The China Fan 中国扇子
The fan stems from China. It has thousands of years of history in China. The Chinese fan culture contains a profound culture foundation. Out of a five-thousand-year history of civilization, the fan line has three thousand years history, making fan culture an important part of the national culture. It has close relations with bamboo and Buddhism culture. China has always been called "fan kingdom". The main materials for the fan are: bamboo, tree, paper, ivory, halcyon, and birds’ feather. Other materials include leaf of cattail which can also be weaved in all kinds of beautiful and exquisite fans. The art of the fan by the skilled craftsman's engraving has largely been increased.

China fan culture can be traced back to remote antiquity. During the hot summer, the ancestors casually get plant-leaf or birds’ feathers to process a simple way of keeping themselves from the suns light and drawing natural wind, this is the fan origin. Through the continuous development over thousands years, the fan has had hundreds of varieties. Some of these styles are: the elegant white paper fan, famous and precious black paper fan, beautiful silk fan, graceful dancing fan, as well as the cheap and fine sandalwood fan. The shapes covering the fan, besides round, include oblate, square, plum blossom and many others.

West Han dynasty, created the symmetrical "Hehuan fan" (mandarin fan, round silk fan), with the traditional round shape. It featured: white coloring in the thin silk which equalize around the fan ribs made of bamboo, similar to the moon. At that time, the mandarin fan from the central plains was the most exquisite one. It was made of Shangdong silk and Hunan bamboo. During the Han dynasty, these fans were very popular; lots of poets wrote poems on them. Since this kind of symmetrical fan-shape appeared, it has been used from generation to generation continuously, becoming our traditional style fan-shape. The distinguishing feature for this fan: symmetry, light, and strong technology.

The Folding fan, in ancient times called "Jutou fan", well-known for its two endings, can be put together when drawing. During South Song dynasty, large scale production had begun. The Folding fan was in vogue in the Ming dynasty era. The emperor ordered craftsmen to copy the Gaoli fan, and to introduce craft from abroad, promoting home fan development. Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty were periods of great prosperity for the folding fan. They used expensive ivory, hawksbill turtle for the ribs of the fan; exquisite workmanship; carving pattern on the ribs; variable fan head, square-head, round-head and bottle-shaped, Different artistic forms showed on the ribs and were well received by the people. A special designation appeared on the covering of the fan by skilled craftsmen careful layouts, displaying magical lingering charm. The special material of the fan covering provided a good place for artist's drawings and writings which were left for generations to treasure. For example, the picture Reading under pine in the fan, drawn by Ming dynasty emperor, Zhang Jizhu is regarded as a rare treasure.

The South Song dynasty, produced fans on a much larger scale. Different areas produce different types of fans, forming a respective unique style. Some famous fan styles are, Hangzhou fan, Sichuan fan,

Shuzhou fan, Yuezhou fan etc. Among them, the Hangzhou fan is the most famous one.

Nowdays, the China fan, which contains a long-history, consummate skill, widely different function, and elegant interest has been exported all over the world.

扇子源于中国，至今已有数千年的历史，中国扇文化有着深厚的文化底蕴，上下五千年历史的文明古国有着三千年渊源流长的制扇业,使扇文化成为民族文化的一个重要组成部分，它与竹文化、佛教文化有着密切关系。历来中国被誉为“制扇王国”。扇子主要材料是：竹、木、纸、扇、象牙、玳瑁、翡翠、飞禽翎毛，其它棕榈叶、槟榔叶、麦杆、蒲草等也能编织或制成各种千姿百态的日用工艺扇，造型优美、构造精制，经能工巧匠精心镂、雕、烫、钻或名人挥毫题诗作画，使扇子艺术身价百倍。中国扇文化最早可追溯到远古时代，我们的祖先在烈日炎炎夏季，随手猎取植物叶或禽羽，进行简单加工，用以障日引风，故扇子有障日之称，这便是扇子的初源。 三、四千年的沿革演变完善改进已使扇子发展成为几百个品种的家族。有高雅端庄的白纸扇、名贵考究的黑纸扇、隽秀美丽的细绢扇、气度非凡的挂扇，还有婀娜多姿的舞扇和价廉物美的香木扇等，扇面除圆形外，还有长圆、扁圆、方圆、梅花形、葵花形、瓜凌形、腰形、马蹄形……
西汉时期，对称"合欢扇"（又称宫扇、纨扇、团扇），其形尚圆，合欢扇特点是面素白色以扇柄为中轴，左右对称似圆月，纨扇以竹木为架，面成圆形或椭圆形，用薄丝绢糊成。当时以中原一所制纨扇最为考究，有"齐纨楚竹"之说，即指用山东绢和湖南竹制作扇面的纨扇。汉时十分流行这种纨扇，并赋诗颂之，如班婕的扇诗，"新裂齐纨素，鲜洁如霜雪，裁为合欢扇，团团似明月，出入君怀袖，动摇微风发"。 此种对称式团扇出现后，历代沿用而不衰，并成为我国传统风格的扇型到清代时，对称类型的这此扇形突出的特点是对称、轻盈、工艺性强。折扇，古称"聚头扇"，或称为撒扇，或折叠扇，以其收拢时能够二头合并归一而得名。 南宋时，折扇的生产已有相当规模。折扇盛行于明代，皇帝下召命宫内工匠仿制高丽扇，吸取外来工艺制作，促进国内扇子发展。明清是折扇发展鼎盛期。用料贵重，将名贵象牙、玳瑁、鸡翅木制成扇骨，制作精湛，在象牙骨大边上镂雕、细刻；红木、鸟兽骨大边有"如意头"、"琴式"、"螳螂腿"、"水浪式"等，扇头有"瓶式"、"荸荠头"、 "橄榄头"、"玉兰头"、"方头"、"圆头"、"金鱼头"等，扇骨上采用了各种艺术的表现手法博得人们所爱。 一种特殊艺术形式，在不足盈尺的扇面上经丹青高手巧运匠心，精心布局，或山水花鸟，或人物动态无能小中见大，表现出美的情致辞和神韵。扇面有细洒金（雨金）、雪金、格巾、发簪、老矾面、泥金面等这些扇面都成为书画家的用武之地挥毫泼墨为后人留下珍贵的墨宝。明代宣德皇帝朱瞻基在扇面上所作《松下读书图》被视为罕世之宝。