Chinese Fans in the Qing Dynasty

Section 01

Fans in the Qing court

In the Qing dynasty, Chinese fans reached their most elaborate form at the imperial court. Ceremonial fans on long handles still flanked the emperor, while courtiers carried folding fans of the finest materials, and the court itself commissioned fans as gifts and rewards. A Qing fan could be a piece of statecraft as much as an object of craft.

Court taste favored richness: carved and gilded ribs, painted silk leaves, and fans made to be given by the emperor to officials and foreign envoys. The Qing chapter of the history of Chinese fans is the story of the fan at its most luxurious.

Section 02

Sandalwood, ivory and luxury materials

Today, antique ivory and tortoiseshell fans are collectible but ethically fraught; modern makers and this site prefer bamboo fans and sustainable woods. The craft of carved sandalwood ribs, however, is still alive in Suzhou — see handmade Chinese folding fans.

Section 03

The Cantonese export fan trade

The Qing dynasty also made the Chinese fan a global product. Canton workshops produced fans specifically for Europe from the 18th century onward: painted leaves, sometimes with European figures, ivory or tortoiseshell ribs, and boxes packed by the thousand for ships sailing west.

These export fans are why European and American museums hold so many Chinese fans today — and why “Chinese fan” became a fashionable European accessory. For the modern collector, they are often the most accessible entry into the tradition: see Chinese folding fans for sale for what to look for.

Section 04

Round fans and palace women

While folding fans dominated the scholar's world, the Chinese round fan kept its place in the Qing palace. Palace women appear in Qing painting holding round silk fans, continuing the tuánshàn tradition that reached back to the Han dynasty, and round fans remained the graceful prop of the boudoir.

Qing round fans could be plain white silk or richly painted with flowers and figures, and the finest examples were made with embroidered or kesi (silk tapestry) leaves. The contrast with the folding fan is sharp: the folding fan belonged to public life, the round fan to the private world of the palace — a split explained further in what a Chinese fan means.

Section 05

Qing fan makers and workshops

Behind every Qing fan was a workshop with a division of labor: rib carvers, leaf painters, calligraphers, mounters and finishers. Suzhou and Hangzhou remained the centers of fine fan-making, while Canton specialized in the export market. Family workshops passed their techniques down for generations, and some of those lineages survive today.

The Qing also saw the rise of the carved and pierced sandalwood fan (檀香扇) as a distinct Suzhou specialty — a fan that is almost sculpture. Collectors still prize these, and the craft is covered under Chinese fan traditions, where living workshop culture is part of the story.

Section 06

Frequently asked questions