Hanfu Accessories | Discover the Cultural Beauty of the Chinese Fan

Fans originated in China and boast a history of over 3,000 years.

Fans

According to fan lore, they were first called “Five Bright Fans,” said to be crafted by Emperor Shun to broaden his vision and seek wise advisors.

During the Yin and Zhou periods, a “Zhifan” fan emerged, made from colorful pheasant tail feathers, earning the name “feather fan”—which is why the character for “fan” includes “feather.” Back then, fans weren’t for cooling off but served emperors on outings to shield from sun, wind, and sand.

The Ancient Roots of Chinese Fans

The Erya text notes: “Made of wood, it’s called a door; made of reeds, it’s a fan.”

This suggests early fans were likely rectangular reed weaves. They weren’t for comfort but as ritual items for rulers, also known as “ceremonial fans.”

From Ritual to Cooling: Fan Evolution

From the Qin and Han dynasties onward, fan shapes included square, round, and hexagonal designs, with silk gauze as the main material—popular in palaces, hence “palace fans.” During the Sui and Tang eras, wan fans (silk fans) and feather fans dominated, with a few paper fans too.

Post-Song, folding fans gained traction. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, places like Zhejiang, Suzhou, and Sichuan became folding fan hubs, with calligraphy and painting flourishing there. This craft spread to Europe from the Ming era and took the world by storm.

After the Western Han, fans started being used for cooling. During the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang’s gentle goose-feather fan sparked brilliant strategies in the war tent. Feather fans offered a soft breeze, not piercing the skin. By the Eastern Han, they shifted to silk, gauze, or brocade, often adorned with embroidery.

A moon-shaped fan was called a wan fan or round fan, also known as a “happy-together fan.” Shapes varied—long ovals, sunflower, plum blossom, hexagonal, or flat rounds—with handles of wood, bamboo, or bone, plus pendants, tassels, or jade decorations.

Fan surfaces often featured embroidered landscapes or flowers, with designs vying for attention. Ladies in boudoirs waved round fans, letting cool breezes enhance their graceful, lively charm.

Evolution of Fan Craftsmanship

Chinese fan culture runs deep, a key part of national heritage, earning China the title “Kingdom of Fan-Making.”

Fan materials include bamboo, wood, paper, ivory, tortoiseshell, jade, bird feathers, and even palm leaves, betel nut leaves, straw, or cattails, woven into stunning daily craft fans. Skilled artisans carve, engrave, burn, or drill them, while masters add poems or paintings, turning fans into priceless art.

Over thousands of years, Chinese fans evolved into hundreds of styles, generally divided into two categories:

Flat fans (like tuan fans, sunflower fans, or palm-leaf fans) that cannot fold.

Folding fans, which can open and close easily.

Flat fans trace back to “barrier fans” (palm fans) and “sha” (bamboo-strip fans from ancient times).

In the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, a semicircular “convenient face” fan, resembling a single door, was dubbed “house fan.” Used by all—from emperors to commoners—it shielded faces from view.

During the Western Han, the symmetrical “happy-together fan” (also palace fan, wan fan, or round fan) favored round shapes. Its white surface, split by a central handle, mirrored a full moon. Wan fans used bamboo or wood frames with thin silk gauze, crafted with finesse—think “Shandong silk, Hunan bamboo.”

This wan fan trend took off in Han times, inspiring poems like Ban Jieyu’s: “Freshly cut Shandong silk, pure as frost and snow, sewn into a happy-together fan, round like a bright moon, slipping in and out of the lord’s sleeve, swaying with a gentle breeze.”

This symmetrical round fan endured through dynasties, shaping a classic Chinese style.

The Rise of Folding Fans

By the Northern Song, the handy folding fan appeared.
Also called “gathered-head fan,” “scatter fan,” or “gathered-bone fan,” it featured bones of cow horn, tortoiseshell, ivory, jade, Xiangfei bamboo, or sandalwood, in styles like qin-shaped, Ruyi-head, bamboo-joint, or grasshopper-eye. Bones came in seven, nine, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, or eighteen segments.

Southern Song saw large-scale folding fan production. They peaked in the Ming dynasty when the emperor ordered palace artisans to mimic Korean fans, blending foreign techniques to boost local craft.

