Because of the great aesthetic feelings of ancient China people, even ordinary utensils were deliberately made, which made the fans have aesthetic color and artistic characteristics. Therefore, in addition to practicality, fans have multiple functions such as etiquette, aesthetics, identity and cultural representation.
Everyone is familiar with the etiquette fan of the emperor's trip, Zhuge Liang's feather fan, the small fan of flying fireflies, the banana fan in The Journey to the West, the "Peach Blossom Fan" in Confucius, the folding fan held by literati and the Pukui fan used by the people. China's fans are colorful and have a long history.
Fans, formerly known as "Instant", are related to feathers. According to Cui Bao's Notes on Ancient and Modern Times in the Western Jin Dynasty, the earliest fan appeared in the Shang Dynasty and was made of colorful male pheasant tail feathers, so it was called "Zhai Fan".
Wang Jia of the Eastern Jin Dynasty claimed that the fan was invented by King Zhao of Zhou. It is said that a man named Xia Meng made a fan out of the wings and feathers of a magpie. But at that time, the fan was not used to cool off and drive away heat, but to shade the sun and wind, and it was also a ceremony to plug it in the car.
The earliest fan in archaeological discovery was in the Warring States period. A bamboo fan was unearthed from the Chu tomb of Mashan Brick Factory in Jiangling, Hubei Province. The handle of the fan is on one side of the fan, just like a single door. In ancient times, a single door was called a "door", and the fan opened and closed left and right like a portal when it was used for etiquette purposes. It can be proved that the word "Fan" is subordinate to the door.
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Folding fans were widely popular in the Ming Dynasty, which is said to be related to Judy's strong advocacy. In recent years, folding fans have also been unearthed in Ming tombs, which can confirm each other. Fan-making workshops in the Ming Dynasty spread all over the country, among which the most famous ones were Hangbang Fan, Wubang Fan, Chuanbang Fan, Yun Fan Fan, Qingyang Fan, Liyang Fan, Wuling Sandwich Fan and Liu Jinling Fan.
Fan bones and sectors are well-made, each with its own famous artists; Fan calligraphy and painting are widely popular and deeply loved by literati; Auxiliary fan handicrafts such as fan bags, fan pendants and fan boxes are also derived. Folding fans are easy to carry and can be hidden in sleeves, so they are called "elegant things with sleeves".
The Palace Museum has a folding fan painted by Zhu Zhanji, the fifth emperor of Ming Dynasty, with 15 fan bones. The exposed parts of the fan ribs are all inlaid with ChristianRandPhillips bamboo bags, and colored figures are painted on the fan. On one side is Liu Yin's flower picture, and on the other side is Panasonic's reading picture. The inscription reads "Imperial Pen of Wuying Hall in the Spring of Xuande Three Years".
The Qing Dynasty was a period of great development of folding fans. It is not only a tool to create wind and enjoy the cool, but also a work of art, a symbol of identity, status and taste, and a prop for social roles.
Not only men use folding fans, but also autumn fans for women. Judging from the mainstream of literati painting and calligraphy fans, there are black paper fans, fragrant wood fans and various craft fans. Folding fans have also spread to Europe and become the favorite plaything of western ladies.
People's Daily Online-China's fans: Really enjoy the cool and cool with beauty.
People's Network-Evolution History of Fans: Folding fans were not invented by China people.