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Saturday 17 January 2015

Fan

The first fan was probably a huge palm leaf, or some other naturally grown device (such as a bird's feathers), swayed by slaves.

Ancient Egyptian hosts employed special servants to stand behind their guests and fan them with big fans of papyrus.

The punkah fan was used in India in the early 500 BC. It was a handheld fan made from bamboo strips or other plant fibre, that could be rotated or fanned

Archaeological ruins and ancient texts show that the hand fan was used in ancient Greece at least since the 4th century BC and was known under the name rhipis.

The word ‘fan’ comes from the Latin vannus which was a fan-shaped implement used to winnow grain.

Christian Europe's earliest fan was the flabellum (or ceremonial fan), which dates to the 6th century. This was used during services to drive insects away from the consecrated bread and wine. Its use died out in western Europe, but continues in the Eastern Orthodox and Ethiopian Churches.

The oldest existing Chinese fans are a pair of woven bamboo side-mounted fans from the Second Century AD.

The folding fan was invented in Japan,around the eighth century AD . It was a court fan called the Akomeogi, after the court women's dress named Akome.


According to the Song Sui (History of Song), a Japanese monk Chonen (938-1016) offered the folding fans and two paper fans to the emperor of China in 988.

Portuguese traders brought fans back from China and Japan in the 16th century. They became popular in Europe and were even considered elaborate high status gifts to royalty.

The fan became especially popular in Spain, where flamenco dancers used the fan and extended its use to the nobility.

New Orleans resident Schuyler Skaats Wheeler invented in 1882 a fan powered by electricity by placing a two-bladed propeller on the shaft of an electric motor. It was commercially marketed by the American firm Crocker & Curtis electric motor company.

Crocker-Wheeler electric fan, 1892

Thomas Merton, a Catholic writer, social critic, and Trappist monk, was discovered in the room of his cottage in Bangkok, Thailand on December 10, 1968, lying on his back with a short-circuited Hitachi floor fan lying across his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Merton, who was 53 years old, was staying in the cottage while attending a monastic conference at a Red Cross retreat facility. The cause of death was determined to be accidental electrocution

In 2018, Hugh Turley and David Martin published a book titled The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton: An Investigation, which presents a detailed examination of the circumstances surrounding Merton's death and challenges the official narrative of accidental electrocution. The authors argue that Merton was a vocal critic of the Vietnam War and that his political activism made him a target for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

"Fan Death" is a widely-held belief in South Korea that leaving an electric fan on overnight will kill a person. Even The Korea Consumer Protection Board issued a warning that "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was among the country's five most common summer accidents or injuries.

Fans are traditional New Years gifts in Japan. The shape is regarded as an emblem of life.

Sources Europress Family Encyclopedia 1999, Wikipedia


2 comments:

  1. Its really helpful for me, awaiting for more new post. Keep Blogging!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This statement is false, "The cause of death was determined to be accidental electrocution." Check and see the official cause of death. http://www.themartyrdomofthomasmerton.com/documents.html

    ReplyDelete