Common types of fans
1. Zigzag type
The large and small bones are curved like water waves and snakes. The peaks and troughs of two adjacent fan bones are staggered, like the undulations of water, which is very interesting. This style is mostly found in large fans with nine to sixteen levels, and is made of mostly bamboo or ebony. Large bones are generally no longer carved. Although it is a special species, it is not very rare. After the 1980s, production resumed in some areas, but the delicate and vivid interest was gone.
2. Silk folding fan
This fan is a type of folding fan craftsmanship. The only difference is that the fan surface and fan ribs are processed differently. The fan ribs have unique shapes with hollow carving and machine punching. The two types of flowers are distinguished. The shape of the fan is unique and exquisite. The hollow part of the fan bone happens to be the embellishment of the blank space of the fan bone. The fan is folded into 28 squares and the fan surfaces overlap evenly. The side ribs and core of the fan are symmetrical. There are many folds, which is the longest in the fan. Later, due to the transformation of Anhui (Aizi brand) fan-making technology, folding fans made of silk fabric appeared, named silk folding fans.
3. Monk’s head
Fan
This style also originated very early. The fan strands gather together to form a round ball like a monk's head, hence the name. This style existed in the Ming Dynasty and was called round head or big round head. Because nowadays many people have arc-shaped fan crotch roots. To avoid confusion, this common name was chosen, which is also very vivid. Monk heads are mostly seen on large fans with 16 positions, but there are also large fans with 9 and 11 positions. Autumn fans rarely have monk heads. The monk's head can be made entirely of one material, fan strands, or it can be inlaid with two pieces of heterogeneous material at the fan nails on both sides, such as bamboo strands inlaid with ebony, ivory, rosewood, etc. The price of monk's head fans is relatively high, even if it is simple and unworked, it often exceeds the price of other fans of the same material.
4. Jiji style (rib-shaped fan)
Jiji fans can use ordinary fan ribs, Jiji fans, or special Jiji-style fan ribs. The set-style fan ribs are not inserted into the fan surface, but sandwich the fan surface - the exposed fan ribs play the role of dividing the fan surface. However, generally not all fan ribs are exposed, but every few ribs are exposed, according to the needs of fan space division.
5. Pointed-head style
A strand style with the head pointed like a spearhead. In the Ming Dynasty, it was called "Jiangen". This model is only found in sixteen-level bamboo bone fans, but it is characterized by exquisiteness and meticulousness, and the quality of the bamboo material is very important.
Varieties and characteristics of fans
Characteristics
Fans combine the techniques of carving, weaving, braiding, calligraphy and other arts. The two fan handles on both sides of the folding fan, commonly known as big bones or big edges, are engraved with calligraphy and painting; the numerous fan bones in the middle are commonly known as small bones or hearts. There are many decoration techniques for the fan bones, some are mother-of-pearl, and some are painted with lacquer. Among them, Venus Coral is made of coral red lacquer as the ground, with silver powder sprinkled on it, shining like stars. There are more than 100 styles of fan heads at the lower end of the fans, including bamboo knots, plum blossoms, small vases, large hooks, and water chestnut round heads. The fan pendant is carved from jade, peach pits, olive pits, or braided with tassels, making it look swaying. The embroidered fan cover is beautiful, wear-resistant and practical. Fine patterns are hollowed out on the surfaces of sandalwood fans, bone fans, ivory fans and shell fans. The pyrography on the fans of sunflower and sandalwood fans has different shades of ink and an elegant style. Fans have many uses. In addition to keeping cool in summer, they are also used as props in Pingtan, opera, dance, folk arts and other performances.
The main varieties of Chinese fans include folding fans, feather fans, silk fans, etc., which are introduced below.
Folding fan
In ancient times, it was called folding fan, gathering fan, and spreading fan. Varieties include paper folding fans, ivory fans, shell fans, sandalwood fans, peacock feather fans, etc. Among them, paper folding fans are the most popular. The paper folding fan is made of numerous slender bamboo slices. The fan bones are then folded up, and the lower heads are fixed with nail hinges. The rest are unfolded into a semicircle, and are pasted with paper to make a fan surface. Write poems and paintings. The preferred aggregate materials for the fans are brown bamboo, Xiangfei bamboo, and ebony. Each fan has as few as 7 pieces and as many as 40 pieces, and generally has 14 or 16 pieces. The folding fan has 40 ribs. The ribs are slender and the style is beautiful. It was only used by women in ancient times.
Ivory fans, shell fans, and sandalwood fans are made of ivory, shells, and sandalwood. The fan bones are directly connected with silk threads to form a semicircular fan surface, and exquisite and delicate patterns are carved on the fan surface. In addition to the hollow patterns, the sandalwood fan's surface is also decorated with pyrography, or is mounted on thin silk, with colorful paintings of flowers, birds, and ladies. The style is gorgeous and loved by women. Suzhou folding fans are famous for their water-milled bamboo fan bones, that is, the bamboo fan bones are repeatedly polished with fine sandpaper, soaked horsetail and elm leaves, etc., and then waxed to make them moist and delicate, like white jade.
