Fan making skills

Name of Chinese national intangible cultural heritage: fan making skills

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Item No.: 431

Project No.: VIII - 81

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Jiangsu Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Protection unit: Suzhou Ruyi sandalwood fan Co., Ltd

Introduction to fan making skills:

Applicant: Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Suzhou fan is a special product of Suzhou, including folding fan, sandalwood fan and silk palace fan, which are collectively referred to as "Suzhou elegant fan"; since Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has been widely spread in Suzhou and its surrounding areas.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, some people in Suzhou made their own folding fans. In the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, they set up workshops to produce them, and famous brand products appeared, such as the famous black bamboo bone clay gold fan. During the reign of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the Su fan became a royal tribute, and the fan making industry began to flourish.

Suzhou elegant fan has many famous products, the so-called "Wuzhong folding fan, where red sandalwood, ivory, ebony stocks for the common system, but brown bamboo, bamboo for it, called Huai sleeve elegant thing.". The ribs of folding fans are well-known for their variety and delicacy. The polished ribs of bamboo folding fans are smooth and elegant.

Sandalwood fan evolved from folding fan, with sandalwood wooden fan, emitting natural fragrance. Suzhou is the birthplace of sandalwood fans. There are "flower drawing", "hot stamping", "flower carving", "flower painting" and other crafts. The fans are also painted with landscapes, flowers and birds, which makes them elegant and pleasant. Since the beginning of the 20th century, sandalwood fan has been loved by people at home and abroad for its unique technical characteristics.

Silk palace fans are mainly round, hexagonal, rectangular, waist round and other shapes. The fans are often painted with mountains and rivers, flowers and birds, figures, and inscribed with famous poems. They are antique and highly ornamental.

Suzhou elegant fan is an indispensable treasure for literati, which integrates modeling, mounting, carving, inlaying, painting and other exquisite skills.

Since the 1980s, people's life style has changed dramatically. The appearance of electric fan and air conditioner makes the importance of fan drop sharply. During the period of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, there were only one place in Shanghai, Suzhou Fan Village, and there were more than 100 literary and art shops operating Suzhou fans and ribs. Now there are only two places left, Wang Xingji and duo Yunxuan. At present, there are only three or four local fan makers in Suzhou, and some of the crafts are on the verge of being lost.