Chinese Fan

The fan, which is made of thin bamboo strips, thin silks, feathers, leaves of sunflowers, and papers, is a traditional Chinese handicraft used for cooling. China has its profound fan culture, which has the close relationship with the bamboo culture and Buddhism. It is hard to say the exact time that fans had became popular in Chinese history. Fan in Chinese culture is an art work combined the Chinese calligraphy, paintings or poems rather than a daily tool.

Fans, for they can bring people cool, were called "Shelter from the Sun" in ancient China, and called "Cool Friends" by the literati. The craftwork fans as commodities, which are made of bamboos, trees, papers, fans, ivories, hawksbills, jades, feathers of fowls, leaves of palms and arecas, stalks of wheat, and stems of cattails, can be produced in a variety of types with graceful shapes and exquisite structures. China is always regarded as the kingdom of fans. In the history, fans made in China were sold to Japan and European and American countries, where Chinese fans exerted certain influences on the local fan-production and palace rites.(A fans tour to China.)

History

The earliest fan appeared During the Yin Dynasty about 3,000 years ago. It was first made of colorful bird feathers and served as the thing for the empire to avoid sand blow by wind in the open air. After Western Han Dynasty (206B.C. -24A .D.), fan became a tool to drive away heat and simulate cool breezes. During the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 A.D. – 220 A.D.), fans began to be made of silk instead of feather. At that time, fan were shaped like the full moon, cashew or hexagon with the handle made of wood, bamboo, bone even ivory.

The faces of fan are often painted with flower and birds as well as the water and mountain scenery. The embroidery face was also very popular. The first painted fan with calligraphy appeared during the Three Kingdoms Period (220A .D. -280A .D.).

Types of Chinese fans

According to different materials, there are feather fan, silk fan, paper fan, wheat straw fan, bone folding fan and palm-leaf fan, etc.

As to the functions, fan can be divided into the dancing fan, hanging fan, hat fan as well as large folding fan for decoration and so on.

To produce an exquisite fan, various artistic techniques should be integrated, including carving, weaving, knotting, calligraphy, painting, mounting, poker-work, jade article, lacquer work, embroidery, etc. For example, there are more than 100 types of fan head at the bottom of the fan, such as bamboo nodes, plum blossoms, small vases, big catches, round heads of chufa, and so on. The surfaces of such fans as sandalwood fans, bone fans, ivory fans and shell fans are usually carved with elaborate patterns. The price of an ordinary fan will rise hundredfold as long as it is elaborately carved by a skillful craftsman, or painted or written by a famous person.

Fans have many functions. Other than cooling in summer, they can act as tools during the artistic performance like pingtan (an art of Suzhou City（Suzhou tour）), drama, dance and other folk arts. In the ancient times, dancers liked to hold fans while dancing, and the preference has been handed down until now. The fan dance has become a dancing art with distinctive Chinese characteristics.

Travel to China to enjoy the soft wind brought by Chinese fans!

This article is from http://www.chinatourcenter.com/