Decoding Color: A Three‐Stage Clustering Approach to Analysis Color Evolution in Changning Miao Costumes

ABSTRACT As a visual cultural symbol, color represents the collective aesthetics and the ethnic cohesion of an ethnic group. This study takes the Changning Miao costume as an object, aiming to analyze the role and mechanism of the costume color system in cultural evolution. We employed a three‐stage K‐means clustering method for color extraction. Key findings included: (1) Color shows an obvious correlation with materials and techniques, serving as explicit indicators of cultural evolution. (2) The color system of Changning Miao costumes contributes independently to its collective aesthetic, following the hierarchical color‐matching rules of primary color dominance and secondary color subordination. By building a color database for Changning Miao costumes, we provide a data‐driven quantitative tool for cultural preservation. The three‐stage clustering method overcomes the limitations of unidimensional analysis, establishing a model that bridges visual perception to selection behavior, facilitating the adaptive inheritance of traditional wisdom in modern contexts.