There were many kinds of fans in ancient China, though only the Zheshan (folding fan) and Tuanshan (round fan) have grown to receive true appreciation from art collectors

The folding fan is also known as the "head-gathering" style of fan because its ends meet together when folded. Such fans were first manufactured in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and became popular in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The birth of the round fan was much earlier than those of the folding variety. Its shape, like a full moon, signifies the auspicious meaning of a union and happiness. The round fan has many elegant names, like " Wan Shan", " Luo Shan", "Bing Mian" " Bian Mian" and "Zhang Mian."

Such fans were very popular in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 204). The best ones had a surface covered by white silk from East China's Shandong Province while the handles were crafted out of bamboo from Central China's Hunan Province .

Fans sometimes were decorated on both sides with paintings, poems or calligraphy . Those that held a famous artist's paintings or calligraphy were highly prized possessions.

he famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi of the Jin Dynasty (265-420) once met an old woman selling folding fans in the street. He wrote five characters on each fan. This made the woman angry because she thought all her fans had been ruined. But when people discovered the artist's words on the otherwise ordinary fans, they sold like hot cakes - and at high prices.

Fans are not only tools for cooling oneself, but also artworks symbols for status and taste. Scholars would wave their fans to show off their grace as they composed poetry or sat deep in thought. When not in use, fans were sometimes concealed inside sleeves or hung from the waist.

For aristocratic young women, fans made from silk or other precious cloth -- especially flat round ones -- were a kind of prop to show off grace and beauty. Whenever they met a strange man, they would use their fans to hide their faces. So women's fans also have another name: "Zhang mian," which means, "Hiding face."

Fans gradually came to have attachments, such as fan bags, fan pendants and fan boxes. Fans also spread to other countries in the world, especially to Europe, becoming "emissaries" for Chinese culture.

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