About folding fan

Nanjing's fan makers were originally concentrated in the city. Due to the strong seasonality of the fan-making industry, in order to make a living, craftsmen gradually moved to the countryside, mostly concentrated in the Shifuqiao area of Qixia Mountain, farming in the busy farming season and making fans in their spare time. There is still a ballad in Qixia that "chong yang wine is a fan and never leaves his hand".

The production of Jinling folding fan is divided into two parts: fan bone and fan face. In addition to sandalwood and mahogany, good fan bones are also made of mahogany such as chicken thorn wood. The most common is bamboo, including white bamboo, square bamboo, old brown bamboo, feixiang bamboo, arhat bamboo, cherry bamboo and so on. In addition, precious materials such as ebony, sandalwood, ivory and animal bones are also commonly used. "Holding fire" is the key to being a fan bone. Hold on tight and wrap the fan tightly. In the old days, the bones were fried and the bones were antique. Later, it was treated with soap alum in factory production. Bamboo fan bones are also made of exquisite materials. General manufacturers go to Guangde, Moganshan and other places to buy bamboo for more than four years, cut it on the spot, then cook it, and pack it with a sack and transport it back. After arriving at the factory, it should be dried repeatedly and exposed to dew. Only when there is no green can it be made. The traditional fan bone grinding method is mowing, fine grinding with sand leaves, grinding with the palm of your hand and finally waxing. After chopping, soaking, drying, grinding, ironing and other processes, it can be processed into waxy, smooth, smooth and bright fan bones. Micro-carving on the "smooth as a mirror" fan bone is a must for Jinling folding fans.

The fan is made of cotton rice paper with clear pattern and mounted with alum. Uniform thickness, flat, firm and tough, and does not crack after long-term use. With calligraphy and painting, people can't put it down. More elegant fans can be equipped with more decorative mica, and more ostentatious fans can be sprinkled with gold foil.

After hundreds of years of circulation, the production technology of Jinling folding fan has been continuously improved and the varieties are more diverse. "Ink Jade Broken Fan" is known as "Jinling Elegant Fan". Nanjing Qixia "Jinling Wang Ji Fan Village", as an old fan-making enterprise in Nanjing, has completely inherited the traditional manual craft of Jinling folding fans, and the Jinling folding fans produced are well-known at home and abroad.

Jinling folding fan has been passed down to this day. At present, only Mr. Wang Keli in Qixia has made Jinling folding fans with traditional techniques. As Wang Keli is nearly sixty years old, no young people are willing to inherit the craftsmanship of Jinling folding fan, so this skill may be lost. Therefore, it is necessary to protect and inherit the production skills of Jinling folding fans.