Africa Hand fans originated about 4000 years ago in Egypt. Egyptians viewed them as sacred objects, and the tomb of
Tutankhamun contained two elaborate hand fans.
Ancient Europe Archaeological ruins and ancient texts show that the hand fan was used in
ancient Greece at least from the 4th century BC and was known as a , or (). Fans were also used to keep flies away (like a fly-flapper), this kind of fan was less stiff and was named μυιoσόβη. The
Chinese character for "fan" () is etymologically composed of the characters for "door" () and "feather" (). Historically, fans have played an important aspect in the life of the
Chinese people. The Chinese have used hand-held fans as a way to relieve themselves during hot days since the ancient times; the fans are also an embodiment of the wisdom of
Chinese culture and art. They were also used for ceremonial and ritual purposes and as a sartorial accessory when wearing . So far, the earliest fans that have been found date to the
Spring and Autumn and
Warring States period. It was suggested by the Cultural Relics Archaeology Institute of Hubei Province that these fans were made of either bamboo or feathers and were oftentimes used as burial objects in the
State of Chu. The oldest existing Chinese fans are a pair of woven bamboo, wood or paper side-mounted fans from the 2nd century BC. The Chinese form of the feather fan, known as , was a row of feathers mounted in the end of a handle. The arts of fan making eventually progressed to the point that by the
Jin dynasty, fans could come in different shapes and could be made in different materials. These round fans remained mainstream even after the growing popularity of the folding fans. File:Folding fan with daylilies, rocks, and a poem, painted by the Qianlong emperor for Empress Dowager Chongqing, China, 1762 AD, ink and color on paper, bamboo - Peabody Essex Museum - DSC07993.jpg|Folding fan with a
Chinese painting and a
Chinese poem, painted by the
Qianlong emperor for his mother
Empress Dowager Xiaoshengxian,
Qing dynasty, 1762 AD File:Kongfu fan.jpg|Chinese folding fans used in the performance of
Kung Fu File:Non electric fan aka solfjader.jpg|Brisé fan, a typical commercially produced scented wood folding fan; this one features a painting of the
Great Wall of China File:Fan, Chinese, early 1600s, view 2 - Fan Room, Alcázar of Seville, Spain - DSC07300.JPG|Chinese folding fan, early 1600s,
Spain Foreign export From the late 18th century until 1845, trade between America and China flourished. During this period, Chinese fans reached the peak of their popularity in America; popular fans among American women were the fan, and fans made of palm leaf, feather, and paper. The most popular type during this period appeared to have been the palm leaf fan. The earliest visual depiction of fans in Japan dates back to the 6th century AD, with burial tomb paintings showed drawings of fans. The folding fan was invented in Japan, with dates ranging from the 6th to 9th centuries; it was a court fan called the , after the court women's dress named . According to the (History of Song), a Japanese monk offered the folding fans (twenty and two to the emperor of China in 988. Later in the 11th century, Korean envoys brought along Korean folding fans which were of Japanese origin as gifts to Chinese court. The popularity of folding fans was such that sumptuary laws were passed during
Heian period which restricted the decoration of both and paper folding fans. The earliest fans in Japan were made by tying thin stripes of (or Japanese cypress) together with thread. The number of strips of wood differed according to the person's rank. Later in the 16th century, Portuguese traders introduced it to the west and soon both men and women throughout the continent adopted it. the non-bending fans () are popular and commonplace. The fan is primarily used for fanning oneself in hot weather. The fan subsequently spread to other parts of Asia, including Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, and such fans are still used by Buddhist monks as "ceremonial fans". Fans were also used in the military as a way of sending signals on the field of battle. However, fans were mainly used for social and court activities. In Japan, fans were variously used by warriors as a form of weapon, by actors and dancers for performances, and by children as a toy. Traditionally, the rigid fan (also called fixed fan) was the most popular form in China, although the folding fan came into popularity during the
Ming dynasty between the years of 1368 and 1644, and there are many beautiful examples of these folding fans still remaining. The (or Japanese dancing fan) has ten sticks and a thick paper mount showing the family crest, and Japanese painters made a large variety of designs and patterns. The slats, of
ivory,
bone,
mica,
mother of pearl,
sandalwood, or
tortoise shell, were carved and covered with
paper or
fabric. Folding fans have "montures" which are the sticks and guards, and the leaves were usually painted by craftsmen. Social significance was attached to the fan in the Far East as well, and the management of the fan became a highly regarded feminine art. Fans were even used as a weapon – called the
iron fan, or in Japanese. See also, the , a military leader's fan (in old Japan); used in the modern day as an umpire's fan in sumo wrestling, it is a type of Japanese war fan, like the .
