The Evolution of People's Furniture

Along with China's long history of civilization, the history of Chinese furniture also has a long history. According to some scholars, in the long history of the development of classical Chinese furniture, there had been a clear formation of four most important design styles, namely: Chu-style furniture (Zhou Dynasty to North and South Dynasty), Song-style furniture (Sui and Tang Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty), Ming-style furniture (mid-Ming Dynasty to early Qing Dynasty) and Qing-style furniture (after mid-Qing Dynasty).

Chinese furniture (Zhou Dynasty to Northern and Southern Dynasties)

Chinese furniture evolved gradually from low to high, and its earliest

origin was the mat, which was used to sit on the ground, and it gradually developed into the seating utensils, which were used to sit on the ground with the feet hanging down. The earliest and most primitive furniture is the mat for sitting and lying down, people's daily life or kneeling or sitting cross-legged, with low furniture. At this time, in order to block the wind and cold, is surrounded by curtains and become a room. Before the Han Dynasty, the most representative of the lacquer wood furniture, lacquer case and lacquer several are commonly used furniture.

Before the Han Dynasty, people sat on the ground. By the Han Dynasty, a kind of furniture for sitting and lying ---- couch had been widely used. At this time, screens replaced draperies, but several and cases remained prevalent.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, tables appeared, similar in shape to the modern square table.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the Hu bed was introduced to the Central Plains, with two wooden crosses and a rope connecting the beds, which was easy to open and close, and convenient to carry, very similar to the later chair (see photo on the left), and like today's matzah (see photo on the right), which may be the predecessor of the chair.

Wei-Jin later, because of the increase in housing, living area, furniture is also correspondingly high, an increasingly wide range of types. Jin Dynasty bed has been similar to today.

Chu style is actually the early Chinese lacquer furniture, the earliest use of natural lacquer by the Chinese is uncertain, but at the latest in the Western Zhou Dynasty has been widely used in certain classes. Lacquer really reached popularity in China during the Warring States period. During the Warring States period, there were seven powerful vassal states, history?quot;Warring States seven males", the southern state of Chu for one of them, because the Chu area is China's most important lacquer tree planting area, Chu's lacquer furniture is also the most developed.

Lacquer due to its own high quality and durability, anti-corrosion and moisture suitable for decoration, by the whole society. From the Zhou Dynasty to the North and South Dynasties, lacquer furniture has been the mainstream of the Chinese furniture system, and if we look at the royal imperial and upper-class use, the mainstream status of lacquer furniture has been maintained until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Special mention should be made of the ingenious riveting and mortise and tenon structure that amazes Westerners, which was first established in the Warring States period and has been improved and developed over more than 2,000 years to form an important feature of traditional Chinese furniture, which is still in use today.

Song-style furniture (Sui and Tang dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty)

To the Sui Dynasty, stools and now basically the same.

And in the Tang Dynasty, the table increased, chairs appeared, the cabinet has been the necessary appliances for the home. Tang Dynasty is the beginning of the high chair table years, chairs and stools began to become people's main sitting utensils. Tang Dynasty chairs have been a wide variety, in addition to armchairs, circle chairs, throne, and different materials, bamboo chairs, lacquered wood chairs, tree root chairs, brocade chairs and so on.

The Song Dynasty is an important period of development of Chinese furniture. To the Song Dynasty, the feet sitting in the high type of furniture has reached the popularity of people living and working with the main form of furniture. Compared with the previous generation, more types of furniture in the Song dynasty, all kinds of high furniture basic stereotypes, there are beds, tables, chairs, stools, high several, long cases, cabinets, racks, screens, towel racks, curved foot basin, mirror and so on, some furniture above the ornaments and carvings, from the categories to the shape of the system are constantly improving and evolving.

The furniture of the Song Dynasty in the form of furniture already has a variety of types of furniture in the Ming Dynasty, for the Chinese classical furniture in the Ming and Qing Dynasties to reach its peak laid the foundation.

It is generally believed that the Song Dynasty furniture stood out from the following three aspects:

1, began to imitate the construction method of architectural beams and wooden frames.

2, began to attach importance to the modeling function of wooden materials, the emergence of hardwood furniture manufacturing process.

