Editing Hand fan (section)

==== Japan ====
In ancient Japan, hand fans, such as oval and silk fans, were greatly influenced by Chinese fans.<ref>{{cite web |title=Japanese Hand Fans |url=http://www.hand-fan.org/japanese_hand_fans.html |work=hand-fan.org |access-date=2012-06-28 |archive-date=2012-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907044119/http://www.hand-fan.org/japanese_hand_fans.html }}</ref> The earliest visual depiction of fans in Japan dates back to the 6th century AD, with burial tomb paintings showed drawings of fans. The folding fan was invented in Japan,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nathan |first=Richard |date=17 April 2020 |title=The First Portable Device Loved by Japan's Literati |url=https://www.redcircleauthors.com/news-and-views/the-first-portable-device-loved-by-japans-literati/ |access-date=12 January 2021 |website=Red Circle Authors}}</ref> with dates ranging from the 6th to 9th centuries;<ref name="Halsey & Friedman 1983">{{cite book |last1=Halsey |first1=William Darrach |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8LwJAAAAIAAJ&q=akomeogi&pg=PA556 |title=Collier's encyclopedia: with bibliography and index |last2=Friedman |first2=Emanuel |publisher=Macmillan Educational Co. |year=1983 |volume=9 |page=556 |quote=In the 7th century the folding fan evolved, the earliest form of which was a court fan called the "Akomeogi", which had thirty-eight blades connected by a rivet; it had artificial flowers at the corners and twelve long, colored silk streamers.}}</ref><ref name="Lipinski 1999">{{cite book |last=Lipinski |first=Edward R. |url=https://archive.org/details/newyorktimeshome00lipi |title=The New York Times home repair almanac: a season-by-season guide for maintaining your home |publisher=Lebhar-Friedman Books |year=1999 |isbn=0-86730-759-5 |quote=The Japanese developed the folding fan, the Akomeogi, during the sixth century. Portuguese traders introduced it to the west in the 16th century and soon both men and women throughout the continent adopted it. |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Qian 2000, p.12">{{cite book |last=Qian |first=Gonglin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e2n9ta1D8DUC&q=Japanese+monk&pg=PA12 |title=Chinese fans: artistry and aesthetics |publisher=Long River Press |year=2000 |isbn=1-59265-020-1 |page=12 |quote=The first folding fan arrived as a tribute that was brought to China by a Japanese monk in 988. Writings of both Japanese and Chinese scholars concerning the folding fan, which was believed to have been first invented in Japan, apparently suggest that it received its shape from the design of a bat's wing.}}</ref><ref name="Verschuer 2006">{{cite book |last=Verschuer |first=Charlotte von |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tjTZAAAAIAAJ&q=%22folding+fan%22+%22Japanese+creation%22&pg=PA12 |title=Across the perilous sea: Japanese trade with China and Korea from the seventh to the sixteenth centuries |publisher=Cornell University |year=2006 |isbn=1-933947-03-9 |page=72 |quote=Another Japanese creation enjoyed great success among foreigners: the folding fans. It was invented in Japan in the eighth or ninth century, when only round and fixed (uchiwa) fans made of palm leaves were known. -- their usage had spread throughout China in antiquity. Two types of folding fans developed: one was made of cypress-wood blades bound by a thread (hiogi); the other had a frame with fewer blades which was covered in Japanese paper and folded in a zigzag patterns (kawahori-ogi).}} "The paper fan was described by a thirteenth-century Chinese author, but well before that date Chōnen had offered twenty wooden-bladed fans and two paper fans to the emperor of China."</ref> it was a court fan called the {{nihongo||衵扇|akomeogi}}, after the court women's dress named {{transliteration|ja|akome}}.<ref name="Halsey & Friedman 1983" /><ref>{{cite web |script-title=ja:衵扇 |trans-title=Akomeogi |url=http://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%A1%B5%E6%89%87 |publisher=Mypedia |language=ja}}</ref> According to the {{transliteration|zh|Song Sui}} (History of Song), a Japanese monk {{nihongo|Chōnen|[[:ja:ちょう然]]/奝然||938－1016}} offered the folding fans (twenty {{nihongo|wooden-bladed fans|桧扇|hiōgi}} and two {{nihongo|paper fans|蝙蝠扇|kawahori-ogi}} to the emperor of China in 988.<ref name="Qian 2000, p.12" /><ref name="Verschuer 2006" /><ref name="Julia & Alexander 1992">{{cite book |last1=Hutt |first1=Julia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBPrAAAAMAAJ&q=Song+shu |title=Ōgi: a history of the Japanese fan |last2=Alexander |first2=Hélène |publisher=Dauphin Pub. |year=1992 |isbn=1-872357-08-3 |page=14 |quote=It was recorded in the Song Shu [sic.: the Song Sui is the correct source], the official history of the Chinese Song dynasty (960-1279), that in 988 a Japanese monk, Chonen, presented at court gifts of...}} "There are also numerous references to folding fans in the great classical literature of the Heian period (794-1185), in particular the Genji Monogatari (''The Tale of Genji'') by Murasaki Shikibu and the Makura no Sōshi (''The Pillow Book'') by Sei Shōnagon. Already by the end of tenth century, the popularity of folding fans was such that sumptuary laws were promulgated during Chōho era (999-1003) which restricted the decoration of both hiogi and paper folding fans."</ref>

