Читать книгу A Gaijin's Guide to Japan: An alternative look at Japanese life, history and culture - Ben Stevens - Страница 21

Folding screens that originally came from China, byŦbu (‘wind wall’) could at first be found only in the Emperor’s court. ByŦbu acted as draught excluders (hence the name), room sub-dividers and in general livened the place up a bit with the colourful pictures of dragons, mountains, lakes, great trees and the like that were painted upon them.

Around the fifteenth century, however, byŦbu had become so commonplace that nearly everyone—rich and poor—owned at least a couple. Hence their fall from favour: byŦbu are nowadays commonly seen gathering dust inside temples and museums, dragged out every now and then for such occasions as weddings.