Xu Yilin
01 · Lineage & Regional School
At the age of fifteen, Xu Yilin became an apprentice at the Hu Handong fan-making workshop, and for several decades he has worked tirelessly in the study and production of folding-fan forms; the various fine Suzhou elegant fans he has developed today number more than one hundred. In addition, he is skilled at restoring all kinds of old fan ribs; his taste and skill are unmatched in the Jiangnan region, and he is called the Fan King of Jiangnan by connoisseurs. He has also trained his two sons to become inheritors of fan making. Within the regional tradition and school record of Fan Making Craftsmanship in Suzhou, Jiangsu: The Suzhou fan-making craft centers on Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province; Suzhou is the birthplace of the sandalwood fan, and the painting on fan leaves is mostly the work of Suzhou painters. The making of folding-fan ribs is renowned for its rich variety and fine, meticulous work; the bamboo ribs after polishing are even, fine, smooth, and elegantly antique. The numbering of Suzhou fans has been carried from the "old brands" to the present, and the name of Suzhou elegant fans appears in local gazetteers and in literati inscriptions. In the Ming, the fan industry and the calligraphy-painting mounting industry around Gusu shared a group of carvers and painters, so the patterns on fan leaves and ribs often followed the same lineage as the mountings. Suzhou fans are a specialty of Suzhou, comprising three major categories — folding fans, sandalwood fans, and silk palace fans — collectively called "Suzhou elegant fans" (Suzhou yashan). Since the Ming and Qing dynasties they have been widely transmitted mainly in Suzhou and its surrounding areas. In the Southern Song there were already people in Suzhou making folding fans themselves; by the Xuande reign of the Ming, workshops were set up for production, and famous-brand products appeared, such as the renowned black-bamboo-ribbed gold-dusted fan. During the Shunzhi reign of the Qing, Suzhou fans became a tribute item for the imperial court, and the fan-making industry began to flourish. The sandalwood fan evolved from the folding fan; made of sandalwood, it gives off a natural fragrance. Since its first creation at the beginning of the 20th century, the sandalwood fan has been loved by people at home and abroad for its unique craft characteristics. After the 1980s, people's lifestyles changed dramatically, and the advent of electric fans and air conditioners sharply reduced the importance of fans. In the late Qing and Republican period, in Shanghai alone there were over a hundred Suzhou fan shops and curio stores dealing in Suzhou fan leaves and ribs; today only Wang Xingji and Duoyunxuan remain.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1933, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu. He is a national representative bearer of the Fan Making Craftsmanship, a first-batch national intangible cultural heritage project, and is a Suzhou folk craft artisan. The making of the fan ribs is the core of the entire folding fan and is renowned for its rich variety and exquisite, meticulous workmanship. The fan ribs made by Xu Yilin are of refined workmanship and rich in style, appealing to both refined and popular tastes, and they possess a strong literati character. Representative works include the Peacock brand water-polished bone folding fan and the 9.5 by 18 water-polished bamboo folding fan. Within the documented technical tradition of Fan Making Craftsmanship in Suzhou, Jiangsu: Suzhou elegant fans include many famous products; as the saying goes, "Among Wuzhong folding fans, those with ribs of red sandalwood, ivory, or ebony are vulgar conventions, whereas only those of palm bamboo or mao bamboo are called elegant objects for the sleeve." The making of folding-fan ribs is renowned for its rich variety and fine, meticulous work; the bamboo ribs after polishing are even, fine, smooth, and elegantly antique. Suzhou is the birthplace of the sandalwood fan, with crafts such as "pierced carving" (lahua), "pyrography" (tonghua), "engraving" (diaohua), and "painting" (huahua); the fan leaves are also painted with landscapes, flowers, and birds, appearing refined and pleasing. Silk palace fans mainly take shapes such as round, hexagonal, rectangular, and waist-round; the leaves are often painted with landscapes, flowers and birds, and figures, and inscribed with famous poets' verses, exuding an antique fragrance and being highly ornamental. The making of Suzhou elegant fans integrates superb skills such as shaping, mounting, carving, inlaying, and lacquering, and has always been an indispensable palm treasure for literati and scholars. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The fan rib": Of the many possible ribs, only palm and moso bamboo make the refined pocket fan, and the polished rib comes out even, smooth and archaic. "Drawn, burnt, carved and painted fans": Drawn, burnt, carved and painted in turn, a sandalwood fan passes dozens of operations from the billet to the finished leaf. "Folding fans and palace fans": The folding fan opens into a fan shape from a bamboo rib; the palace fan hangs from a silk leaf, and the two belong to separate trades.
The fan rib
Of the many possible ribs, only palm and moso bamboo make the refined pocket fan, and the polished rib comes out even, smooth and archaic.
Drawn, burnt, carved and painted fans
Drawn, burnt, carved and painted in turn, a sandalwood fan passes dozens of operations from the billet to the finished leaf.
Folding fans and palace fans
The folding fan opens into a fan shape from a bamboo rib; the palace fan hangs from a silk leaf, and the two belong to separate trades.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2007, Xu Yilin was announced in the first batch of national representative bearers for Fan Making Craftsmanship, with Suzhou, Jiangsu as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Fan Making Craftsmanship in Suzhou, Jiangsu: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Suzhou, Jiangsu as its declared area, and Suzhou Ruyitanxiangshan Co., Ltd. as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Suzhou fans are a specialty of Suzhou, comprising three major categories — folding fans, sandalwood fans, and silk palace fans — collectively called "Suzhou elegant fans" (Suzhou yashan). Since the Ming and Qing dynasties they have been widely transmitted mainly in Suzhou and its surrounding areas. In the Southern Song there were already people in Suzhou making folding fans themselves; by the Xuande reign of the Ming, workshops were set up for production, and famous-brand products appeared, such as the renowned black-bamboo-ribbed gold-dusted fan.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xu Yilin | Suzhou, Jiangsu | 01-0193 | This page |
| Chen Zifu | Rongchang, Chongqing | 03-1339 | Other regional school |
| Xing Weizhong | Suzhou, Jiangsu | 04-1864 | Same declared area |
| Sun Yaqing | Hangzhou, Zhejiang | 05-2777 | Other regional school |
| Wang Mingde | Xuanchengshiguangde, Anhui | — | Other regional school |
| Liu Zhengwen | Yueyangshiyueyang, Hunan | — | Other regional school |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。