Later in the 11th century, Korean envoys brought along Korean folding fans which were of Japanese origin as gifts to Chinese court.<ref name="Tsang 2002, p.10">{{cite book |last=Tsang |first=Ka Bo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBTrAAAAMAAJ&q=korean |title=More than keeping cool: Chinese fans and fan painting |publisher=Royal Ontario Museum |year=2002 |isbn=0-88854-439-1 |page=10 |quote=Guo Ruoxu, for example, has included a short note about the folding fan in his Tuhua Jian Wen Zhi (''Records of Paintings Seen and Heard About'', 1074) It states that Korean envoys often brought along Korean folding fans as gifts. They were, Guo also pointed out, of Japanese origin.}}</ref> The popularity of folding fans was such that sumptuary laws were passed during [[Heian period]] which restricted the decoration of both {{transliteration|ja|hiōgi}} and paper folding fans.<ref name="Julia & Alexander 1992" /><ref name="Medley 1976">{{cite book |last=Medley |first=Margaret |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W3HrAAAAMAAJ&q=heian+origin+evidently |title=Chinese painting and the decorative style |publisher=University of London School of Oriental and African Studies, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art |year=1976 |isbn=0-7286-0028-5 |page=106 |quote=In origin it was evidently Japanese, common already in the Heian period. A fragment of a late Heian folding-fan was excavated some decade ago at Takao-yama. Japanese fans were well known in China during the late eleventh century.}}</ref>

{{Gallery
  |title = Japanese hand fans
  |align = center
  |File:Uchiwa.jpg|Japanese rigid fan ({{ill|uchiwa|ja|うちわ|lt={{transliteration|ja|uchiwa}}}})
  |File:Japanese Fan (Hakusen).png|Japanese foldable fan ({{transliteration|ja|sensu}})
  |File:Fan of Japanese Cypress ITUKUSHIMA shrine.JPG|Japanese foldable fan of late Heian period (12th century)
  |File:Noh5.jpg|Noh performance at [[Itsukushima Shrine|Itsukushima]] Shrine
}}

The earliest fans in Japan were made by tying thin stripes of {{transliteration|ja|[[Hinoki Cypress|hinoki]]}} (or Japanese cypress) together with thread. The number of strips of wood differed according to the person's rank. Later in the 16th century, Portuguese traders introduced it to the west and soon both men and women throughout the continent adopted it.<ref name="Lipinski 1999" /> They are used today by [[Shinto]] priests in formal costume and in the formal costume of the Japanese court (they can be seen used by the Emperor and Empress during [[Enthronement of the Japanese Emperor|enthronement]] and marriage) and are brightly painted with long tassels. Simple Japanese paper fans are sometimes known as {{transliteration|ja|[[harisen]]}}.

