Fans(扇子 Shanzi)

Hand-held fans are still a necessity in summer in most parts of China. They fall in two major categories: the folding and the unfolding. They may be made in several forms (round, square, oval, hexagonal, sunflower and so on) and of different materials (paper, feathers, silk, coarse and very fine bamboo strips, palm leaves, wheat straw, sandalwood and ivory). According to their material, fans may be pasted, woven, or carved; as for finish, they may be burnt with drawings of bear paintings and writings.

How was Chinese fan invented? What was the history of fan?

The first fans were made of birds' feathers and tree leaves. It was recorded that a fan made of pheasants' feathers was made in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-c. 1100 B.C.) However, king Wu of the Zhou Dynasty (11th century B.C.) was reputed the inventor of Chinese fan.

In 1106 B.C. , fans were used in daily life. However, the fans had a long shaft, and were not used to keep off the heat, but to keep off the dust raised by wheels of a cart. Round fans made of silk and framed with bamboo, wood and ivory appeared in 991 B.C. It was not until the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) that fans were used by common people to enjoy cool air in summer. It was said that in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 A.D.) Emperor Xiaowu once forbade people to make fans with silk. In 405 A.D. , Emperor An also issued a similar prohibition. This proves that at that time fans were already in great quantity, and making fans had consumed too much silk material.

Round fans were first seen in China and remained the main shape of fans until the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279 A. D.). Folding fans were invented by the Japanese. Introduced into China through Korea in the 11th century, they quickly gained popularity in China thereafter.

Fans for everyday use in the house are usually made of bamboo or palm leaves. They are so popular-priced that, apart from cooling the holders, they may also be used to fan the kitchen fire. Outside of the house, people prefer folding ones. Womenfolk, however, take to the round silk fans. A folding fan, hand-painted by a celebrated artist, becomes a valuable work of art and a status symbol of its owner. Fans of this description are never used but can only be found in a small number of antiquity shops and old families.

Sandalwood joined the family of fans only in modern times. The sandalwood fan is made entirely of the wood, beautiful shaped and with the ribs and leaves carved through with typical Chinese designs. It makes an ornament rather than an article of practical use. Even in an air-conditioned room, such a fan held in hand will add some sophistication to the charm of a woman, to say nothing of the fragrance it gives out. It is received with growing appreciation from customers at home and abroad.

Fans are an indispensable part of the traditional stage. Male characters waving their fans in different ways are supposed to reveal different inner feelings in different situations. A young maid in a costume play, meeting her first love, will often use the fan to cover her face and also her bashfulness.

At certain tourist resorts, fans are printed with visitors' itineraries and pictures of sights, serving as a travel guide and thus having an additional role to play.

A special fan called "Ten Thousand Characters of Tang Poem" was made in 1982 at Wangxingji Fan Factory. On a normal covering of 30 centimetres (12 inches) high, 254 poems of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), when Chinese poetry flourished, were written with real gold powder. The poems total 11,199 characters, each only about a millimetre square, written with clear, distinctive strokes. It was done in a month by Zhu Nianci, a veteran craftsman when he was 63. It certainly is a gem among Chinese folding fans.

At the beginning of this century, Guangzhou , Hangzhou , Nanjing and Ningbo were the centers of fan manufacturing. Guangzhou was well known for its production of large quantities of ornamental fans. These fans were not only sold in domestic markets, but also exported to foreign countries. Fine fans made of eagles' feathers and other plumes were the major kinds for export. Hangzhou was famous for its folding fans.

Its annual production once amounted to 3000000. And in Nanjing , silk fan industry once involved more than 70000 workers. Ningbo mainly produced low-cost paper fans. As paper fans produced in Ningbo had such a competitive price, Japanese paper fans were pushed out of the Chinese market.