menu ngang

Friday, 2 December 2011

A Brief Insight Into Oriental Paper Fans

By Steve Chung


The common hand held fan was revolutionized by the Chinese and transformed into a medium of artistic expression. This simplistic practical tool that served the purpose of helping one cool down by brushing the air underwent a massive transition to grow to be a full fledged art form.

Within the early days the Chinese created use of different feathers and leaves as hand held fans. Later on however China became the very first country to manufacture hand held fans. The credit for inventing the traditional Chinese paper fan goes to 1 of their kings by the name of Wu belonging to the Zhou dynasty with the 11th century BC.

Reports have shown widely that the concept of handheld fans was born by means of the use of umbrellas that attached in the top with the horse carriages in the period that Shang Dynasty reigned. Historically, the first Chinese hand held fan created from paper was initial created much more than twenty centuries ago during the times that are referred as Warring States period.

The 1st fans were characterized by a semicircle shape was produced employing bamboo spokes. The spokes were covered with silk all way round. However, they were not flexible like the moderns that you may get in the marketplace nowadays and they were made for a particularly noble class not ordinary people. This fan was only utilized by a person who belonged towards the royal court. Later, during the Han dynasty, the hand held fans had been made available towards the ordinary individuals too.

During this period, fans were in a very high demand which led to the fears that the market could encounter silk shortage. A brand new law that outlawed the use of silk in the manufacture of fans was passed by the emperor. The best material that was available was the paper as well as the hand held fans ware manufactured utilizing it all more than the country.

In a rare but fascinating historical finding, facts show that the present fan that's foldable did not originate from the Chinese society. The technique was borrowed from the Japanese society inside the 11th century by the Chinese people who began making use of it.

The Chinese art of producing the paper fan was created further by way of the use of ancient Chinese painting on the face of the fan. The technique of creating these fans was utilized to pass on artistic messages and numerous historical happenings and changes have been embalmed on these paper fans by the Chinese.

The Chinese employed diverse textures to manufacture these fans. Paper was highly used as compared to the other people as it was easily available and affordable. Paper fans had been versatile when it came to designing therefore it could be created in numerous styles.

The fan canvas featured a lot of diverse themes and styles of paintings. Amongst probably the most valued Chinese paper fans were those that featured Chinese calligraphy in an fascinating manner. The fans thus had a excellent aesthetic appeal while retaining their practical function also. These days they serve as artifacts and souvenirs with the Chinese culture.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment