中國扇子的歷史可以追溯到3000多年前的商朝(the Shang Dynasty)。第一種扇子叫作“扇汗”(Shanhan),是拴在馬車上用來 擋住強烈的陽光，給乘客遮雨的。“扇汗”有點像現在的雨傘。后來 “扇汗”變成了由薄但是結實的絲綢或者鳥的羽毛做成的長柄扇，稱 為中山扇(Zhangshan fan),它主要用于皇帝的儀仗(honour guard)裝飾。

參考譯文：

The history of Chinese fan can be dated to over 3,000 years ago，around the Shang Dynasty. The first type of fan, known as Shanhan, was tied to a horse-drawn carriage to shut out the strong sunshine and shelter the passengers from the rainfall. The Shanhan was a bit like today’s umbrella. Later this Shanhan became a long-handled fan made of thin and tough silk or birds5 feathers, called a Zhangshan fan, which was mainly used by the emperor’s honour guard as decoration.