#1f1b16` |
| surface_alt | `#262019` |
| inset | `#262019` |
| text | `#f2ede3` |
| muted | `#9b9286` |
| faint | `#6f675c` |
| border | `rgba(242,237,227,0.10)` |
| rail | `rgba(242,237,227,0.16)` |
| accent | `#d4452f` |
| accent_light | `rgba(212,69,47,0.14)` |
| on_accent | `#16130f` |
| success | `#7d9168` |
| warning | `#c98a3a` |
| error | `#d4452f` |
| info | `#6f8aa6` |

### Typography

- **Base Size**: 18px
- **Body Font**: IBM Plex Sans, system-ui, sans-serif
- **Heading Font**: Spectral, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif
- **Mono Font**: IBM Plex Mono, ui-monospace, monospace
- **Heading Weight**: 300
- **Heading Transform**: none
- **Letter Spacing**: -0.025em headings, -0.01em body
- **Scale Ratio**: 1.414
- **Google Fonts Url**: https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Spectral:ital,wght@0,300;0,400;0,500;0,600;1,400&family=IBM+Plex+Sans:wght@400;500;600&family=IBM+Plex+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap

### Radii

- **None**: 0px
- **Sm**: 0px
- **Md**: 0px
- **Lg**: 0px
- **Pill**: 9999px (control affordances only)

### Shadows

- **None**: none
- **Subtle**: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.30)
- **Default**: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.30)

### Spacing

- **Base**: 8px
- **Scale**: ["8px","16px","24px","40px","64px","104px","160px"]

### Surfaces

- **Ground**: #16130f deep warm wet-ink — the inverted void, the primary surface
- **Card**: #1f1b16 panel with one hairline rule and 0px radius; no accent edge, never nested
- **Inset**: #262019 for control tracks and recessed wells
- **Void**: the dark ground left untouched; never filled to balance a grid

### Borders

- **Color**: rgba(242,237,227,0.10)
- **Width**: 1px
- **Style**: solid
- **Radius**: 0px

### Motion

- **Duration Default**: 700ms
- **Easing**: cubic-bezier(.2,0,.1,1)
- **Type**: vertical reveal + opacity; the plumb line draws down on load; no scale, bounce, or parallax

## Rules

### Composition

Every screen registers against one vertical plumb line at the left margin (64px rail). Content hangs off it; nothing floats centred. Weight loads toward the lower third, the way a hanging scroll loads its base. The dark wet-ink ground dominates; luminous marks are placed one at a time.

### Hierarchy

Typography alone establishes hierarchy: a Spectral display cascade in a 1.414 ratio plus weight variation. Colour is NOT used for rank — bone-white and stone-grey only. The single cinnabar marks importance through rarity. Semantic hues appear only as a documented state heat-scale.

### Density

Airy. Generous 40–160px spacing; cards separated by the ground and hairlines, never crowded. Lists paginate before they fill. Empty is the natural condition, not an error.

### Signature

The Plumb Line (one vertical hairline rail every screen); The Registration Tick (a cinnabar bar+square hanging eyebrows off the rail); The Descending Seal (a column of impressed chops down the margin, three weights = three states); The Unrolling (downward vertical reveal, plumb line draws on load); Absence as state (a single mark on the dark field).

## Layout

### Grid

single vertical axis; content registered to a left 64px plumb-line rail, max-width ~1180px (1320px ultra-wide)

### Whitespace

the dark wet-ink void is the primary compositional material; generous 40–160px section rhythm

### Density

airy

### Responsive

single column on mobile; the rail collapses but the descent remains; only the full-bleed hero spans 100vw; content caps and centres on ultra-wide

### Breakpoints

- **Mobile**: ≤680px
- **Tablet**: 681–980px
- **Desktop**: 981–1699px
- **Ultrawide**: ≥1700px

## Guidance

### Do

- Register everything to one vertical plumb line; load weight toward the base
- Keep the cinnabar a seal — a mark of rarity, descending the margin, never an edge
- Let the dark wet-ink void dominate; place luminous marks one at a time
- Carry hierarchy with the Spectral size cascade and the measure rail
- Use the semantic hues only as a documented state heat-scale (verified / in review / disputed)
- Ship the settled finished state visible with no JavaScript; layer vertical motion on top
- Keep sharp 0px corners and hairline luminous rules

### Don't

- Don't centre content in a floating column — the axis is left-anchored and asymmetric
- Don't use colour for hierarchy or let semantic hues become primary surface
- Don't put an accent edge on a card, nest cards, or box the nav into a pill
- Don't round corners or add shadow beyond a faint ink lift
- Don't let the seal repeat decoratively until it is wallpaper
- Don't revert to warm paper or a white ground — the void here is ink

### Accessibility

Bone-white (#f2ede3) on wet-ink (#16130f) clears WCAG AAA for body text. Controls are explicitly styled with a visible cinnabar focus border. Body 17–18px, mono labels 12px+. Motion respects prefers-reduced-motion and is never required to read the page.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With

cinnabar-seal

### Summary

Traditional Chinese shuimo (water-and-ink) brushwork — luminous ink blooming into a wet dark ground — finished with impressed vermilion seal stamps. Composed on a vertical hanging-scroll axis: misted forms dissolving into dark void with a descending column of cinnabar chops.

