CHINESE FAN ART & FAN CULTURE

CHINESE FAN ART & FAN CULTURE

扇艺术

In ancient times, Chinese used plant leaves or bird feather as a fan to create a breeze in summer. This was the most primitive form of the fan. The first real fan was made back in the era of Yao and Shun thousands of years ago. The fan has constituted an important part of Chinese art and culture since then.

Fans became to catch the attention of ancient Chinese artists unknowingly. Thereafter, a unique fan art gradually took shape. Fan art usually includes Chinese calligraphy, paintings, or poems on the sectors. Special skills are needed to write or paint on them subject to different types of fans and different materials used.

 

 

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.

The following are some popular fans in China.

No.1 Sandalwood fans

Sandalwood fans are handicraft fans made of Indian sandals based on traditional Chinese techniques through a series of processes including manual pulling, pyrographing, painting, carving, and so on. The fans smell a natural tribute fragrance which is long-lasting and pleasant.

 

No.2 Chinese bamboo fans

Chinese bamboo fans are both beautiful and functional, and these fans feature Chinese calligraphy symbols. Some of these bamboo fans are also painted with a Chinese subject.

No.3 Silk fans

Silk fans were the favorite fans of women in palace. Most of them are roun-shaped so they are also called “tuan shan”. Many young girls adore its elegant and delicate pattern.

The subjects carved on the fans vary from lifelike figures, landscapes, flowers, birds, fishes to insects, among which the most famous ones are Chang'e Flies to the Moon, the Fairy Scatters Flowers to the Earth, Dragon Spitting Bead and landscape patterns.

No.4 Black fans

The Wang Xing’s Fan store in Hangzhou was established by Wang Xing come from Shaoxing province in the first year of Guangxu (1875A.D). The black paper fan which was produced by this store was well-known at home and abroad. Finely processed, fan was smart, flexible, ametabolic, and preservative as well. The most gorgeous fan was the black paper fan whose cover was made of fibre of mulberry bark, completely socaked in a natural oil paint. Each fan took more than eighty procedures before it was ready. The fan-rib was often made of precious material like bamboo, ivory, ebony, hawksbill tortoiseshells, mottled bamboo and so forth.

Address: No. 402 Fuzhou Rd., Shanghai （Shanghai Art Supplies Store） 
Tel：021－63225985