Femme

Now, follow us: the part where the fan is held represents the head. The metal piece joining the bamboo represents a hairpin. The protruding part underneath the head represents the bosom. And, lastly, the sheet represents a skirt. The fan representing a woman could explain why fans were items much desired by men, and why it was mainly decorated with symbols of femininity, like butterflies and flowers.

Like the monk in the legends, many scholars or artists would write or paint on their fans. These writings and paintings could symbolize numerous things, but for others it meant money. Writings and paintings of well-known scholars would obviously garner a lot of interest and therefore make them into valuable objects; in high demand with merchants, but also for the scholars themselves. If these scholars ever fell on hard times financially, they could try to sell their fans.

Since images and texts on fans could increase their value, it is remarkable that this fan has been kept blank. One reason could be that it was bought by a European person for a museum before it could move to a proper ‘owner’, as sometimes fans were sold blank so the owner could have texts and images added by a specific person.