### Subjects

- hanging-scroll landscapes
- misted ridges dissolving into void
- ink dispersing in dark water
- impressed seal columns
- single luminous brush strokes on dark

### Usage

One full-bleed hero per landing, composed vertically with content pinned lower-left and the seal-column descending the right edge. Never used for the thumbnail (the embodiment is the thumbnail source).

---
version: "alpha"
name: "Zhóu"
description: "Agent-curated design language exported from Katagami as DESIGN.md."
colors:
  bg: "#16130f"
  surface: "#1f1b16"
  surface_alt: "#262019"
  inset: "#262019"
  text: "#f2ede3"
  muted: "#9b9286"
  faint: "#6f675c"
  accent: "#d4452f"
  on_accent: "#16130f"
  success: "#7d9168"
  warning: "#c98a3a"
  error: "#d4452f"
  info: "#6f8aa6"
typography:
  headline-lg:
    fontFamily: "Spectral, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif"
    fontSize: "3.181rem"
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.1
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  headline-md:
    fontFamily: "Spectral, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif"
    fontSize: "2.249rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.15
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  body-md:
    fontFamily: "IBM Plex Sans, system-ui, sans-serif"
    fontSize: "18px"
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  label-md:
    fontFamily: "IBM Plex Mono, ui-monospace, monospace"
    fontSize: "0.75rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1
    letterSpacing: "0.08em"
rounded:
  none: "0px"
  sm: "0px"
  md: "0px"
  lg: "0px"
  pill: "0px"
spacing:
  base: "8px"
  xs: "8px"
  sm: "16px"
  md: "24px"
  lg: "40px"
  xl: "64px"
  2xl: "104px"
  3xl: "160px"
components:
  color-reference-bg:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.bg}"
  color-reference-surface:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
  color-reference-surface_alt:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface_alt}"
  color-reference-inset:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.inset}"
  color-reference-text:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.text}"
  color-reference-muted:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.muted}"
  color-reference-faint:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.faint}"
  color-reference-accent:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.accent}"
  color-reference-on_accent:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.on_accent}"
  color-reference-success:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.success}"
  color-reference-warning:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.warning}"
  color-reference-error:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.error}"
  color-reference-info:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.info}"
  button-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.accent}"
    textColor: "#000000"
    typography: "{typography.label-md}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    padding: "{spacing.md}"
  card-surface:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
    textColor: "{colors.text}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    padding: "{spacing.md}"
  input-default:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
    textColor: "{colors.text}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    height: "44px"
---

# Zhóu

## Overview

A vertical-axis ink language that reimagines liu bai (留白) as the hanging scroll under tension. The ground is inverted to a deep warm wet-ink black on which luminous bone-white type and a single cinnabar seal bloom. Content registers down one plumb line, the seal descends the margin, and the void is full, not blank.

### Values

- charged emptiness
- vertical descent
- cinnabar restraint
- luminous ink on dark
- sharp formal discipline
- slow attentive reading

### Anti-Values

- centred floating columns
- warm-paper minimalism
- chromatic hierarchy
- decorative seal wallpaper
- bouncy motion
- boxed-in chrome

## Colors

Use the YAML color tokens as the normative palette. The prose below names the roles agents should preserve when generating UI.

| Token | Value |
|-------|-------|
| bg | `#16130f` |
| surface | `#1f1b16` |
| surface_alt | `#262019` |
| inset | `#262019` |
| text | `#f2ede3` |
| muted | `#9b9286` |
| faint | `#6f675c` |
| accent | `#d4452f` |
| on_accent | `#16130f` |
| success | `#7d9168` |
| warning | `#c98a3a` |
| error | `#d4452f` |
| info | `#6f8aa6` |

## Typography

- **Headline-Lg**: Spectral, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif, 3.181rem, weight 700, line-height 1.1.
- **Headline-Md**: Spectral, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif, 2.249rem, weight 600, line-height 1.15.
- **Body-Md**: IBM Plex Sans, system-ui, sans-serif, 18px, weight 400, line-height 1.5.
- **Label-Md**: IBM Plex Mono, ui-monospace, monospace, 0.75rem, weight 600, line-height 1.

