Why is the monk head folding fan more expensive than other fan types?

2017 is the first year of the take-off of the fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fan. A series of exhibitions have sharply increased the exposure of the fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fan, and the fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fan craftsman has also risen from the unknown to the present.

Of course, the price of fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fans has also risen. In the past, we competed for quantity, but now we compete for quality, and a good one is worth more than a dozen ordinary ones. The masters are also becoming more and more refined, and the entire industry is invigorated. There are still old players who are thinking about how cheap fans were a few years ago and how expensive fans are now. I want to be fair to the editor about this. I already played with fans a few years ago. At that time, it was not expensive, but it was far from being as good as it is now.

Everyone has been playing fans for so long, and they should have discovered this rule--under the premise of other conditions being the same, the cost of the monk's head is more expensive than other fan types. Many masters list the labor costs of making the monk's head separately. .

What does a monk's head fan look like? Why is the monk head more expensive? After talking about this issue clearly, I also bring some points to pay attention to when purchasing a fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fan. I hope it will be helpful to everyone.

Originally, there were only two types of fan heads, square and round, and these two shapes were also called ancient square and ancient circle. The name Gufang is still in use today, and the shape is also the most common; on the contrary, Guyuan is not often mentioned today, and I speculate that it is a flat round head, because it is recorded that the round "monk head" shape was later introduced to China from Japan.

In addition, according to research from the Ming Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, the origin of the fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fan is likely to be the Acacia fan in the Han Dynasty, and the restored Acacia fan is indeed a round head. Now the monk head can be equated with the round head. In addition to the regular monk head, there are also big round heads and small round heads. The monk's head is named because the fan bone gathers the head to form a spherical shape with the fan nail as the axis, and the polished light shines like the bald head of a Buddhist monk; there is another saying, I heard that in the early days, the round-headed fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fans were some people who were related to Buddhism. like to use!

In the Ming Dynasty, the monk head fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fans were mostly below sixteen, and most of them had thirteen. Since the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the workmanship on the fan head has become more and more refined, and the patterns have been constantly renovated. Many patterns are derived from the monk's head. For example, the pine cone head is carved out of small panes on its basis; the plum blossom head is carved out of 6 petals on its basis; the octagonal head is cut out with 8 edges and corners. , as well as gossip head and so on.

To sum up, the monk head is a traditional fan shape with historical inheritance and evolution, and it is the prototype of many fan shapes today. Just like everyone who plays a purple clay teapot must have an antique teapot, everyone who plays a fan wants to have a monk's head, so the more people who want it, the more expensive it will be.

Next, where is the difficulty of being a monk?

In terms of production technology, the monk's head is indeed a test of the skill of fan-making artists. We can evaluate whether a monk head is doing well or not from three points:

1. The monk's head is not round

In the Ming Dynasty and modern times, spherical shapes are popular, of course, the rounder the better. There are also ellipsoids, which are less difficult than the perfect spheres, but also have a smooth transition. In general, the shape of the round head is completely dependent on manual work, and the threshold is still relatively high.

Use a modeling knife and a file to complete the shape of the patch and ossicles. This is not as easy to make round beads as a lathe. In addition, each piece of ossicles must be well matched. It is not only difficult to achieve the same thickness and tightness. And it's labor-intensive.

2. Whether the clamping force is in place

Whether the round head fan.com/Products/Foldingfan/ target=_blank class=infotextkey>Folding fan is good or not, the clamping force is very important, and the clamping force is too large or too small. The clamping force in place is free to open and close, and the outlet is not loose. The hole position of the round head is only about 1cm, which is much lower than the common 1.5-1.8cm hole of the ancient square, that is, the fulcrum of the lever is lower, so it is naturally more difficult to clamp the two large bones, which is a great challenge to the master.

Low nail fans generally do not have excessive clamping force, and more attention should be paid to the problem of insufficient clamping force when selecting. The position of the nail hole of the small round head is even lower, that is, less than 1cm. Compared with the large round head, the small round head has higher requirements on the clamping force, so it is more difficult to make.

3. Does the big bone bow its back?

Many old fans have the phenomenon of bowing back, usually because of aging, the fan nails are loose, and the bamboo is deformed. It doesn't necessarily have to be this problem. The old fan should maintain the original charm, so the old fan said otherwise, which is not within the scope of our discussion today.

With the current level of craftsmanship of the front-line fan masters, they are fully capable of avoiding the problem of bowing. So when buying a new fan, whether you bow your back becomes a bar to test the master's level. From the current point of view, of course, it is more difficult to do without bowing, and it looks better.

There are many reasons for the phenomenon of bowing back. The editor said that there are several main reasons. First, the bamboo may not be old enough and good enough. Second, the beam may not be attached well enough. Third, the fire may not be good enough...

There is also an ultimate challenge in making a monk head, which is whether the proportion of the head shape and the fan bone itself is coordinated, which tests the aesthetic level of the master and the player. There is no certain standard or method, so be more optimistic about good things!