Summer, hand fan, what does the dreamer say?

Nowadays, fans can be said to be very common. Some people even think that wearing fans looks old-fashioned. But in ancient times, fans were not only a tool to cool down, but also a symbol of literati and status.

1. The origin of the fan

In modern times, as soon as summer arrives, all kinds of electric fans, air conditioners and cold fans at home begin to work to cool off the heat for us. But when we are outdoors and there are no electronic products, we can only let the traditional fans fan away the heat for us. So, the question is, how did this fan come from?

Speaking of fans, I think everyone is familiar. As a tool to cool off the summer heat, fans can bring people bursts of coolness in hot summer days. So how many people thoroughly understand the origin of the fan and its emergence and development? Then let's get to know it together! Since ancient times, there has been demand and production motivation, and fans are no exception. Because of the hot weather in summer, people need something to relieve the heat. Maybe it's to attract the wind to enjoy the cool in the hot summer, or to dust off your body, or to help firewood to support combustion when cooking and burning firewood, so as to better light the fire.

Besides, it can also help us drive away mosquitoes and ants when we look at the starry sky outside in summer. Smart humans invented the fan through their own efforts. Speaking of the birthplace of fans, fans first appeared in the hotter south. The materials for making fans were leaves of palm plants that were common in people's lives at that time, and some fans also used the wings of various birds as raw materials. Later, people found that fans woven with bamboo and cattail were lighter, simpler in technology and more durable in daily life. After that, people began to weave fans with paper, which made them lighter and easier to carry.

2. The status of ancient fans

In ancient China, fans were originally used not to fan the wind, but to show off. Fans were first called "bottles" in the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago. It is said that there were already cattail fans and bamboo fans in China at that time. At first, people used them not to cool down, but as decorations. According to Jin Cuibao's Notes on Ancient and Modern Times, people at that time thought that the feathers on the pheasant's tail were beautiful and it would be awesome to use them as works of art. For this reason, after a long time, people made a word for it, which was pronounced "yi" [sh? ], above is the word "feather" of a feather, and below is the word "concubine" of male and female servants, which means a feather standing on both sides like a concubine. Speaking of which, you may still remember that when you watch ancient court TV dramas, do you often see two ladies-in-waiting holding fans and the like behind the emperor? When the emperor travels, some attendants hold two huge fans, while some concubines walk in the yard, there are always ladies-in-waiting holding fans and the like, which is actually just decorations at that time.

However, with the evolution of time, people gradually found that fans can bring people a cool feeling by shaking, so slow fans have become a tool for fanning the wind, which is both decorative and practical. Seeing this, will someone sigh, if you use feathers as fans, will feathers float everywhere when you fan the wind? The answer is yes, it did happen at that time. So people thought of improving the shape of this knife, so they changed it into the shape of this kitchen knife as shown below.

3. The evolution of ancient fans

This is because a long time ago, the ancients thought that the wind came in through the wind window, and the shape of this kitchen knife was very similar to the doors and windows at that time, so they thought that what could bring us cool air must be the appearance of doors and windows. So the fans at the beginning were all made into kitchen knives. Later, with the excess of people's material life, people began to pursue the aesthetics of fans. People always think that it is a bit unsightly to carry a kitchen knife fan like this, so they improve the fan. Slowly, it became the fan we see now. And now the fans are also varied and varied.

Now people have invented advanced tools for enjoying the cool, such as portable air conditioners and small automatic electric fans. As long as it is fully charged, it can automatically blow to enjoy the cool outdoors, but of course electronic products have their limitations, that is, the problem of battery life. Some electric fans can only blow for 4-5 hours, which will consume all the electricity. At this time, the wisdom of our ancestors was revealed. It is also a unique enjoyment to blow out the natural wind from nature with this manual fan. Now that I think about it, I will think of watching the stars on the roof of a rural bungalow when I was a child, shaking my fan with my hand and watching the stars all over the sky. Sometimes there will be meteors passing by, and it's hard to forget the way I clenched my fist and made a quick wish.