QUESTION:
No one knows exactly how fans in China were
invented. The invention or rather the discovery
of the fanning function could have been as
accidental as follows: a primitive man irritated
with lots of flies and mosquitoes, picks up
a big leaf off a plant next to him to drive
the pests away. To his delight, his effort
resulted in cooling air movements.
Legend has it that folded fans were introduced
to China from which two countries:
A. Japan and Korea;
B. Korea and Malaysia;
C. Japan and Russia;
D. Australia and The Bahamas.
ANSWERS:
A is correct. Historians place
the introduction of folded fans to China around
about 1,000 years ago. They were usually made
with fine paper mounted on bamboo and scholars
of the day would paint their poetic and artistic
expressions on the surface.
A great variety of fans have been produced
in China; sandalwood, ivory, even gold, silver
and jade have been used as material.