Feather fans
It is made of peacock, crane, eagle, goose, pheasant and other bird feathers woven into a fan surface and added with a fan handle. It is not only used for cooling, decoration and dancing, but also a display of ancient Chinese court etiquette. Chinese feather fans are mostly woven with 3 to 4 goose feathers and are in the shape of a peach with a pointed top and a rounded bottom. The center of the fan is decorated with patterns such as five-color damask cutouts or longevity peaches embroidered with colorful silk threads. Some of the fan handles are made of wood, and some have goose feather pipes cut into strips and woven into patterns such as ancient coins to serve as feather pipe handles. Feather fans are light in weight and produce soft wind. The peacock green feather fan uses ivory as the fan bone and peacock feathers as the fan surface. It is rich in color and is also a dance prop.
Silk fans
They are made of bamboo strips and lead wire as a frame, and are stretched over the frame with silk such as plain silk. Most of them are shaped like a full moon. Also known as round fan. Silk fans used bamboo strips as the skeleton in ancient times. In the early 20th century, they used lead wire as the skeleton, and celebrities were invited to calligraphy and painting on the fans. The fan handles were made of precious bamboo materials such as Xiangfei bamboo and brown bamboo, and there were also painted handles and ivory handles. There is also a fan made of black gauze that looks like cicada wings, with numerous thin bamboos painted on it with white powder. It is light and cool in the hand and is called the cicada wing fan. In addition to the full moon shape, the silk fans also have round waist, hexagonal and other styles. On them are painted ladies, landscapes, flowers and birds, and some are embroidered with colorful silk threads.
Sunflower fan
Commonly known as cattail fan. Made from the leaves and handles of palmetto palm, it is lightweight and cheap. It is the most popular fan in China. The sunflower fans from Xinhui, Guangdong have round leaves and thin and even handles. The production process is complex and there are many varieties. The process of making sunflower fans is to first select sunflower leaves with a handle length of more than 30 centimeters and a light green color. After picking, they are sun-dried for about 20 days. After drying, the color turns white; then they are washed, dried, and flattened with heavy objects; The size of the sunflower leaves is cut into circles of different specifications, and then the edges are edged with strips or silk threads, and the sunflower handles are still used as fan handles. There are many varieties of sunflower fans. In addition to the commonly used sunflower fans, there are also glass white sunflower fans, bleached woven sunflower fans, pyrographed sunflower fans, etc. The glass white sunflower fan is made by selecting the light green leaves that have not yet grown. After being exposed to the sun, the color will be crystal clear and white. After being washed with water and fumigated with sulfur, the color will become whiter, like glass, hence the name. The bleached woven sunflower fan is made by cutting the glass white sunflower leaves into 2~4mm thin strips, and then hand-weaving them into almond-shaped sunflower fans, and embroidering various patterns with gold and silver threads and colorful silk threads on the fan surface. The pyrography sunflower fan is a kind of pyrography with figures, landscapes, etc. on the fan surface, with an elegant style. Among them, the double-sided pyrography sunflower fan is made by sewing two glass white sunflower fans with the same shape and specifications into one, and then pyrographing the same picture on the front and back sides, which can be viewed on both sides. In addition to being decorated with embroidery and pyrography, the fan surface of the Kui fan is also decorated with lacquer paintings, or is embroidered into various patterns with fine needles. The specifications of the fans vary. The larger ones are more than 90 centimeters long and can provide shade. The edge of the fan is commonly known as the thin edge, and is hand-wrapped and sewn with gold and silver thread, silk, colored silk thread, bamboo silk, slender strips of rattan, etc. The handles of sunflower fans are mostly made of original sunflower leaves. Some have thin strips of rattan wrapped around the handles, or dyed bamboo tubes on the outside. They are smooth and comfortable in the hand. The high-end fan handles are also decorated with precious bamboo materials such as square bamboo, Xiangfei bamboo, Buddha belly bamboo, or made of ivory, tortoise shell, etc.
Strip fan
Also known as bamboo fan. Weave silk into a fan. Produced in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Hunan and other places, Sichuan is the most famous. Sichuan silk fans were already famous in the Ming Dynasty. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1875-1908), the Sichuan Zigong craftsman Gong Juewu wove a silk fan, known as the Gong fan. The silk used was as thin as a hair, each 400mm long, 1mm wide and 0.2mm thin. When illuminated by the sun, The bottom is transparent and crystal clear, and when the breeze blows, the silk threads fly. The woven fan surface is smooth and traceless, just like silk. The handle of the fan is mostly made of cow bone, with tassels hanging down.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Gong Yuzhang, Gong Juewu's son, inherited his father's business and was able to weave complex scenes of ladies, landscapes, flowers and birds, which were clear and beautiful. Gong fans have been passed down to the third generation, namely brothers Gong Changrong and Gong Yuwen, sons of Gong Yuzhang. Their woven silk fans have been exhibited in the United States and Japan.
Portrait hanging fan
A hanging fan with various portrait photos such as wedding photos, portraits and children's photos as the fan surface. The portrait hanging fan (hereinafter referred to as the portrait fan) is a modern imaging technology Ingeniously integrated with ancient fan-making techniques, the fan surface of the fan adopts the same technology and materials as the current photo studio industry from design to output. Therefore, its image quality has reached the image level, with true color reproduction and excellent detail performance. In ancient times, the wedding night was also called the night of fan-quenching because it was necessary to perform the fan-quenching ceremony and compose fan-quenching poems at the wedding. The red hijab evolved from the fan used in the fan-quenching ceremony. Throughout the ages, people have used painting, embroidery and other techniques to form portraits on the fans. Today, with the help of modern technology, portrait fans with wedding photos and other faces as the fans have appeared. The fan culture has a long history and has added a fresh and fashionable touch. modern flavor.
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