Fans originated in China, the world's earliest use of fans, has a history of more than 4,000 years, and then gradually introduced to Korea, Japan and many European countries. After thousands of years of evolution, improvement and improvement, fans have developed into hundreds of fan families, which are summarized into two categories: flat fans, such as group fans, sunflower fans, wheat grass fans, jade fans, etc., which cannot be folded; The folding fan can be opened and folded freely.
Fans first appeared in ancient times, and the "Shuowen Jiezi" said: "萐 (shà), 萐莆, Ruicao also, Yao Shi was born in the kitchen, the fan is hot and cold." "This means that when Yao Shun is along, he uses the large leaves of the grass to fan the wind to cool down. The fan was probably first made of leaf pickles, and later used bamboo as a skeleton and woven with bamboo fence, so it was changed to a bamboo character head and written "箑"; In ancient times, some fans were made of colorful pheasant feathers or bird feathers, so they were also written as "翣". This kind of fan is not used to fan the wind for cooling, but as a shade for the sun and wind and sand when the emperor goes out to patrol, called "barrier fan", so there is a "feather" in the word "fan".
Some fan specifications
In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, people used the colorful long tail of male pheasants to make "zhai fans", and long-handled "pheasant fans" appeared. At this time, the fan became a symbol of imperial majesty. During the Warring States period, a semi-regular "poop noodles" appeared, which resembled a single door, so it was also called "household fan". The single door leaf can cover the face and peep, which became the mainstream of fans at that time. "Ben noodles" are all made of thin bamboo fences, and are used by emperors and common people.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, symmetrical "Hehuan fans" (also known as palace fans, jun fans, and tuan fans) appeared. Its shape is still round, the characteristics of the Acacia fan are plain white with the handle as the central axis, the left and right symmetry resembles a full moon, the fan is framed by bamboo and wood, the face is round or oval, and it is made of thin silk paste. At that time, the fans made in the Central Plains were the most exquisite, and there was a saying of "Qi Chu Bamboo", that is, the fan made of Shandong silk and Hunan bamboo. This kind of fan was very popular in the Han Dynasty, and it was praised by poems, such as Ban Jieyu's fan poem "New cracked Qi Lin, fresh as frost and snow; Cut into an acacia fan, the group resembles a bright moon; In and out of Jun's sleeves, shake the breeze." After the emergence of this symmetrical group fan, it has been used for generations and has become a fan type in the traditional style of the mainland.
From the end of the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin dynasties, whisks made of animal tail hair appeared, called "hair fans". The Jiangnan region is most famous for its feather fans made of white goose feathers, and is mostly used as a tribute to the imperial court. In the Three Kingdoms era, Zhuge Liang gently shook the goose feather fan, and he was full of clever plans and strategizing.
Ancient feather folding fan
In the Tang Dynasty, the use of pheasant feathers as a fan was changed to a peacock feather. According to archaeological findings, the Warring States copper pot unearthed in Chengdu, Sichuan, is engraved with a pattern of a servant holding a long-handled fan for the master, which is an earlier fan image found so far. During the Northern Song Dynasty, folding fans that were extremely convenient to carry appeared, and gradually continued to this day and became the mainstream of society. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the production of folding fans had reached a considerable scale.
Folding fan, also known as "head fan", "scatter fan" or "bone fan". Its fan bones are made of precious materials such as horn, tortoiseshell, ivory, jadeite, Xiangfei bamboo, sandalwood and so on; The forms include piano style, ruyi head, bamboo style, grasshopper eye, etc.; The fan bones are divided into seven, nine, twelve, fourteen, sixteen and eighteen strands. Folding fans were popular in the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor ordered the craftsmen in the palace to imitate the Goryeo fan, absorb foreign craftsmanship to make it, and promote the development of domestic fans.
Sandalwood folding fan
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, in addition to the circle, the symmetrical type of fan had a long circle, a flat circle, a square circle, a plum blossom shape, a sunflower shape, a melon prismatic shape, a waist shape, and a horseshoe shape... The outstanding characteristics of these fan shapes are symmetrical, lightweight, and highly workmanship.
Fans not only have practical functions, but also have artistic appreciation value. Throughout the ages, inscription on fans has a long history in the mainland, and most literati and ink tourists like to inscribe poems and paint on fans, which allows people to enjoy art while shaking the fan to cool down.