ORIGINS:
Few art forms combine functional, ceremonial and decorative uses as elegantly as the fan. Fewer still can match such diversity with a history stretching back at least 3,000 years.
Pictorial records showing some of the earliest fans date from around 3000 BC and there is evidence that the Greeks and Romans used fixed fans as cooling and ceremonial devices, while Chinese literary sources associate the fan with ancient mythical and historical characters.
Early fans were all of the fixed types, and the folding fan does not appear either in the East or the West until the relatively late in its history
In ancient Japan, hand fans, such as oval and silk fans were influenced greatly by the Chinese fans. The earliest visual depiction of fans in Japan dates back to the 6th century CE, with burial tomb paintings showed drawings of fans. The folding fan was invented in Japan with dates ranging from the 6th to 9th centuries
The earliest literary references to the folding fan, in both Japan and China, date from the 10th century. A Japanese dictionary compiled around 935, for example, lists two types of fan, the Uchiwa and the Ogi, the generic term for a folding fan. There are also records dating from the Chinese Song dynasty recording gifts of folding fans at the Chinese court. By the end of the 10th century, the popularity of folding fans was such that sumptuary laws were enacted during the Choho era (999 -1003). While folding fans were widely used in Japan from the 12th century onwards, it was not until the 15th century that the same was true in China.
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| Left: Chinese Palace fans Right: Japanese Uchiwa |
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| Hiogi |
There are two basic types of the folding fan in Japan. The folding fan and the Mokkan, constructed from rigid segments held together at the base by a rivet and joined at the top by a thread or ribbon. According to both Chinese and Japanese legend, the Mokkan was invented by a court official who threaded together the thin wooden or ivory staves that all officials carried for the purpose of writing, thus creating the first form of crude Mokkan. This was the predecessor The Japanese court fan, Hiogi. In its fully developed form, it was a fan used for ceremonial purposes rather than for cooling oneself and it remained an item of court paraphernalia right through the 19th century. Originally, only the emperor was permitted to use the Hiogi though, in time, it was used by all levels of the court aristocracy.
The Hiogi consists of a large number of wooden blades, usually between 34 and 38, held together with a metal rivet in the form of a butterfly on the front of the fan and a bird on the back. That of the empress, however, required a rivet made of paper string. At the other end, the blades were connected together by means of a silk cord. The fan face was painted with bright colors with carefully prescribed designs of pines, chrysanthemums, plum or cherry blossoms and sometimes, birds on a white ground surrounded by stylized clouds in gold and silver, variously outlined in red, blue, green and purple. From the top of each guard, stick hung clusters of artificial flowers and long silk cords of different colors. For those under 16 years of age, a similar Hiogi was used but was made of Cedar instead of Cypress wood.
The folding fan with a separate leaf is the source of another Japanese legend, in which Toyomaru of Tamba province, made the first folding fan after being inspired by the sight of a bat’s wing during the time of the legendary Empress Jingu. Another story credits the accidental invention of the folding fan to the widow of Taira Atsumori who retired to the Mieido, a Kyoto temple. There she cured the abbot of a fever by uttering incantations and fanning him with a piece of paper folded into pleats.
According to the Song Sui(History of Song), a Japanese monkonen Chōnen offered the folding fans (twenty wooden-bladed fans hiogi and two paper fans kawahori-ogi 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 the Chinese court. The popularity of folding fans was such that sumptuary laws were promulgated during the Heian period which restricted the decoration of both hiogi and paper folding fans.
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| Top right: Sensu for dance. Bottom Left: A normal fan |
DANCE:
Sensu, as fans used specifically for dance, are called are an essential and the most common prop for performers in kabuki plays, Nho theater, and dance.
In general, Thay are categorized into men’s fans and women’s fans. Men’s fans are 30cm (about 1 foot) long and 3 cm shorter than Noh fans, while women’s fans are generally 29cm long, although the length may vary based on the performer’s body frame or preferences.
All dance fans are made with thinner ribs that are spaced wider with metal waits embedded in the base of the outer guards so as to make it easier to manipulate and balance.
Mitate is a technique to express various objects or natural phenomenon by using props. Among these props, it’s hardly an overstatement to say that a fan can express everything. For example, a closed fan can be used to express a pipe or a sword and an open fan can be used to express wind, waves or snow by making it flutter.
SYMBOLISM:
From the court through the other strata of society the fan was always used as a New Year and marriage gift or for the coming of age of a 16-year-old boy on his birthday day. The birthday fans would depict images of chrysanthemums, crane, turtles to wish longevity.
The fan itself is the symbol of prosperity as it spreads out when we open it. As the fan starts from a single point and the wooden strips go out to various directions, they are considered to resemble the various paths leading us through life after the single point of birth. Usually, the fans with patterns have the odd number of patterns printed on it, as the odd numbers are considered lucky. The color and the pictures on a fan have particular meanings. Gold colored fans are believed to attract wealth while red and white ones are considered as lucky colors.
Bird pairs on a fan are the symbol of a loving couple. Ume flowers printed on a fan represent a new beginning, while cherry blossoms represent the love of parents. Cherry blossoms also are the symbols of richness and good luck. Roses, pine trees and such are used to express love while bamboo, pine, and others represent patience. White horse represents mercy and a lion symbolizes strength. Koi fish is the representation of luck and long life. Two butterflies represent happy marriage while one butterfly represents a vain woman. Single butterfly patterns can’t be used on fans or other items related to marriage as it symbolizes a variable mind. Black birds on a fan are the representation of evil.
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