At first they were painted as a form of expressing one's faith, but before long they transformed into secular paintings, and since the 18th century, they came to be accompanied with educational and satirical didactic poems.
当初は信仰の一環として描かれたものであったが、やがて世俗画へと転じ、加えて18世紀ごろより教訓的・風刺的な道歌を伴うようになった。