What is the silk fan made of?

Fans are popular in China not only because of their elegance and delicacy, but also because of the art of calligraphy and painting. Fans have a long history in China. According to historical records, "The Yellow Emperor made five Ming Fan", which is an early statement. Feather fans made of Western Zhou feathers have aesthetic decoration function. Lightweight and simple bamboo fans began to be used in the Han Dynasty, and after the Han Dynasty, ten thousand fans with bamboo as the frame and silk as the fan surface appeared. Wan Fan, also known as Tuan Fan, is suitable for painting and calligraphy. It is made of bones, jade, ivory, etc. It is precious and elegant. This kind of fan has been popular in China for more than 1000 years, especially suitable for boudoir ladies. Zhang Yanyuan, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in the History of Famous Paintings that the famous painter Yang Xiu drew a fan for Cao Cao. He accidentally dropped an ink dot and drew a fly. It can be seen that fan painting was popular at least in Wei and Jin Dynasties.

The folding fan actually originated in Japan, and its manufacturing inspiration comes from the opening and closing of bat wings. During the Northern Song Dynasty, folding fans were introduced into China as a tribute, but they were not widely used. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, it had been quite prosperous. Easy to carry and comfortable, it has become the apple of the eye of literati. Fan bones are made of precious materials such as ivory, tortoise shell and sandalwood. Fan is divided into three types: sprinkling gold, mixing gold, beating gold and painting incense. Some also ask skilled craftsmen to carve carefully on the surface of the fan bone, making it a precious work of art, and the price of a fan is worth hundreds of gold. The folding fan is semicircular, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, radiating all around, so it has unique charm in composition, brushwork and image. In the Northern Song Dynasty, poems and paintings were written on folding fans. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, intellectuals like to dance on the fan, which makes the fan painting and calligraphy art shine brilliantly in China, with a wide range of themes and diverse styles. Although the written fan is not large in scale, it has become a special artistic variety in China's paintings, with flowers, birds, insects and fish, beautiful women in mountains and rivers, stories of characters and diverse shapes.

Fans are people's daily necessities and decorations. Because it is cheap, convenient and practical, it is deeply loved by people. Fans are divided into folding fans, bamboo fans, silk fans, feather fans, sunflower fans and grass fans. In addition to practicality, as a work of art, it combines various technological skills such as weaving, sculpture, calligraphy and painting, embroidery, etc., and can also be used as props for performing arts such as opera, dance and folk art, and sometimes even as a symbol of identity. The image of Jigong Living Buddha circulating among the people in China is very popular. He was wearing a tattered hat, dressed in rags and holding a tattered cattail fan in his hand. He is crazy, but he loves to help others and is a well-known legend. During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang, a wise, resourceful and charming Shu minister, helped Liu Bei establish a dominant position. Every time he wears a black silk scarf, the feather fan always stays in his hand, which becomes a symbol of his identity and wisdom. Because fans have been handed down from generation to generation, there are countless related legends and anecdotes. According to legend, Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, once met an old woman who sold fans. She was worried that her fans were unsalable, and Wang Xizhi improvised an inscription for her, which made the old lady's fans sell well and become a much-told story.

China was the first country to use fans in the world, and later it was gradually introduced to many countries in Japan and Europe. Fans have a long history, dating back to the Yu Shun era. "Notes of Jin People in Ancient and Modern Times" records: "Seek the sages to help themselves and make them enlightened? . "In the Ming Dynasty, there was also a record of" making a fan in the early Shun Dynasty ",indicating that Shun Di had a fan for a long time. In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, people made a "vegetarian fan" from the gorgeous long tail of the male pheasant, and a "pheasant fan" with a long handle appeared. At this time, the fan became a symbol of the dignity of the emperor. In the Tang Dynasty, the pheasant hair fan became peacock hair. According to archaeological findings, the bronze pot of the Warring States period unearthed in Chengdu, Sichuan Province is engraved with the pattern of a servant holding a long-handled fan as the main fan, which is the earliest fan image found so far. From the end of Han Dynasty to Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a kind of dust blower made of animal tail hair, which was called "hair fan". Another feather fan made of poultry feathers is white, soft and fluffy, light and comfortable. Feather fans made of white goose feathers are the most famous in the south of the Yangtze River and are often used as court tributes. In the Han Dynasty, the silk weaving industry began to develop, and "Wan Fan" appeared. Because it is made of white silk, it is also called "silk fan". In addition to silk, twill, silk, yarn and other silk fabrics can also be used as materials, which is also called "round fan" because it looks like the bright moon. This type of fan is deeply loved by ancient women in China, and has developed greatly as a mainstream. In terms of structure and decoration, it strives to be exquisite, gorgeous, interesting and compact, with oval, begonia, rectangle and curve shapes. Some of these fans are made of ebony, and the other one is in your hand. It smells fragrant, refreshing and full of emotional appeal. The folding fan, which is common today, appeared in the Song Dynasty. Because it can be folded, it is also called folding fan. Folding fans are convenient and practical, and are widely circulated among the people. Literati in Chinese opera often have a folding fan in their hands, which becomes a symbol. The poem of folding fan painting began in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, and fan painting sublimated the fan into another art form, which was cherished by collectors of all ages. Throughout the ages, many poems, paintings and calligraphy left on the fan by literati have been treasured and collected by people, which has given birth to another traditional art form-fan painting and calligraphy. Fan-shaped calligraphy and painting is a wonderful flower in China's traditional art, which has left rich and colorful Mo Bao and artistic treasures for future generations. The Shu Ting Hook Boat Map, painted by the metabolites of Ming Dynasty in Shanghai Museum, is the earliest fan painting of Ming Dynasty handed down from generation to generation. The common themes of fan painting are ladies, landscapes, flowers, birds, fish and insects, and the art of poetry and calligraphy. Sometimes an ordinary fan is worth a hundred times once it is inscribed and painted by a famous artist. The exquisite craftsmanship of the fan is perfectly combined with traditional calligraphy, poetry and painting. The two complement each other and blend into one, which is really interesting and charming. In the Ming Dynasty, Tang Bohu, Wen Zhiming, Shen Zhou and others all liked to write poems on fans. Fan painting is the most abundant in Qing Dynasty, and famous artists come forth in large numbers, such as Shi Tao, Badashanren, Ren Bonian and Wu Changshuo. They are all masters of fan painting, so the fan painting at this time has a colorful style and genre. Folding fans developed into Hangfan, Suzhou Fan, Fan Ning and other schools in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, and their artistic styles and production techniques were different. Hangfan, Longjing tea and silk in Hangzhou are also called "the three wonders of Hang Cheng". It is made in various forms, among which the black paper fan is the most famous. With persimmon juice daub, the color is black, durable, can cool off the heat and shade. Suzhou folding fans are mainly made of white paper, with exquisite workmanship. Hangzhou fans and Suzhou fans are mostly made of bamboo and paper silk, which are elegant and exquisite, and are called "Suzhou-Hangzhou Cliff Fans".

Now, fans are mainly produced in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guangdong and other places in China. With the improvement of people's living standards, the function of the fan as a practical product has gradually faded, and more people value its artistry and use it for collection and play. This traditional handicraft has a new vitality with its unique artistic charm.