Handmade folding fan of Nanjing is work of art and labor
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| The fan frame is made of thin bamboo stripes. [Photo/IC] |
The most important process in making a folding fan is its frame. The process includes 43 small steps, ranging from selecting material to chopping and burning it. First, select 6-8 years old bamboos which grow in fertile soil facing the sun. Then boil the selected bamboo, to isolate albumen and sugar from the bamboo, so that the bamboo won't attract insects later. Then chop the bamboo little by little to give it shape like the side of the fan. The second last step is to burn the fan side into an arc shape to make it fixable. The last step is polishing, to make the fan frame smooth.
The making of the fan surface needs to go through the process of selecting material, cutting the paper, mounting the surface, cutting the edge and so on. Last, to combine the fan frame with the fan surface, a folding fan is finally created.
