Fans 2008-5-29 17:21:56
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.
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 modem times. The sandalwood fan is made entirely of the wood, beautifully 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 visitorsi itineraries and pictures of sights, serving as a travel guide and thus having an additional role to play.
Needless to say, fans are used to dispel the summer heat, yet in ancient times they were employed rather to give shade from the sun and the wind and served as a symbol of status. As early as three thousand years ago, long-shafted fans made of bird feathers were held by attendants standing on either side of an emperor or prince. These may still be seen on the traditional stage, in the For- bidden City and the Summer Palace; they were part of the imperial guard of honour. It is said that fans began to be used for cooling from the Han Dynasty (founded in 206 B.C.).
A speical fan called Ten Thousand Characters of Tang Poemsi was made in 1982 at Wangxingji Fan Factory. On a normal covering of 30 centimeters (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 millimeter 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.
