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As a result of the popularity of the practice, and of the martial associations, falcons were a common theme in hanging scroll, ''[[fusuma]]'', and ''[[byobu|byôbu]]'' paintings prized by the samurai. A painting of a falcon conveyed that the painting's owner valued both ''bun'' and ''bu'' - that he was both martial, strong, tough, fierce, and also cultured, with an aesthetic sense and appreciation for paintings. Eagles (J: ''washi'') were a common theme as well, because of a saying that eagles look up to none (''ue minu washi''), which made eagles therefore an apt association with samurai hierarchy and elitism.<ref>Screech, 48.</ref>
As a result of the popularity of the practice, and of the martial associations, falcons were a common theme in hanging scroll, ''[[fusuma]]'', and ''[[byobu|byôbu]]'' paintings prized by the samurai. A painting of a falcon conveyed that the painting's owner valued both ''bun'' and ''bu'' - that he was both martial, strong, tough, fierce, and also cultured, with an aesthetic sense and appreciation for paintings. Eagles (J: ''washi'') were a common theme as well, because of a saying that eagles look up to none (''ue minu washi''), which made eagles therefore an apt association with samurai hierarchy and elitism.<ref>Screech, 48.</ref>
Hunting falcons were also frequently given as gifts between lords and vassals, and were seen as indicative of strong personal ties between them. To name just one example, in [[1780]], [[Shimazu Shigehide]], lord of [[Satsuma han]], sent a falcon to Shogun [[Tokugawa Ieharu]], as a gift, and then soon afterwards received one from the shogun in return, accompanied by a letter in a personalized tone, expressing that since the shogun heard that Shigehide was fond of falconry, he decided to give this gift. Such gift exchanges gave ''daimyô'' an opportunity to present to their own retainers an image of a strong, close, personal, preferential relationship with the shogun, and also to perform an extension of benevolence and of personal ties by sometimes re-gifting the falcon to cherished retainers. Though this practice was temporarily halted under [[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi|Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's]] [[Kindness to Animals Decrees]], it was resumed under [[Tokugawa Yoshimune]].<ref>Asô Shinichi 麻生伸一, "Kinsei chûkôki no zôyo girei ni miru Ryûkyû to Nihon" 「近世中後期の贈与儀礼にみる琉球と日本」、''Nihonshi kenkyû'' 日本史研究 578 (2010/10), 23-24.</ref>
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