Chinese fan culture has profound cultural heritage and is an integral part of national culture. China has always been known as the "Kingdom of Fan Making". Fan paintings also have a long history, documented in literature, starting with the popular story of the old woman fanning herself in a book written by Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. According to historical records, Wang Xizhi once painted small figures on round fans; his son Wang Xianzhi's "Calligraphy for Huan Wen and Painting of Black and Black Cow Fans".
In the Song Dynasty, with the vigorous development of painting art, especially landscape painting, flower and bird painting, unprecedented improvement was achieved based on the late Tang and Five Dynasties. The relationship between literati and painting became increasingly close, forming a climax in the creation of literati paintings. Coupled with the emperor's emphasis on fan art, calligraphy and painting fans developed rapidly and reached their peak. "Shu Ji" records: "During the Zhenghe Period, every time Huizong had a painted fan, all the residences in the Sixth Palace would imitate it, or hundreds of copies." The painting fans that were at their peak during the Song Dynasty created a large number of immortal works. , which has been passed down to this day for us to enjoy the noble art of painting in the two Song Dynasties. Even the weeds, flowers, insects, birds, and fish in the flower-and-bird paintings are all executed with care and skillful brushstrokes.
During the Song and Yuan dynasties, fan paintings were widely popular. After the Ming Dynasty, folding fan paintings gradually became more prominent.
Contemporary painters Gao Heqi and Wei Jianfeng are highly skilled in the art of round fans and folding fans. They are the successors to the peak art of the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Their representative fan works in the collection include "Yun", "Orchid", and "The Residence of Gao Shi".