Lacquered fans – unique handcrafted art products from China.

The combination of colors and different painting techniques has made Chinese lacquer fans unique.

Recently, lacquer fans, crafted with special techniques, have become increasingly popular in China. From Nanjing to Yangzhou, from Suzhou to Xuzhou, it's easy to spot tourists holding lacquer fans of various colors, taking photos at scenic spots...

Lacquered fan. (Source: Xiaohongshu)

It requires dexterity, meticulousness, and creativity.

Lacquered fans are handcrafted using a combination of a handheld fan and a raised lacquer technique – the lacquer's water-resistant properties.

This art form originates from the traditional fan-using and lacquerware culture of the Han Dynasty in China.

Compared to the complex technical steps of traditional handcrafted lacquerware, lacquer fans are much simpler and require more streamlined operations.

To create a lacquer fan, you need a hand fan (folding or round fan) combined with natural lacquer from the lacquer tree – a deciduous tree native to southern China.

Natural lacquer typically has low production yields because a single tree can only produce about 10kg of raw lacquer throughout its lifetime. Therefore, to save costs, some businesses opt for cashew nut lacquer – a synthetic lacquer containing phenol and methanol.

A wide variety of lacquer colors. (Source: Summer Kitchen)

With all the necessary materials, the user simply needs to follow these steps: choose their favorite paint color and drop it into the water, use a wooden stick to stir the paint until it spreads across the water's surface, immerse the fan head in the water, and gently move the fan head.

With the rippling movement of the water, the fan's surface will gradually reveal natural patterns such as stars, the sky, rivers, seas, mountains, etc.

The Chinese call the process of making lacquer fans "using lacquer as a brush, using the fan as paper, half man-made, half divine." This art also requires skillful hands, meticulousness, creativity, and a rich imagination.

Due to the unpredictable nature of the water flow, lacquer fan makers will create fans that are no different from one another. This unpredictability is what makes these fans special and attracts the attention of many people.

The philosophy of living "in harmony with nature"

It can be seen that the art of lacquer fan making clearly reflects the lifestyle and philosophy in Chinese culture. From ancient times, Chinese philosophy has featured ideas of "following nature," exemplified by Lao Tzu - the author of the Tao Te Ching, who taught the theory of "Wu Wei" - meaning doing nothing, allowing things to unfold naturally in harmony.

Lao Tzu used the philosophy of "non-action yet nothing is left undone" (roughly translated as doing nothing but seeing no problem, then one should not do anything) to describe those who understand the laws of heaven and earth, live in harmony with nature, and possess a calm and expansive mind.

According to him, for humans to live in harmony with heaven and earth, it is necessary to "man follow the earth, the earth follow heaven, heaven follow the Way, and the Way follow nature."

Similarly, in the art of making lacquer fans, while practicing, the maker needs to rely on the movement of the water to allow the lacquer to penetrate the fan's surface. Only after the fan is lifted from the water can the patterns on its surface become clearly visible.

The process of dipping the fan into lacquer paint. (Source: Summer Kitchen)

Each fan has different images and colors, and the lacquer paint on the water's surface must be applied according to the direction of the water flow to easily penetrate and beautify the simple fan.

Similar to human life, in Lao Tzu's philosophical thought, one should live by understanding the laws of nature, not forcing things, and wholeheartedly doing one's best without seeking results.

The rapid popularity of lacquer fans demonstrates the strong vitality of traditional Chinese culture. Many provinces and cities in China are now actively promoting lacquer fans as a creative, unique, and convenient cultural tourism product.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/quat-son-mai-san-pham-nghe-thuat-thu-cong-doc-dao-o-trung-quoc-272316.html