WRAP / ARRANGE / BUNDLE / CARRY / PROTECT / CLOTH = FUROSHIKI
A square piece of cloth made of any fabric. It comes in all
sizes from one foot square to ten times that size. It is the most useful
carrying invention imaginable. It has been used since the 7th century to carry
every object, from elaborate gifts to lunches, vegetables, books or even bulky
furniture.
SHORT HISTORY
Perhaps the original idea of a furoshiki was
introduced from China. In the 8th century, the square of
cloth used to wrap things up was called hirazutsumi.
Shosoin, the imperial treasure house in Nara, has in its
collection, cloth used for wrapping.
It is thought
that hirazutsumi (just wrapping) might have been used in
temples to store clothing, while bathing to purify the body
before worshipping. In the 14th century, the practice of
using hirazutsumi was also used by aristocrats as a method
of wrapping their clothes. These hirazutsumi were decorated
with family crests. The bathers in special, feudal, bath
houses spread the cloth on the wet floors, placing their
clothing on it and turning up the four corners over the
center to keep the bundle together.
The first record
mentioning furoshiki dates from the beginning of the 17th
century. The word furoshiki originated from the public
baths. During the early Edo Period, as the public bath,
0-Furo, was common to both men and women, they modestly
entered clad in their underclothes. Each bather spread a
hirazutsumi on the floor, much as a bath mat, and undressed
on it. After bathing, they would wrap their wet underclothes
and towels in the cloth to carry home. From this usage, the
cloth became known as furoshiki, furo meaning bath and shiki
meaning cloth or bath spread.
The convenience of the
furoshiki, the simplicity with which it can be folded,
placed in a purse, and used again and again, soon
popularized it. The use of the furoshiki shifted from its
original bathhouse use to the making of bundles for carrying
goods, business documents, books, gifts , storing futon and
for wrapping items during ceremonial
occasions.
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