3, pay attention to the chair and table set configuration and daily living with the appropriate.

Ming Dynasty furniture (mid-Ming Dynasty to early Qing Dynasty)

Because of the age of the long, surviving furniture in kind is not much, on the furniture before the Ming Dynasty, the modern understanding of its understanding is actually not very well known. From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, people only saw a large number of various real classical furniture in kind, and its in-depth study. But undeniably, Chinese classical furniture from the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty (15 ~ 17 century) finally reached its peak, this period is known as the "golden age of Chinese classical furniture", this period of furniture style is known as the Ming style furniture. At that time, due to the development of transportation, hardwoods from India, Burma and Southeast Asia, such as rosewood, rosewood, ironwood, sourwood and so on, were constantly imported into China. These wood color calm, beautiful texture, and the texture of hard and delicate, suitable for making precise mortise and tenon and detailed carving (see Ming furniture carving art), made out of rustic furniture and not vulgar, with a unique aesthetic personality and practical value.

Combined with the social and economic prosperity at that time, furniture production in technology, modeling have made great progress, all kinds of furniture types are also unprecedented development.

Ming Dynasty furniture can be divided into different materials and processes:

1, the traditional lacquer furniture (or called painted lacquer furniture,). At that time, the carving and adding process of lacquer decorated furniture to the peak of development.

2, novel hardwood furniture. The emergence of Huanghuali, rosewood, chicken fin wood and other hardwood furniture, this high-level hardwood furniture in contemporary by domestic and foreign academics unanimously appreciated.

3, softwood furniture. Represented by elm and other softwood furniture in the Ming Dynasty, also reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty, in the countryside of China's far-flung provinces, there are still a large number of design level and technology are no less than the level of hardwood furniture so-called "softwood furniture".

4, bamboo and rattan, willow production of folk furniture. Because this kind of furniture is more in the folk use, not many heirloom treasures.

5, pottery, stone furniture.

Qing Dynasty furniture (after the middle of the Qing Dynasty)

Qing Dynasty furniture basically inherited the Ming style of furniture, roughly from the Kangxi period onwards, with the strengthening of the Qing Dynasty rule, the secular people's hearts change, the Qing Dynasty furniture than the Ming furniture in the number of proportionality of the gradual predominance of the. After the Yongzheng, in the shape of art, materials, decoration and color with the Ming Dynasty formed a very different style.

The Kangxi, Yongqian period, when the Baroque style of Western European classical art prevailed. Foreign missionaries into China, but also the Baroque style of art brought into China. Baroque furniture modeling luxury exuberance, carving delicate and exaggerated form, it pursues the romantic ornate decorative style, furniture appearance is a combination of different curves and dignified form.

At that time, the production of furniture craftsmen gave full play to the carving, embedded, depiction and other methods, and absorbed foreign culture and art, bold innovation in the form of furniture, change the solemn for smooth, simple and elegant, a change in the style of the previous generation, the emergence of a stable, gorgeous Qing-style furniture.

At that time, several furniture production centers were formed in the country, and due to the vastness of the region, the furniture from all over the country had their own unique styles and characteristics. In addition to retaining more of the traditional forms of traditional Chinese furniture, in Guangzhou and other coastal areas appeared by the influence of Western culture and tend to "Westernized" furniture.

The Qianlong generation of sixty years, both the Qing empire is a generation of prosperity, but also by the decline of the transition period. Qing furniture is no exception. Qing furniture in this period, not only also synchronized to reach its peak, and reflect the socio-political and economic background as well as the ideological characteristics of the Qing upper class and temperament, the decoration is too complex Qing furniture, mostly from the Qianlong period.

To the end of the Qing dynasty, Qing furniture and the fate of the Qing dynasty, the same decline in the end of the Qing dynasty, the late Qing dynasty appeared a lot of vulgarity of the poor furniture, so that people can not help but viewed as a regret.

The origin of Chinese furniture is one of the earliest countries in the history of the world's furniture, and its development with the process of socialization has experienced multiple levels of change. With the Ming and Qing Dynasty furniture as a representative of Chinese furniture, in today's world of people's life and work, whether from the practical, appreciation or collection, or to symbolize the owner's taste for life and status, still has an important and far-reaching significance.

