Yuyao Straw Fan

Yuyao Straw Fan

　　It has long been a folk custom to weave straw fans. Every year after the barley harvest in the fifth lunar month, slender, white, and clean barley straw tops are selected and tied into bundles. Through processes such as soaking in rice-washing water, boiling, steaming, and rinsing, the straw becomes both white and tough. Women skillfully weave the straw into fan strips. When the strips reach an appropriate length, they are coiled and sewn into a round fan surface, commonly known as a “fan straw cake.”

　　　　After making several fan surfaces, a toothed woven strip dyed in various colors is added to the outer rim of the fan surface, with a small round embroidery piece in the center serving as the fan core. The outer edge of the fan core is further wrapped in silk-threaded fleece. The embroidery patterns in the fan core are simple yet elegant, often featuring auspicious designs such as mandarin ducks, jade rabbits, pine trees and cranes, as well as flowers, plants, insects, and fish. Some also embroider well-wishing phrases like “friendship,” “happiness,” “love,” “coolness,” and “prosperity.” A bamboo handle is then attached, and red and green silk threads are tied at the binding points and the end of the handle. The entire fan is vibrant and generous, simple yet beautiful—truly a practical and exquisite piece of folk art. This tradition is passed down in rural areas, where girls, young married women, and elderly ladies alike all know how to weave and embroider these beautiful straw fans. Passed from generation to generation, many fans are woven each year and given to relatives, neighbors, friends, and family members as tools for cooling off, shading from the sun, and keeping insects away.

　　　　According to local custom, every year during the Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth lunar month, the parents of a newlywed daughter will carry food and gifts to visit their daughter, expressing their love and care. Among the main gifts are straw fans. These fans range from just twenty or thirty to as many as a hundred, all woven by daughters-in-law and young women. They distribute these food items and fans to fathers, uncles, aunts, sisters-in-law, neighbors, and other community members.