History of Chair _ Brief Introduction of Chair History

Ancient Egypt was the first place in the world where chairs were used. In ancient India, only prominent figures could sit in chairs. In China, the chair was originally the name of a tree. Before the chair appeared, the traditional seating in China was banquet, mat, bed and couch. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zheng Xuan explained when commenting on Zhou Li, "A banquet is also a banquet, and it is based on this. The banquet is laid below and the banquet is laid above, so it is also a position. " The ancients sat at a banquet to eat. Later, the banquet was called a banquet. In Shuowen, it is said that "the bed is a person who sits", and in Peacock Flying Southeast, there is a saying that "when the bride comes, the sister-in-law helps the bed". In the Book of Wu, there is a record that "when all the guests resigned, Su also resigned, but only led Su to return and drank on the couch together". Here, it means that Sun Quan and Lu Su are drinking on the couch instead of lying on the couch.

Later, Hu Chuang was introduced to China as a seat for living or going out. "Once"? "Five Elements of Zhiyi" said: "Emperor Han Ling loves Khufu, Zhang Hu, Hu Chuang, Zuo Hu, Fan Hu ... The nobles in Kyoto actually do this." Hu beds have no backrest and handrails, and are mostly used for outdoor activities, such as traveling, hunting, playing and marching.

The chair, formerly known as the reclining chair, first appeared on the sacrificial tablet of Beihai altar of Jidu Temple in the 13th year of Zhenyuan in Tang Dynasty (AD 797). In the shade of the monument, there is a record of "rope bed lying ten times" In fact, in the poem? In the wind: Chair Tung Chee Paint. "Lu Wei? Sparse vegetation: "Tong Pi moon chair when I was a child." Yaya: "Chair is catalpa, catalpa is catalpa. Cover catalpa, smooth and white, catalpa is a tung leather chair. Shuowen also said: "Those who chair are also catalpa". 1955, a mural of the tomb of Tang Tianbao in the fifteenth year (756) unearthed in Xi 'an, sitting alone in a chair. It can be seen that in the mid-Tang Dynasty, China people "sat" in chairs.

It can be seen from the famous painting Han Xizai's Night Banquet that many people are sitting in chairs, while others are sitting on traditional carved beds. Sitting in a chair is different. Some people hang their feet and others sit cross-legged, which proves that chairs were popular at that time.

The popularity of chairs first influenced China's sitting ceremony, and the change of sitting ceremony directly led to many changes in social etiquette. After the appearance of chairs, people don't need to reserve too much space to sit on the floor, so the number of furniture has increased and the style inside the house has changed a lot. Before the chair appeared, people sat in a low position, so the furniture was generally short; After the chair appeared, people's sitting posture obviously increased a lot. Naturally, some tall furniture became popular one after another, and tables came into being, gradually becoming the most important furniture for eating and reading in China. Selected from "Huaxia Cultural Relics Network"