Legendary

As you can see, this is a blank fan, but it is unlikely that a potential owner would leave it this way. Fans would usually have something drawn or written upon them, often containing symbolism.

According to legend, a monk made the first Korean hand fan during the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392). He was said to have made this fan in the image of the woman he loved, but he could not be with her because of his quest for absolute truth and nirvana. On the fan he wrote a poem and added decorations like flowers and bats, with the flowers symbolizing the beauty and elegance of the woman and the bats symbolizing the secrecy in which they would have had to meet.

But the different sections of the fan also represented parts of the female appearance...