Four screens

Four screens take "four" as the number, "four" rich in meaning in the traditional Chinese culture, such as the four seasons, four time, four direction, four seas, four virtues, four divisions, four books ect. Therefore, the number of screens should be even, the common number is four, the most composed of twenty-four.

 

From the content view, the screen can be divided into two kinds. The first is the composition of the various sections of the screen are independent, not even an author.The second is not only the contents of considered as a whole, but also in the mounted, on each painting of the two connected areas are not even edged,to keep the work an integral whole.This form called the sea mantle (海幔、海幕) in the South of China,In the North of China called Tong Jing Screen(通景屏).