One, the origin of Chinese furniture and the history of development

Chinese furniture originated in the Xia Dynasty, through different periods, seven stages of development and change:

The first stage - Xia, Shang, Zhou: the early stage of the prototype of furniture in early China, the beginning of the first furniture named "couch";

(Prehistory ~ 476 BC) 1978 ~ 1980, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the excavation of the late Neolithic site of Taosi Village, Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province (2,500 BC ~ 1,900 BC), from the traces of the artifacts and the colorful skins identified the burials have been wooden rectangular This is the earliest Chinese wooden furniture ever discovered. In the 21st century BC, China invented bronze smelting and casting technology, the emergence of sharp metal tools for the manufacture of wooden utensils to provide the conditions, resulting in the gradual increase of wooden furniture after the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the "Poetry", "Rites", "Zuo Zhuan" records, this period of wooden furniture has been beds, a few, searched (screen) and boxes and so on. At the same time, bronze furniture also appeared. From the unearthed artifacts seen in the Shang Dynasty bronze ban and taotie cicada pattern bronze altar, reflecting this period of bronze furniture in the casting technology, as well as practical and decorative aspects have reached a high level.

The second stage - Spring and Autumn, Warring States and the two Han Dynasty: the birth of more low furniture;

(475 BC ~ 211 BC) During the Warring States period, lacquered wooden furniture was in a period of development, and bronze furniture was also great progress. Wooden furniture such as tables, cases, beds and other furniture of large size, mostly frame structure, to mortise and tenon joints. Commonly used mortise and tenon form of cross lap mortise and tenon, closed through the mortise and tenon, closed through the mortise and tenon, open through the mortise and tenon, Ming dovetail mortise and tenon, etc.. Such as Xinyang Chu tomb unearthed large wooden bed, carved lacquer table, wooden chopping board, etc., in the foot and the frame, foot and the case surface, drawer board beams and the side frame, fence posts and the bed frame connection between the use of a variety of mortise and tenon joints on the above methods, combined with a solid, beautiful appearance. Several, the case of furniture foot, often add a cross-wood, known as "hinoki"; ("hinoki"; through the "hock", for the foot of the furniture.) It can support and fix the foot, but also to protect the foot. These structures have been improved and developed through the ages, forming an important feature of traditional Chinese furniture, and are still in use today.

(221 B.C.~220 A.D.) During the Qin and Han Dynasties, based on the inheritance of the lacquer decoration of the Warring States, lacquered wood furniture entered its heyday, not only in large quantity and variety, but also in the development of decorative craftsmanship. The main features of furniture in this period are:

(1) Most of the furniture is low.

(2) the beginning of the evolution of the low type to the high type of the end.

Western Han Dynasty, imported from India tataden.

In the Western Han Dynasty, the tatami was imported from India, and the "Shih Ming" note reads, "The tatami is a small tatami in front of a large bed, and is mounted on the bed." Both in front of the bed on the couch on the bed, indicating that the height of the bed has increased. According to "Taiping Yuban" records: "Lingdi good Hu bed." Hu bed is a kind of northwest nomadic folding lightweight seating equipment, sitting with feet hanging down. Sitting on the floor from the evolution of the feet to sit is a major change in the history of furniture.

(3) the emergence of soft cushions.

"Xijing Miscellany" recorded in the Han dynasty, the son of jade on the winter added silk fabric, ministers of the wooden table is added to the use of jewels (felt sewn pockets). This is the earliest appearance of soft cushions.

(4) the production of furniture materials are more extensive.

In addition to wood, there are metal, bamboo, glass, jade and so on.

The third stage - Wei, Jin, North and South Dynasties: the emergence of high-shaped furniture;

(220 ~ 581 years) Wei, Jin, North and South Dynasties is a period of great integration of nationalities in the history of China, the cultural and economic exchanges between the various nationalities played a catalytic role in the development of furniture. At this time, the new furniture mainly included armchairs, round stools, square stools, round cases, long stools, cabinets, and bamboo and rattan furniture such as bamboo baskets (boxes). The bed has been significantly higher, can be crawling bed feet, and added a license bed top, bed nets and removable multi-fold ultimatum screen. Sitting furniture varieties increase, reflecting the foot sitting has been gradually promoted, promoting the development of furniture to high type.

