Planning a Photographic Shoot P2 (a)

After a long discussion with my group and we decided to take a set of photograph of fans.The fan could be colourful or could be monotonous,below are some examples of fans.

The fan, which is made of thin bamboo strips, thin silks, feathers, leaves of sunflowers, and papers, is a traditional Chinese handicraft used for cooling. Fans, for they can bring people cool, were called "Shelter from the Sun" in ancient China, and called "Cool Friends" by the literati. The craftwork fans as commodities, which are made of bamboos, trees, papers, fans, ivories, hawksbills, jades, feathers of fowls, leaves of palms and arecas, stalks of wheat, and stems of cattails, can be produced in a variety of types with graceful shapes and exquisite structures. China is always regarded as the kingdom of fans. In the history, fans made in China were sold to Japan and European and American countries, where Chinese fans exerted certain influences on the local fan-production and palace rites.

Fans enjoy a long history of about 3 to 4 thousand years in China. Fans, originally, were not used for cool, but for sheltering from the sun and keeping off sands for emperors during their outgoing inspections. After several thousand years of development, fans were developed into several-hundred types, like familiar ones as folding fans, feather fans, silk fans, sunflower fans and group fans. To produce an exquisite fan, various artistic techniques should be integrated, including carving, weaving, knotting, calligraphy, painting, mounting, poker-work, jade article, lacquer work, embroidery, etc. For example, there are more than 100 types of fan head at the bottom of the fan, such as bamboo nodes, plum blossoms, small vases, big catches, round heads of chufa, and so on. The surfaces of such fans as sandalwood fans, bone fans, ivory fans and shell fans are usually carved with elaborate patterns. The price of an ordinary fan will rise hundredfold as long as it is elaborately carved by a skillful craftsman, or painted or written by a famous person.

Fans have many functions. Other than cooling in summer, they can act as tools during the artistic performance like pingtan (an art of Suzhou City), drama, dance and other folk arts. In the ancient times, dancers liked to hold fans while dancing, and the preference has been handed down until now. The fan dance has become a dancing art with distinctive Chinese characteristics. 

When first fan created 3,000 years ago, Chinese fans were simply used to block the sun and keep cool. But over the years, they evolved into works of art, status symbols, props for theater and dance, romantic gifts, and memorials of the dead. 

Significance
The Chinese calligraphy character for the word "fan" has the same sound as the character for "kindness" or "good." Thus, fans are viewed as good luck charms and expressions of generosity. 

Types
Flat Chinese fans are round and made of silk stretched over a frame. Folded fans are made of silk, paper, feathers or leaves. The handles can be bamboo, sandalwood, bone, tortoise shell or ivory. 

Symbolism
The round fans symbolize union or reunion and are often inscribed with romantic poems, Chinese characters or floral designs representing wealth and longevity. The folding fans have a history of symbolizing scholarship. 

Function
In the past, Chinese fans were used to signify a high social status. Today they are used to display grace in dances and personality traits of characters in theatrical plays or storytelling. In connection with the annual Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese fans have also been used as memorials of people who have died. 

Fun Fact
Traditionally, men and women use different folding fans, based on the number of "ribs" between folds. Women's fans must have at least 30 ribs, but men's fans can have nine, 16, 20 or 24.