Ming and Qing marked the folding fan’s golden age.

Using pricey materials like ivory, tortoiseshell, or chicken-wing wood for bones, artisans mastered intricate carvings—Ruyi heads, qin styles, mantis legs, or wave patterns. Fan tops came in bottle, water chestnut, olive, magnolia, square, round, or goldfish shapes, with artistic techniques winning fans’ hearts.

As a unique art form, masters painted fan surfaces with clever layouts—landscapes, birds, or dynamic figures—making small spaces burst with beauty and spirit.

Fan surfaces featured fine gold dust, rain gold, snow gold, grid patterns, hairpins, aged alum, or gold-painted faces, becoming canvases for calligraphers. Ming Emperor Zhu Zhanji’s Reading Under Pine on a fan is a rare treasure.

Some folding fans, like the black-paper ones for monks, bore gold-inked sutras—“Heart Sutra,” “Jin Gang Sutra,” or “Prajna Sutra”—with Buddhist themes like the Sixteen Arhats, Guanyin, Red Boy, Amitabha, or Jigong.

By Southern Song, painting, selling, and collecting fans boomed, with fan shops and art dealers popping up. Ming and Qing literati turned fan art into a trend.

Modern masters like Yun Shouping, Zheng Banqiao, Jin Nong, Shitao, Ren Bonian, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong, Fu Baoshi, and Li Keran excelled at fan art. Today, their painted fans fetch tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands per piece.

Fans as Cultural Treasures

Fan art with words or paintings delights the eye, offering aesthetic joy. Savoring fan calligraphy requires slow appreciation of its artistic depth.

Lao She loved collecting painted fans, amassing hundreds over decades—featuring Ming, Qing, and modern artists, plus theater stars’ works.

Zheng Yimei adored fans, calling them “treasures of calligraphy and painting.” His prized pieces included Zhang Taiyan’s seal script fan and Wu Hufan’s green plum art.

Contemporary writer Ye Wenling enjoys antiques, with fan art in her collection. Her study shelf holds a fan with Liu Haisu’s “Clear Wind,” Feng Youlan’s “Bright Moon,” Pei Yanling’s “Rocks Breaking Clouds,” Hua Junwu’s humor sketch, and Cao Yu’s poem—all treasures to her.

In Qing times, symmetrical fan shapes beyond round included long ovals, flat rounds, square-rounds, plum blossoms, sunflowers, melon slices, waist shapes, or horseshoe forms—light, symmetrical, and highly crafted.

Fans can reflect emotions.

Su Dongpo’s “heroic grace, feather fan and silk cap” captures Zhou Yu’s demeanor.

Du Mu’s “light silk fan swatting fireflies” shows girls’ playful joy.

Tang poet Wang Jian’s Teasing Tune says, “Four fans, four fans, beauties come hiding their faces”—hinting at their shy sorrow.

Some works use fans as metaphors or love tokens. In The Peach Blossom Fan, Hou Fangyu gives Li Xiangjun a palace fan as an “eternal pledge.” Later, Li stains it with blood resisting a tyrant, and Yang Longyou turns it into a peach blossom fan.

Fans are vital stage props, tied to performing arts.

Graceful fan dances boost fitness, while fan-based plays like Peach Blossom Fan, Sinking Incense Fan, and Banana Fan use fan moves to depict props or character traits.

In Empty City Stratagem, Zhuge Liang’s feather fan sways, showing his calm command. Famous Sichuan opera actor Yang Youhe mastered over 70 fan gestures. Old crosstalk performers often held fans to highlight character quirks.

Fans hold rich cultural depth. Through history, they’ve woven into daily life, blending practicality with beauty. Packed with stories, legends, and fun tales—like Su Dongpo’s Fan Case, The Poor Taoist Mends a Fan in Fan Alley, The Jade Child’s Fan Pendant Adventure, Fan Bridge, Kangxi’s Fan Inscription, Fan Brings Good News, and the “Yang Ren Wind” legend, plus Tagore’s fan poem—they reflect fan culture’s essence. Thousands of years have gifted us fan poems, lyrics, couplets, and riddles.