Almost all of us think if there are no air conditioners, we cannot live through summer. However, in ancient China, hand fans were almost the only tool for people to drive away the summer heat.
Chinese people started to use hand fans over 2,000 years ago. The fans came in different shapes, such as round and square. They were also made from all kinds of materials (材料). Palm leaf (棕榈叶) fans were cheap and easy to make. Feather fans showed the owner’s high status (地位). Sandalwood fans could send out a sweet smell.
Later, hand fans became far more than just something that could cool you down. They developed into artworks, in which tuanshan (round fans) and zheshan (folded fans) were the most common.
Tuanshan is also called Wanshan or Gongshan. It’s a Chinese Traditional Handkcrat. In the shape of a full moon, tuanshan was usually made of silk. They had beautiful embroidery (刺绣) of birds and flowers on them. In the Tang Dynasty, Tuanshan as an accessory (配饰) was popular with ladies. Poets in ancient China often compared a woman’s abandoned fate (被抛弃的命运) to tuanshan. Nalan Xingde wrote during the Qing Dynasty, “If only life were as beautiful as when we first met, why should the autumn wind bother to pity deserted painted fans?”
However, men, especially the literati (文人) used zheshan, or folded fans. The literati liked them because zheshan were usually made of paper and they could paint and write poems on them. It was a way for them to show off their talents in literature, painting and calligraphy (书法). Almost anything can be painted on zheshan, but the most popular ones usually featured landscapes (以风景画为特色).
Today, Chinese people still use these fans, only not many write or paint on them any more. So the next time you use a fan, you may think of the stories behind it.
22. What do we know about hand fans?
A.People mainly used fans with sweet smells 2000 years ago. |
B.There were two shapes of hand fans. |
C.They become more popular recently. |
D.They can be made from different materials. |
23. According to the story, ________.
A.tuanshan and zheshan became artworks |
B.sandalwood fans were cheap and easy to make |
C.both tuanshan and zheshan were feather fans |
D.palm leaf fans were seen as a symbol of rich people |
24. The poem in the fourth paragraph tells readers _________.
A.what tuanshan looked like | B.why women liked tuanshan |
C.tuanshan were popular among poets | D.tuanshan had a special meaning in poems |
25. What do we know about zheshan?
A.Zheshan were made for the literati. | B.Zheshan were all made of paper. |
C.People could write and paint on them. | D.The literati could paint nothing but landscapes on them. |