✏️"Pipa xing" (Chinese: 琵琶行), variously translated as "Song of the Pipa" or "Ballad of the Lute", is a Tang Dynasty poem composed in 816 by the Chinese poet Bai Juyi, one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. The poem contains a description of a pipa performance during a chance encounter with a performer near the Yangtze River.
✏️The elegant Chinese pingfeng (folding screen) is an ancient invention that is an essential part of traditional Chinese furniture. The term Pingfeng means protection from wind, which suggests the original purpose of this ancient furniture.
An elegant Chinese Pingfeng was not a purely decorative piece of furniture in an old Chinese home. The screen would double as a thing of beauty and a hiding place. In feudal China, the unmarried young woman of a rich family was not supposed to see or be seen by men other than her close relatives. When a potential suitor paid a visit, the daughter might take a peek at him from a screen behind which she would be completely concealed. Her father would discuss literature with the young man and ask him to compose an impromptu poem. If the composition of the poem and the man's good looks impressed the young woman and her father, she might agree to take him as a husband.
Today, Pingfeng is back in vogue for its distinctive eastern elegance, as well as its practical function as an exotic piece of furniture that can act as a moving wall or divider. Pingfeng can also add character and define style to the most modern room.