The fan is a practical thing. Because it is thin and has a large area, it can be fanned to cool down. China has always had a tradition of decorating everyday objects, so there are engravers on the handle fan bones and paintings on the fan and back. The paintings and calligraphy of early sculptors were mostly done by ordinary craftsmen, and gradually all kinds of talented and imaginative artists participated. Fans have also evolved into works of art with practical functions, which make people envy and cherish and become a major category in today's collection.
The origin of China fans is very early, and the prototype of fans existed in Shang Dynasty.
There are many kinds of fans in ancient China, but only folding fans and round fans are really favored by collectors.
Folding fan is a kind of folding fan, also known as "gathering fan". Folding fans are folded when put away and unfolded when used, so they are also called "unfolded fans". Although folding fan came into being late, it is of great significance. Easy to carry, sleeves in and out, fan-shaped calligraphy and painting, fan-shaped bone carving. It is the pet of literati, so it has the nickname of "elegant things with sleeves". The appearance of round fan is much earlier than folding fan, and it is also called "acacia fan" because its shape is as reunion as the moon, which accords with the auspicious meaning of China people. Because it is made of silk, it is also called "Wan Fan" or "Fan Luo". Moreover, due to the famous phrase "round fan, round fan, beauty to cover your face" in Wang Jian's teasing preface in the Tang Dynasty, there are also some nicknames such as "noodles", "instant noodles" and "barrier noodles".
The Ming Dynasty was the beginning of the popularity of folding fans, which may be due to the advocacy of Ming Chengzu during Yongle period. There are many folding fans unearthed from the tombs of captaincy in modern Ming dynasty, which can be confirmed by the above records. Folding fans are found all over the country, such as Hangzhou fan, Cao fan, Sichuan fan, Pan fan, Square fan, Yellow fan, Qingyang fan, Liyang Song fan, Painting fan, Wuling yarn-clamping fan, Yin's paper-wheat fan and Wu fan. And there are many spring fans with different functions. The production of fan stocks and plates is becoming more and more sophisticated, and each has its own famous artists; Fan calligraphy and painting are widely loved and recognized by scholars. If the folding fan originated in Japan, it has been truly sinicized and has become an inseparable part of China culture.
The Qing Dynasty was a period of great development of folding fans in China. Fans are used more frequently among literati officials. The fan is not only a tool to create cool breeze, but also a work of art, a symbol of status and interests, and a prop for its social role. Not only in summer, but also in the cool season, holding a fan in your hand, unfolding it, hanging it on your body, or hiding it in your sleeve, has the significance of personality expression and emotional communication. Not only literati but also men use folding fans. Judging from the mainstream of literati painting and calligraphy fans, they can be divided into craft fans, such as black paper fans, painting fans, drama fans and rice fans for women. Starting from the fan itself, there are also attached fan bags, fan pendants, fan boxes and other handicrafts. Fans have also spread from China to other parts of the world, especially to Europe. During the Qianlong period, merchants in Guangzhou once specialized in producing ivory folding fans adapted to the tastes of European ladies. Folding fan has become the symbol of China culture and the messenger of cultural exchange with the world.
During the Republic of China, folding fans kept its importance in China's art and life, but nothing surpassed the previous generation. The innovation worth mentioning was collecting fans. Prior to this, although many people collaborated to paint on the same sector or wrote their own sectors in sections, the collection sectors divided the sector space in different ways, and later many painters and painters made books and paintings respectively. Starting with at least two people and working with more than ten companies is really refreshing. Painting and writing on fans were in the Three Kingdoms period. According to the records in the Book of Jin, the story of Wang Xizhi writing a fan for an old man in Jishan was the earliest, and I'm not sure. Pen and ink on the fan has always been loved and collected by people. Because of the unique shape of the fan, the literati carefully produced unique pictures according to the shape of the fan and expressed poems in pleasant language. Nowadays, there are many masterpieces of celebrities in the collection of calligraphy and painting, which have become treasures of calligraphy and painting.
It is not easy to write and draw on a folding fan. Because of the different shapes of the sectors and the rough and diverse materials, it really needs careful design, patient operation and repeated practice to create magnificent, chic, smooth and amazing works. As can be seen from the experience of the ancients, there are several kinds of composition design:
One line is long and one line is short, as shown in figure 1. This form is most suitable for cursive script, which can receive smooth momentum, majestic atmosphere and beautiful effect.
Second, the composition with the same number of words in each line, as shown in Figure 2, is suitable for official script and regular script, showing simple, elegant, vigorous and heavy effect. Use of seal script, Oracle Bone Inscriptions, etc. It is also very attractive.
The third is the composition of a line. This form is suitable for writing big characters, and the style is not limited. Writing along the arc edge of the folding fan, leaving blank below, is ethereal, natural and generous, giving people a pleasing pleasure. The above three composition forms are all written as an arc along the arc edge of the fan. Today, people are also ingenious, arranged in a parallelogram (or circle) among fans. I don't think this form is natural enough, but as long as it is properly arranged, especially the signature and seal, you can enjoy beauty. The calligraphy creation of the round fan (that is, the round mirror) is a little freer than that of the folding fan. It can be covered with fans along the circumference, arranged in a square, or semi-square, or just write one word, which also has charm.