Chinese fan culture

In traditional Chinese society, fans are closely related to people’s daily lives. The sun is scorching like fire, and the heat is unbearable. Holding a fan in your hand can really cool you down. Every summer, no matter whether you are a prince or a commoner, a fan is a must-have.

Because the ancient Chinese people had great aesthetic sentiments, they also paid great attention to the creation of ordinary utensils, which gave the fans an aesthetic color and artistic qualities. Therefore, in addition to being practical, fans also have multiple functions such as etiquette, aesthetics, identity, and cultural representation.

The ceremonial fan used by emperors when traveling, Zhuge Liang’s feather fan, the small Qingluo fan used to flutter the flying fireflies, the banana fan in “Journey to the West”, Kong Shangren’s “peach blossom fan”, the folding fan held by literati, and the palm fan used by the common people. ...Everyone is familiar with it. Chinese fans are colorful and have profound origins.

The fan was originally called "Xiao", which is related to feathers. According to the "Annotations on Ancient and Modern Times" written by Cui Bao of the Western Jin Dynasty, the earliest fan appeared in the Shang Dynasty and was made of the colorful tail feathers of male pheasants, so it was called "Zhai Fan".

The "Supplementary Notes" written by Wang Jia of the Eastern Jin Dynasty states that the fan was invented during the reign of King Zhao of Zhou Dynasty. It is said that a man named Meng Xia made a fan from magpie wings at that time. But the fans at that time were not used to cool down and keep away the heat, but to protect people from the sun and wind. It was also a sign of honor to put them in the car.

The earliest fans discovered by archeology date from the Warring States Period. A bamboo fan was unearthed from the Chu tomb of Mashan Brick Factory in Jiangling, Hubei Province. The fan handle is on one side of the fan, like a single door. A single door was called "house" in ancient times, and when the fan was used as a ceremonial guard, it opened and closed like a door. The reason why the word "fan" comes from "from feather to household" can be clearly proved.

Extended information:

Folding fans were widely popular in the Ming Dynasty, which is said to be related to the strong promotion of Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. In recent years, folding fans have been unearthed from the tombs of vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty, which can be mutually confirmed. In the Ming Dynasty, there were fan-making workshops all over the country, the most famous of which were Hangzhou fan, Wu fan, Sichuan fan, She fan, Qingyang fan, Liyang fan, Wuling gauze fan, Jinling Liushi fan and so on.

The fan ribs and fan surfaces are well-made, and each has its own famous artist; fan calligraphy and painting are widely popular and deeply loved by literati; fan bags, fan pendants, fan boxes and other handicrafts attached to the fan have also been derived. The folding fan is easy to carry and can be hidden in the sleeve when going in and out, so it is known as the "elegant thing with sleeves".

The Palace Museum has a folding fan painted by Zhu Zhanji, the fifth emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It has 15 ribs. The exposed parts of the fan ribs are all covered with Xiangfei bamboo skin. The fan surface is a figure painting painted on paper. , on one side is a picture of flower viewing in Liuyin, on the other side is a picture of Panasonic reading, and the inscription is "Wuying Palace Imperial Pen in the Spring of the Third Year of Xuande".

The Qing Dynasty was a period of great development of the folding fan. It was not only a tool used to generate wind and coolness, but also became a work of art, a symbol of identity, status and taste, and a Props for social roles.

Not only men use folding fans, but there are also autumn fans specially used by women. From the mainstream of literati calligraphy and painting fans, black paper fans, fragrant wood fans and various craft fans are divided. Folding fans also spread to Europe and became a favorite toy of Western ladies.

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