History of Fan

The Origins of Fan in China

The use of the fan during the Qin dynasty
(221 B.C. - 206 B.C.)

Qin's military strategy was based on taking the offensive. The Qin army’s expert practice of siege warfare enabled them to conquer city after city. Cities and towns had protective walls during this era, and the goal of siege warfare was to overcome the walls and capture the city. The siege train of weapons contained specialized devices for spanning rivers or moats, battering and scaling walls, tunneling and terrorizing the enemy.

When a wall can not be scaled, tunneling was attempted. Soil dislodged by the digging was carried away and bagged using four-cornered mats. Fires were ignited in the tunnels beneath the walls to destroy supports, causing the collapse of the wall. The underground fires were maintained by air blown generated by the fans (see picture below).

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