FANS OF THE FAR EAST—Continued
JAPAN
THE fan is regarded by the Japanese as an emblem of life, that widens and expands as the sticks radiate from the rivet or starting-point, and for this reason is selected for the new-year’s gift.[46] It enters into almost every affair of the life of the people, from Emperor to peasant; friends greet each other with a wave of the fan; it is one of the gifts which the bride takes with her to her husband’s house; it is presented to the youth on the attainment of his majority;[47] it is used by jugglers in feats of skill, by the umpires of wrestling matches as signal, by singers to modulate their voices; the condemned man marches to the scaffold fan in hand; the executioner does not relinquish his fan during the performance of his duty.
| Netsuki. The Dai Tengu with feather uchiwa. | Mr W. L. Behrens. |
| Dagger Fan. | MrL. C. R. Messel. | Camp Fan of Eagles Feathers, horn handle. Mr L. C. R. Messel. |
The early history of the fan in the country of Dai Nippon is substantially the same as in all the countries of the far and nearer East, and presents us with the same order of development, the earliest being formed of the primitive palm leaf, or of feathers. We have, in the story of ‘The Tengus’ a description of the Dai or Master Tengu, who wears a long grey beard down to his girdle, moustaches to his chin, and carries in his left hand as a sign of his rank a fan made of seven wide feathers pointed at the
