Different countries there were different style of fans. And obviously, there were different styles in east and west of counties.
China and Japan
Fans were enormously important in both China and Japan. All the ancient civilizations of the world have recorded the use of ceremonial fans. According to the earliest written records are of two feather fans which were offered to the Emperor Tchao-wong of the Chou Dynasty in 1052 B.C.
Figure 1, Ceremonial fan K’o-ssu (silk tapestry) Chinese; late 18th century or early 19th century.
China and Japan use fans within rigid court etiquette as well ordinary social customs and the dance. Both of them have the longest history of the use of personal fans. Chinese were probably the first to apply a painted design on to a fan (fig. 1), but it was the Japanese who invented the folding fan.
There was an interesting story about inventing fold fan in Japan. There was a couple, living during the reign of Emperor Jen-ji at Tamba, near Kyoto. One night, as they lay asleep, a bat flew into their room, the woman insisted that the man should get up and get rid of it, the men lay in bed until the bat flew too near a lamp, scorched its wings and fell to the floor. As he handled the bat, he noticed how its wings folded open and shut, and he thought that perhaps a fan might be made the same way. So a fan could be folded when not in use and carried in the sleeve or pushed into the top of a boot. The oldest forms of Japanese folding fans used to be called komori, which is also the word for ‘bat’. Japanese devised the most ingenious forms and convenient uses for the object. See the figure 2.
China and Japan
Fans were enormously important in both China and Japan. All the ancient civilizations of the world have recorded the use of ceremonial fans. According to the earliest written records are of two feather fans which were offered to the Emperor Tchao-wong of the Chou Dynasty in 1052 B.C.
Figure 1, Ceremonial fan K’o-ssu (silk tapestry) Chinese; late 18th century or early 19th century.
China and Japan use fans within rigid court etiquette as well ordinary social customs and the dance. Both of them have the longest history of the use of personal fans. Chinese were probably the first to apply a painted design on to a fan (fig. 1), but it was the Japanese who invented the folding fan.
There was an interesting story about inventing fold fan in Japan. There was a couple, living during the reign of Emperor Jen-ji at Tamba, near Kyoto. One night, as they lay asleep, a bat flew into their room, the woman insisted that the man should get up and get rid of it, the men lay in bed until the bat flew too near a lamp, scorched its wings and fell to the floor. As he handled the bat, he noticed how its wings folded open and shut, and he thought that perhaps a fan might be made the same way. So a fan could be folded when not in use and carried in the sleeve or pushed into the top of a boot. The oldest forms of Japanese folding fans used to be called komori, which is also the word for ‘bat’. Japanese devised the most ingenious forms and convenient uses for the object. See the figure 2.
Figure 2, this is Japanese fan with paper leaf painted and hand-stained in about 1900.
East has always been far more open to variations in technique, material, design and use than west. They used woods, bamboos, bast or crepe-papers, turtle shells or silks and handles of iron, gold, ivory or leather.
Early Europe and the Middle East
In ancient Europe and the Middle East fans started as cruse instruments, usually intended to whisk away flies, or as large ceremonial standards. The materials of fans include grassy reeds, feathers and hairs. These kinds of fans can still be seen today carried by some rulers and Paramount chiefs in Africa. As the fan developed it became increasingly an important ceremonial instrument, for instance, often granted to a hero after some victorious battle.
Religion
Fans also were widely used in religion. The fan has taken on symbolic meanings-in the disc-shaped in Christian Church ceremonies. In the east its religious use has been even more widespread. People who live in or have visited India are well aware of the problems with flies and have always used the fly-whisks; the Jains, a religion of India, people could whisk away the flies from settling on their gods without harming or destroying them.
The varieties of materials used for these fly-whisks, like horse-hair, various grasses, and peacock feathers
Early Europe and the Middle East
In ancient Europe and the Middle East fans started as cruse instruments, usually intended to whisk away flies, or as large ceremonial standards. The materials of fans include grassy reeds, feathers and hairs. These kinds of fans can still be seen today carried by some rulers and Paramount chiefs in Africa. As the fan developed it became increasingly an important ceremonial instrument, for instance, often granted to a hero after some victorious battle.
Religion
Fans also were widely used in religion. The fan has taken on symbolic meanings-in the disc-shaped in Christian Church ceremonies. In the east its religious use has been even more widespread. People who live in or have visited India are well aware of the problems with flies and have always used the fly-whisks; the Jains, a religion of India, people could whisk away the flies from settling on their gods without harming or destroying them.
The varieties of materials used for these fly-whisks, like horse-hair, various grasses, and peacock feathers
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