About the origin of fans:
Fans are invented by China, while folded fans are invented by Japan.
Sales and production of fans:
China, Japan and Korea are the major countries selling fans to the world. But due to production cost, Japan and Korea mainly provide the design or specialized printing materials, and 90% of the fans are made in China. The raw materials of the fan’s framework are also provided by China.
The varieties of fans:
The most common fans are folded fans, court fans, circular fans, sandalwood fans, whole-bamboo fans, feather fans, wheat-straw fans, etc.
The parameters of fans:
- The length of fans for female often ranges from 15cm to 23cm, of which more than 80% are 21cm.
- The length of male fans is often 7 cun (one cun is 1/3 decimeter), 8 cun, 9 cun, 9.5 cun or 10 cun.
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The materials of fan cover:
- Most female fans except Japanese string paper fans are one-sided. The materials of female fans are mostly thin, tough silk, satin, paper, real silk, cotton and linen.
- Male fans are mainly made of thin, tough silk and rice paper and most are double-sided.
Categories and the making of fan patterns:
- Unfixed pattern: It refers to the pattern randomly cut from a whole fabric, and every pattern on the fan is different from one another.
- Fixed pattern: Print with a specific pattern. The pattern and its position on each fan is the same.
- There are also freehand patterns and spayed patterns on the fans.
Materials of the fan frame:
Fan frame is mainly made of bamboo and it’s mainly divided into the first layer and the second layer. The first layer refers to the outer layer of the bamboo which feels soft, while the second layer refers to the inner layer of the bamboo which feels much coarser.
The craft of the fan frame:
It’s mainly front high-pressure shock wave and sideways hand-ground to form ripple effect.
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