China fan culture originated in ancient times. Our ancestors picked leaves of plants or feathers of birds for simple processing in hot summer days to block the sun and shake fans to generate wind power. So the fan is called sunshade, which is the original source of the fan.
During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, a kind of "vegetarian fan" appeared, which was made of colorful pheasant tail feathers and called "feather fan".
Later, the fan was made of reeds, which became a ceremonial fan for the ruling class to show its status and privilege and a symbol of power. So fans are more common in the palace, so fans are also called "Palace Mountain". When watching costume TV series, you will find that when the emperor went to the early court, there were two ladies-in-waiting behind him, each holding a etiquette fan. This is a naked symbol of power.
Later, in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, he appeared on the fan to write poems and paint. According to Zhang Yanyuan's Records of Famous Paintings in the Past Dynasties in the Tang Dynasty, Cao Mengde's main book, Yang Xiu, and Wei Taizu's story of "painting fans stretched into flies". There is a story in The Book of Jin Wang Xizhi that an "old mother" asked Wang Xizhi for a book of hexagonal bamboo fans. When she sold it, it rose from twelve to one hundred. Now there is a "Fan Bridge" in the south of Jishan, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, which is Wang Xizhi's Fan House. It can be seen that in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, things that pursued romance and elegance appeared.
Zhuge Liang, a famous counselor in the Three Kingdoms, likes to hold a goose feather fan in his hand and shake it gently, so he has a plan. Therefore, many counselors and aides later began to chase the trend and gently shake the feather fan to show their resourcefulness and become a symbol of elegance and wisdom.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, literati loved to play with fans. Without a fan, they seem tasteless. Therefore, fans are regarded as "elegant things with sleeves", and some poets and poets often shake their fans when reciting poems. During this period, a large number of poems related to fans appeared, such as Li Qiao's Fan, Bai Juyi's White Feather Fan and Tang Yi's Folding Fan Fu.
In the Qing Dynasty, fans became popular. Not only literati, officials, accountants, but even people of all colors at the bottom of society like to shake their fans and "pose". Ironically, in order to show off their fans, many literati often hold fans regardless of season, so many people wear winter clothes and shake their fans in summer.
In addition to literati, ancient ladies and ladies also like fans. They like to use silk bow fans, ten thousand fans, round fans and round fans with the smell of camphor wood or sandalwood. But in ancient times, young ladies and gentlemen used fans to hide their faces and smile, highlighting their beauty. When getting married in the Tang Dynasty, the bride should cover her face with a fan, not the red hijab in the later period.
There are also fans in novels and stories. In the martial arts novels of Jin Yong and Gu Long, fans are often used as weapons. Princess Iron Fan's banana fan can make tornadoes, but the Monkey King can't. Jigong has a broken cattail leaf fan, which can defend against enemies thousands of miles away and is very powerful.
At present, there are four kinds of people who like to hold fans most, one is storytellers, the other is cross talk, the third is playing chess while enjoying the cool, and the fourth is literati painters. The first two are used as props. The latter two may be arty.
Fans are not only in China, but also in other parts of the world, especially in Europe. During the Qianlong period, merchants in Guangzhou once specialized in producing ivory folding fans adapted to the tastes of European ladies. This small fan has become a symbol of China culture and an emissary of cultural exchange with the world.
From the symbol of power to the homes of ordinary people, Luo Qing's small fan carries the poems and songs of literati, records the historical changes and becomes a symbol of wisdom. Have you ever had your own little fans?