Korea Every Dano (May 5 of the lunar calendar) when the heat began, there was a custom in which the king distributed hand fans to his vassals. The vassal, who received a hand fan from the king, did an ink-and-wash painting and handed out white fans to his elders and the indebted people, which has made the practice of exchanging hand fans widely popular. These cultural factors also contributed to the creation of various types of hand fan in Korea. {{Gallery
Vietnam The hand fan () is an integral part of
Vietnamese culture. According to the Vân Đài Loại Ngữ, a book written by Lê Quý Ðôn, in the old times
Vietnamese people used hand fans made from bird feather and , a type of fan made from leaves of the taraw palm tree. The folding fans only started appearing in Vietnam in the 10th century, known as in Vietnamese. Christian missionary Christoforo Borri recorded that in 1621, both Vietnamese men and women frequently held hand fans as part of their daily garment. Many villages in Vietnam have long-dating traditions of making exquisite hand fans such as Canh Hoạch village and Đào Xá village, with fan-making dating back to the early 19th century. Simple handheld fans, such as and the are commonly found in the Vietnamese countrysides and popularly used among farmers and working people. The has the simplest design, cut directly from the dried Areca leaf stems, then pressed to flatten. It appears in "Thằng Bờm", a well-known Vietnamese (a type of Vietnamese folk song). The also has a simple design, made by sewing a half-moon shaped Maclurochloa leaf onto a straight bamboo stick. {{Gallery
Re-introduction in Europe Hand fans were absent from
Europe during the
High Middle Ages until they were reintroduced in the 13th and 14th centuries. Fans from the
Middle East were brought by
Crusaders, and refugees from the
Eastern Roman Empire. In the 15th and early 16th century, Chinese folding fans were introduced in Europe and later played an important role in the social circles of Europe in the 18th century. The Portuguese traders first opened up the sea route to China in the 15th century and reached Japan in the mid-16th century, and appear to be the first people who introduced
Oriental (Chinese and Japanese) fans in Europe which lead to their popularity, as well as the increased oriental fan imports in Europe. The fan became especially popular in Spain, where flamenco dancers used the fan and extended its use to the nobility. European fan-makers have introduced more modern designs and have enabled the hand fan to work with modern fashion.
17th century In the 17th century the folding fan, and its attendant
semiotic culture, were introduced from
China and
Japan. By the end of the 17th century, there were enormous imports of China folding in Europe due to its popularity and to a lesser extent, Japanese folding fans were also reaching Europe by that period. It has been said that in the courts of England, Spain and elsewhere, fans were used in a more or less secret, unspoken code of messages. These fan languages were a way to cope with the restricting social etiquette. However, modern research has proved that this was a marketing ploy developed in the 19th century – one that has kept its appeal remarkably over the succeeding centuries. This is now used for marketing by fan makers like
Cussons & Sons & Co. Ltd who produced a series of advertisements in 1954 showing "the language of the fan" with fans supplied by the well known French fan maker
Duvelleroy. The rigid or screen fan () became also fashionable during the 18th and 19th century. They never reached the same level of popularity as the easy to carry around, folding fans which became almost an integrated part of women's dress. The screen fan was mainly used inside the interior of the house. In 18th and 19th century paintings of interiors one sometimes sees one laying on a chimney mantle. They were mainly used to protect a woman's face against the glare and heat of the fire, to avoid getting , or ruddy cheeks from the heat. But probably not in the least it served to keep the heat from spoiling the carefully applied make-up which in those days was often wax-based. Until the 20th century houses were heated by open fires in chimneys or by stoves, and the lack of insulation made many a house very draughty and cold during winter. Therefore, any social or family gathering would be in close proximity to the fireplace. The design of the screen fan is a fixed handle, most often made out of exquisitely turned (painted or guided) wood, fixed to a flat screen. The screen could be made out of silk stretched on a frame or thin wood, leather or papier mache. The surface is often exquisitely painted with scenes ranging from flowers and birds of paradise to religious scenes. At the end of the 19th century they disappeared when the need for them ceased to exist. During the 19th century names like the Birmingham-based firm of
Jennens and Bettridge produced many papier-mâché fans. == Modern day ==