The fourth stage - the Sui and Tang dynasties and the Five Dynasties: high-shaped furniture canonical period, high and short-shaped furniture coexisting development;

(589 ~ 960 years) the development of China's furniture to the Tang Dynasty entered a brand new period. It changed the face of the furniture before the Six Dynasties, the formation of smooth and soft, elegant and luxurious style of Tang furniture. To the Five Dynasties, the furniture modeling advocate simple and unadorned, simple and generous. This simple inner beauty of the Tang Dynasty furniture instead of deliberately pursuing the tendency to elaborate modifications, the formation of Song-style furniture style set an example. Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties period, the development of furniture, there are two main features:

(1) furniture further to the development of high type, as shown in the sitting furniture varieties and the emergence of the table.

Tong Ya recorded: "Yizhuo (chair table) of the name is found in the Tang and Song dynasties." Six Dynasties have chairs and stools, more popular in the Tang Dynasty, a few, the case height are based on the sitting surface, sitting both high, the emergence of the table is inevitable. Furniture high type and the height of the room, the size of objects, objects modeling and decoration have a series of impact.

(2) furniture to the development of complete sets, more types, and can be classified according to the function of the right to use.

Broadly can be divided into: sitting and lying class, such as stools, chairs, piers, beds, couches, etc.; with chairs, bearing things, such as tables, cases, tables, etc.; storage, such as cabinets, boxes, containers, etc.; racks, such as racks, towel racks, etc.; other screens and so on. Five Dynasties painter Gu Ma-tehong in the Han Xizai Night Banquet in the picture depicts a complete set of furniture in the indoor furnishings, the use of the situation.

The fifth stage - Song, Yuan: tall and short-shaped furniture is more, complicated;

(960 ~ 1279 years) Song Dynasty is an important period of development of Chinese furniture to carry forward. First of all, hanging feet and sitting chairs, stools and other high-footed seating has been popularized by the folk, the end of thousands of years to sit on the floor of the custom; Secondly, the furniture structure to establish the frame structure as the basic form; Thirdly, the furniture in the indoor layout has a certain pattern. Song Dynasty furniture is in the inheritance and exploration gradually formed its own style. Song Dynasty furniture to simple and slender shape, reasonable and fine structure as the main feature. In the structure, the pot door structure has been replaced by the frame structure; furniture leg section more round or square, between the components of a large number of cut corner mortise and tenon, closed mouth does not pass through the mortise and tenon combination; cabinets, tables and other large plane components, often using the "save the edge" of the practice of the thin heart plate through the band embedded in the four sides of the frame, the corners with the corner of the cut corner of the mortise and tenon save, not only to control the contraction of the timber, and also play a decorative role. In addition, the Song Dynasty furniture also attaches importance to the dimensions and structure of the relationship between the human body, rigorous craftsmanship, beautiful modeling, easy to use. Furniture types are open light drum pier, chair, high several, piano table, kang table, pots rack, seat floor cheeses (floor lamp holder), with drawers of the table, mirror, etc., all kinds of furniture is also derived from different styles. The Song Dynasty saw the earliest combination of furniture in China, known as Yan Gui.

Sixth stage--Ming: the heyday of Chinese furniture (due to the development and maturity of tools, crafts, and materials);

(1368~1644) Ming people or leaves (16th century), with the further development of handicrafts, the furniture became a circulating commodity, and many literati participated in the Interior design and furniture caused type research. All these contributed to the great development of Ming Dynasty furniture. Ming Dynasty furniture in the inheritance of the Song Dynasty furniture on the basis of the tradition, carry forward the light, innovation, not only a complete range, a wide range of styles, and the use of materials, simple and generous modeling, production of rigorous and accurate, reasonable and standardized structure, and gradually formed a stable, distinctive style of furniture in the Ming Dynasty, the ancient Chinese furniture to the peak of the period.

Seventh stage - Qing: the decline of furniture, but the Ming and Qing furniture is the most influential representative of Chinese furniture.