Printed fan leaves and painted fans are done on a paper ground. The paper was originally handmade and displayed the characteristic watermarks. Machine-made paper fans, introduced in the 19th century, are smoother, with an even texture. Even today, [[geisha]] and {{transliteration|ja|[[maiko]]}} use folding fans in their fan dances as well.

Japanese fans are made of paper on a bamboo frame, usually with a design painted on them. In addition to folding fans ({{transliteration|ja|ōgi}}),<ref>Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005). "''Ōgi''" in {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 738.|page=738}}</ref> the non-bending fans ({{transliteration|ja|uchiwa}}) are popular and commonplace.<ref>Nussbaum, "''Uchiwa''", {{Google books|p2QnPijAEmEC|p. 1006.|page=1006}}</ref> The fan is primarily used for fanning oneself in hot weather. The {{transliteration|ja|uchiwa}} fan subsequently spread to other parts of Asia, including Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, and such fans are still used by Buddhist monks as "ceremonial fans".<ref>{{cite web |title=Buddhist Monks Ceremonial Fans |url=http://www.thebuddhasface.co.uk/buddhist-monks-ceremonial-fans-119-c.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423045844/http://www.thebuddhasface.co.uk/buddhist-monks-ceremonial-fans-119-c.asp |archive-date=April 23, 2013 |access-date=2017-10-27 |publisher=Thebuddhasface.co.uk}}</ref>

Fans were also used in the military as a way of sending signals on the field of battle. However, fans were mainly used for social and court activities. In Japan, fans were variously used by warriors as a form of weapon, by actors and dancers for performances, and by children as a toy.

Traditionally, the rigid fan (also called fixed fan) was the most popular form in China,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=fan - decorative arts |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/201415/fan}}</ref> although the folding fan came into popularity during the [[Ming dynasty]] between the years of 1368 and 1644, and there are many beautiful examples of these folding fans still remaining.<ref>ChinesePod Weekly, [http://chinesepod.com/blog/Chinese%2BFans%253A%2BMore%2BThan%2BKeeping%2BCool%2B%255B%2BChinesePod%2BWeekly%2B%255D/1027 Chinese Fans: More Than Keeping Cool] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113103306/http://chinesepod.com/blog/Chinese%2BFans%253A%2BMore%2BThan%2BKeeping%2BCool%2B%255B%2BChinesePod%2BWeekly%2B%255D/1027|date=2012-11-13}}</ref>

The {{transliteration|ja|mai ogi}} (or Japanese dancing fan) has ten sticks and a thick paper mount showing the family crest, and Japanese painters made a large variety of designs and patterns. The slats, of [[ivory]], [[bone]], [[mica]], [[pearl|mother of pearl]], [[sandalwood]], or [[tortoiseshell material|tortoise shell]], were carved and covered with [[paper]] or [[Textile|fabric]]. Folding fans have "montures" which are the sticks and guards, and the leaves were usually painted by craftsmen. Social significance was attached to the fan in the Far East as well, and the management of the fan became a highly regarded feminine art. Fans were even used as a weapon – called the [[iron fan]], or {{transliteration|ja|[[tessen]]}} in Japanese.

[[File:GinfukurinGunbai.jpg|thumb|right|A {{transliteration|ja|gunbai-uchiwa}}, the military leader's fan]] 
See also, the {{transliteration|ja|[[gunbai]]}}, a military leader's fan (in old Japan); used in the modern day as an umpire's fan in sumo wrestling, it is a type of Japanese war fan, like the {{transliteration|ja|tessen}}.