## Layout

### Spacing Tokens

- **Base**: `8px`
- **Xs**: `8px`
- **Sm**: `16px`
- **Md**: `24px`
- **Lg**: `40px`
- **Xl**: `64px`
- **2xl**: `104px`
- **3xl**: `160px`

### Grid

single vertical axis; content registered to a left 64px plumb-line rail, max-width ~1180px (1320px ultra-wide)

### Whitespace

the dark wet-ink void is the primary compositional material; generous 40–160px section rhythm

### Density

airy

### Responsive

single column on mobile; the rail collapses but the descent remains; only the full-bleed hero spans 100vw; content caps and centres on ultra-wide

### Breakpoints

- **Mobile**: ≤680px
- **Tablet**: 681–980px
- **Desktop**: 981–1699px
- **Ultrawide**: ≥1700px

## Elevation & Depth

### Shadows

- **None**: none
- **Subtle**: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.30)
- **Default**: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.30)

## Shapes

### Rounded

- **None**: `0px`
- **Sm**: `0px`
- **Md**: `0px`
- **Lg**: `0px`
- **Pill**: `0px`

### Surfaces

- **Ground**: #16130f deep warm wet-ink — the inverted void, the primary surface
- **Card**: #1f1b16 panel with one hairline rule and 0px radius; no accent edge, never nested
- **Inset**: #262019 for control tracks and recessed wells
- **Void**: the dark ground left untouched; never filled to balance a grid

### Borders

- **Color**: rgba(242,237,227,0.10)
- **Width**: 1px
- **Style**: solid
- **Radius**: 0px

## Components

### Composition

Every screen registers against one vertical plumb line at the left margin (64px rail). Content hangs off it; nothing floats centred. Weight loads toward the lower third, the way a hanging scroll loads its base. The dark wet-ink ground dominates; luminous marks are placed one at a time.

### Hierarchy

Typography alone establishes hierarchy: a Spectral display cascade in a 1.414 ratio plus weight variation. Colour is NOT used for rank — bone-white and stone-grey only. The single cinnabar marks importance through rarity. Semantic hues appear only as a documented state heat-scale.

### Density

Airy. Generous 40–160px spacing; cards separated by the ground and hairlines, never crowded. Lists paginate before they fill. Empty is the natural condition, not an error.

### Signature

The Plumb Line (one vertical hairline rail every screen); The Registration Tick (a cinnabar bar+square hanging eyebrows off the rail); The Descending Seal (a column of impressed chops down the margin, three weights = three states); The Unrolling (downward vertical reveal, plumb line draws on load); Absence as state (a single mark on the dark field).

## shadcn/ui Usage

When the target app uses shadcn/ui, copy DESIGN.md with shadcn instead of the plain DESIGN.md. It contains the same Katagami design-language source plus the shadcn/ui primitives, imports, theme variables, component recipes, and preview-shot guidance.

DESIGN.md with shadcn: `/language/en-019ef924-5221-7500-a3ef-eadac1278ed7/DESIGN.with-shadcn.md`.

The shadcn page also exposes optional machine-readable files for automation, but the human-facing handoff is DESIGN.md with shadcn.

Install recommended primitives with `npx shadcn@latest add button card input textarea select dialog sheet tabs badge separator checkbox switch slider tooltip dropdown-menu table`.

Use these primitives in shadcn apps:
- button
- card
- input
- textarea
- select
- dialog
- sheet
- tabs
- badge
- separator
- checkbox
- switch
- slider
- tooltip
- dropdown-menu
- table

Implementation rule for agents: import shadcn primitives from `@/components/ui/*`, apply the generated CSS variables first, then compose the language-specific recipes from the companion MD. Katagami remains the source of truth; shadcn names are the implementation surface.

## Do's and Don'ts

- Do Register everything to one vertical plumb line; load weight toward the base
- Do Keep the cinnabar a seal — a mark of rarity, descending the margin, never an edge
- Do Let the dark wet-ink void dominate; place luminous marks one at a time
- Do Carry hierarchy with the Spectral size cascade and the measure rail
- Do Use the semantic hues only as a documented state heat-scale (verified / in review / disputed)
- Do Ship the settled finished state visible with no JavaScript; layer vertical motion on top
- Do Keep sharp 0px corners and hairline luminous rules
- Don't Don't centre content in a floating column — the axis is left-anchored and asymmetric
- Don't Don't use colour for hierarchy or let semantic hues become primary surface
- Don't Don't put an accent edge on a card, nest cards, or box the nav into a pill
- Don't Don't round corners or add shadow beyond a faint ink lift
- Don't Don't let the seal repeat decoratively until it is wallpaper
- Don't Don't revert to warm paper or a white ground — the void here is ink

### Accessibility

Bone-white (#f2ede3) on wet-ink (#16130f) clears WCAG AAA for body text. Controls are explicitly styled with a visible cinnabar focus border. Body 17–18px, mono labels 12px+. Motion respects prefers-reduced-motion and is never required to read the page.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With

cinnabar-seal

### Summary

Traditional Chinese shuimo (water-and-ink) brushwork — luminous ink blooming into a wet dark ground — finished with impressed vermilion seal stamps. Composed on a vertical hanging-scroll axis: misted forms dissolving into dark void with a descending column of cinnabar chops.

