Chinese Children’s Fan Etiquette

According to cits.net, folding fans appeared in the Song Dynasty and gained popularity among literati and officials during the Ming Dynasty. They wrote poems or even painted on the fans. The fans with poems or paintings on them served as artistic symbol for social status. The paintings cover a wide range from landscapes, flowers, figures, and so on. In the Qing Dynasty, being widely favored by men of letters, the Chinese fan was in full flourish. Group Of Chinese Women With Fans, Canton, China (c1880)

Afong Lai (Restored 4071802299  Wikimedia Commons

Children and Fans in China

Almost every child in China has a fan of its own. They are the playthings of Chinese babies, as children in this country delight in rattles. Chinese nurses amuse their young charges with their fans, which they are never without. The children learn to handle their fans very expertly, for the fan in the hands of a Chinese has a certain language of its own. Rich and poor alike, every boy and girl, must have a fan. A poor little Chinese boy who has scarcely a whole garment and who rarely gets a good meal, will still have a fan and use it constantly. — Placer Herald, 1898

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

A Chinese Etiquette Revolution

 The Marquis Tseng was one of China’s earliest government ministers to London, Paris and Saint Petersburg. His was an important diplomatic role which preceded and accompanied the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). – Beijing was often referred to as “Peking” in English and “Pekin” in Japanese. Beijing has been known by other names throughout its history including Youzhou, Zhongdu, Dadu, Shuntian, Peiping, and Yanjing.

Social Revolution in China

A social revolution in Peking is, according to The Chinese Times, being effected by the Marquis and Marchioness Tseng, both of whom visit freely at all the foreign legations, and receive the visits of foreigners at their private house. Persons new to China see nothing remarkable in these social courtesies, but those who know the Pekin etiquette appreciate the boldness of the Marquis in thus challenging the very citadel of petrified conservatism. As he is too shrewd a man to run his head deliberately against a stone wall, it may be inferred from his actions, that he has the secret countenance of high personages.— Boston Transcript, 1887

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia