If someone mentions silk fans I think of China and hot summer days when I see people in the street fanning away the striking heat. Chinese fans boasts a long history of over thousands years. You can easily find Chinese fans in many stores all across China but making my own sounded so much better. Being able to immerse myself into Chinese culture, part of which is known as “Fan-making Kingdom” was such a special experience.
One of the most famous Chinese fans is the traditional Chinese 团扇Tuanshan( round fan). This circular silk fan is said to have been modeled after the full moon, and signifies happiness and union in China. It was this silk fan we got to hand paint with the guidance of a very skilled teacher.
The first part of the lesson consisted out of learning how to correctly hold a calligraphy brush and we got to practice how to make long strokes with it. It took me a while before I was able to create one continuous stroke for each reed and it was still not even close to the beautiful reeds of the teacher. It was definitely quite a challenge to learn how to make the delicate orchids that we painted among the reeds and I am still not convinced my orchids came out correctly.
This is the perfect sovenier for me to keep of my time in this lovely country and I will definitely be back to try out a different design soon.
With its humble beginning in the times of the Shang Dynasty around 1,500 BCE, Chinese fans have stood the test of time and are still widely popular today not only in China but all over Asia and all around the world.
Janaline's world journey 
I enjoyed reading this piece – what a lovely thing to do. Alas, I have no artistic skill, and had to make do with purchasing fans in China. Making one would be sospecial.
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That’s beautiful! You are so talented with a paintbrush!
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how wonderful!
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I love fans and they are part of so many different cultures. I was in Japan a couple of years ago for a month and I bought so many, and so many ‘notelets’ made from small fans, but alas, they’ve all been given away now. I do wish I could go back – I’d buy a lot more. Apart from the Japanese fans I keep for my own use, my favourites are my two Spanish fans made of lace, one black and one white – they are so elegant.
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I do love those Spanish lace fans. I remember buying one for myself while backpacking thrugh Spain years ago. I have a collection of fans, some beautiful and intricate and some plain and cheap so that I can just throw them in my bag whenever I go for a walk during summer.
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Hello Janaline, so good to see another interesting post here 🙂
The silk fans look so beautiful and reminds me of the ones used by my grandparents here in India.
Some were made of bamboo and some were made with the roots of medicinal plants with fragrance…
You are so good at connecting with people of different cultures 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
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Thank you Sreejith. I can just imagine how beautiful a fan made out of medicinal plants would smell in the summer heat!! I love trying out the things are unique in the places I explore and making a fan was high on my list. Next I would love to paint a parasol as Chinese woman are always using them to protect their skin from the warm sun.
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So we can expect yet another interesting post soon 🙂
Have a great day, Janaline 🙂
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