### Subjects

- hanging-scroll landscapes
- misted ridges dissolving into void
- ink dispersing in dark water
- impressed seal columns
- single luminous brush strokes on dark

### Usage

One full-bleed hero per landing, composed vertically with content pinned lower-left and the seal-column descending the right edge. Never used for the thumbnail (the embodiment is the thumbnail source).

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema/registry-item.json",
  "name": "zhou-vertical-axis-ink",
  "type": "registry:theme",
  "title": "Zhóu shadcn Theme",
  "cssVars": {
    "theme": {},
    "light": {
      "background": "#16130f",
      "foreground": "#f2ede3",
      "card": "#1f1b16",
      "card-foreground": "#f2ede3",
      "popover": "#1f1b16",
      "popover-foreground": "#f2ede3",
      "primary": "#f2ede3",
      "primary-foreground": "#111111",
      "secondary": "#f4f4f5",
      "secondary-foreground": "#111111",
      "muted": "#9b9286",
      "muted-foreground": "#f2ede3",
      "accent": "#d4452f",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#d4452f",
      "border": "rgba(242,237,227,0.10)",
      "input": "rgba(242,237,227,0.10)",
      "ring": "#d4452f",
      "chart-1": "#f2ede3",
      "chart-2": "#f4f4f5",
      "chart-3": "#d4452f",
      "chart-4": "#7d9168",
      "chart-5": "#c98a3a",
      "sidebar": "#1f1b16",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#f2ede3",
      "sidebar-primary": "#f2ede3",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#111111",
      "sidebar-accent": "#6f8aa6",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "rgba(242,237,227,0.10)",
      "sidebar-ring": "#d4452f",
      "radius": "0px"
    },
    "dark": {
      "background": "#0f1115",
      "foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "card": "#181b22",
      "card-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "popover": "#181b22",
      "popover-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "primary": "#f2ede3",
      "primary-foreground": "#111111",
      "secondary": "#252a33",
      "secondary-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "muted": "#252a33",
      "muted-foreground": "#a1a1aa",
      "accent": "#d4452f",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#d4452f",
      "border": "#303642",
      "input": "#303642",
      "ring": "#d4452f",
      "chart-1": "#f2ede3",
      "chart-2": "#f4f4f5",
      "chart-3": "#d4452f",
      "chart-4": "#7d9168",
      "chart-5": "#c98a3a",
      "sidebar": "#181b22",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "sidebar-primary": "#f2ede3",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#111111",
      "sidebar-accent": "#d4452f",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#303642",
      "sidebar-ring": "#d4452f",
      "radius": "0px"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "source": "katagami",
    "languageId": "en-019ef924-5221-7500-a3ef-eadac1278ed7",
    "slug": "zhou-vertical-axis-ink",
    "componentManifest": [
      "button",
      "card",
      "input",
      "textarea",
      "select",
      "dialog",
      "sheet",
      "tabs",
      "badge",
      "separator",
      "checkbox",
      "switch",
      "slider",
      "tooltip",
      "dropdown-menu",
      "table"
    ],
    "installCommand": "npx shadcn@latest add button card input textarea select dialog sheet tabs badge separator checkbox switch slider tooltip dropdown-menu table",
    "nativeTokenNames": {
      "colors": [
        "accent",
        "accent_light",
        "bg",
        "border",
        "error",
        "faint",
        "info",
        "inset",
        "muted",
        "on_accent",
        "rail",
        "success",
        "surface",
        "surface_alt",
        "text",
        "warning"
      ],
      "typography": [
        "base_size",
        "body_font",
        "google_fonts_url",
        "heading_font",
        "heading_transform",
        "heading_weight",
        "letter_spacing",
        "mono_font",
        "scale_ratio"
      ],
      "radii": [
        "lg",
        "md",
        "none",
        "pill",
        "sm"
      ],
      "shadows": [
        "default",
        "none",
        "subtle"
      ],
      "spacing": [
        "base",
        "scale"
      ],
      "surfaces": [
        "card",
        "ground",
        "inset",
        "void"
      ],
      "borders": [
        "color",
        "radius",
        "style",
        "width"
      ],
      "motion": [
        "duration_default",
        "easing",
        "type"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```