Sway To The Grace Of Hand Fans

By Author: John k. Chen
Total Articles: 108
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The flicker of a hand fan still has the power to entice many. The woman carrying it can coyly ask many a favor and the chosen interpreter of these actions would have to respect and fulfill them. Such is the great old world charm they can generate with just a swish of the hand. They have an illicit secret language of their own. However, as the world is progressing, the secret language of hand fans seems to fade into oblivion. The art of communicating with the gestures of the hand fan will probably die with the privileged few who knew how to use them.

Hand fans are believed to have originated in China around the second century and it spread through the continent as tributes and gifts. Each country to which the hand fans reached did modification to its usage as per their own culture and comfort. While the Chinese fans were made of bamboo, the folding fans were developed in Japan. Later their use spread to Korea and were brought to Europe by the Portuguese traders. There are also periods in history when tracing their appearance is difficult but they have emerged again and again at different places, beautifully re-incarnated. ...
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Traditionally, hand fans were considered as status symbol and reflected the wealth of a family. They held their importance in terms of social etiquette. It is believed that women who used hand fans could command their wishes and their suitors would have to comply. Both had to understand the language well as women were strictly chaperoned in earlier days. That is how the romantic secrecy through hand fans developed, so that clandestine affairs could carry on without others knowing about them. Messages about meeting and interest could be conveyed through these fans.

Hand fans were like any other regular items for people of those times, but for our generation they evoke a sense of nostalgia. We want to relive those memories by holding on to these mesmerizing items and bringing them back into use. This way they can be incorporated in the culture again, though the SMS and Facebook age hardly needs the secret language and code.

Apart from the romanticism associated with them, summer climates in the tropical regions really made hand fans a necessity in olden days. These fans can provide immediate relief from the stinging heat that the sun creates in summers. Having a fan handy during summers can help in evaporation of sweat from the skin surface and produces coolness due to latent heat. Now hand fans are more practical and you can get battery operated ones too in case you do not want to tire your hands, and are heading out somewhere with power problems.

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Article brought to you by John k. Chen who writes for asianimportstore.com visit our site for hand fans and parasols.