(1644~1911) Furniture of the Qing Dynasty was mostly designed in combination with different living rooms such as halls, bedrooms and study halls, with detailed categorization and clear functions. Its main feature is that the shape is solemn, heavy carving, volume is wide, magnificent, away from the Song and Ming furniture since the showy and practical simplicity, the formation of the style of furniture in the Qing Dynasty. Qing Dynasty furniture workshops gathered around the coast, and Yangzhou, Jizhou (Hebei), now Huizhou (Guangdong), forming the country's three major production centers, the products were known as Su made, Beijing made, Guangzhou made. Suzuo largely inherited the characteristics of Ming-style furniture.

Furniture craft to the Qing Dynasty in general, the shape has tended to be bulky, and the pursuit of the rich and magnificent, due to the red tape of the carvings undermined the shape of the overall sense of touch is not good. Furniture in the Qing Dynasty work with mortise and tenon, do not seek surface decoration; Beijing for heavy wax work, to bow hollow, long with swim bladder; wide for heavy carving, carving and decoration. Decoration methods include wood carving and inlay. Wood carving is divided into line carving (Yang carving, yin carving), shallow relief, deep relief, carving, round carving, lacquer carving (pick rhinoceros, pick red); inlaid inlays are inlays, wood, stone, bone, bamboo, ivory, jade, enamel, glass, and inlaid with gold, silver, mounted metal ornaments, and so on. Decorative motifs used to symbolize good luck, more children, more happiness, longevity, official luck and so on flowers, plants, people, birds and animals. Furniture components are often both decorative. Such as in the long side of the short wipe, straight across the file, the feet of the vertiginous plate to be carved; or with auspicious word flower, ancient coin-shaped components instead of short columns of the old short. Especially the most varied foot type, in addition to the square straight legs, cylindrical legs, square and round legs, and there are three curved Ruyi legs, bamboo legs, etc.; legs of the middle or the waist or no waist, or plus the protruding carving of flowers, animal heads; foot end of the animal claws, horseshoes, such as Beijing time sand, rolled leaves, step beads, turn over, turn over, and set of copper sets, and so on. Waist changes have high and low, some plus fish door hole, plus line; side leg between the carving of flowers and teeth stall plate. Beijing Palace Hall display of red dragon cabinet, the Shenyang Palace Museum collection of inlaid tai shi chair, ancient coin fly pattern square table, rosewood scroll piano table, inlaid dresser, five screen inlaid couch, etc., are the essence of the Qing dynasty furniture. Furniture types for sitting and lying furniture with tai shi chair, armchair, circle chair, recliner, chair, chair, stool, stool, cross stool, pier, bed, couch, etc.; leaning bearing furniture with a round table, half-round table, square table, qin table, kang table, desk, dressing table, strip table (case), for table (case), flower several, tea table, etc.; storage furniture with the Pokugu cabinet shelves, shelves frame, stuffed reed cupboards, bookcases, boxes, etc.; other furniture there are seat screen, screen, lamp holder, etc.. Other furniture are seat screen, screen, lamps and so on.

Two, the modern period of furniture (classical furniture)

In the ruling class (such as the court, the government) furniture, most of them pursue the complexity of the decoration, the use of ceramics, jade, ivory, shells, etc. to do the decorations, especially the court furniture using arts and crafts carving and lacquer, carving and filling, gold and other techniques made of lacquered wood furniture. The vast number of folk furniture manufacturing industry to pursue applicable, economic-oriented; processing methods are mostly manual work.

The second half of the 19th century, it is a form of maintaining the pre-traditional, only in the local mixed with Chinese and Western mixed carving furniture. Later, the coast of some ports of communication appeared one after another with foreign investment in furniture factories, there are engaged in the operation of traditional Chinese furniture, there are specialized in imitation of European classical form or American furniture. Modern Chinese furniture is under the influence of these foreign factors appeared under the influence of new changes. Both varieties, forms, structures and processes have changed greatly.

(After the beginning of the 20th century) In the early 20th century, the furniture handicraft workshops were set up one after another. To 1920, the country's wood workshops and workshops and craftsmen have been all over the place, forming a large handicraft team, furniture production appeared in the traditional Chinese furniture and "Western-style in the" new furniture coexisting situation. Traditional furniture production has a long history and a wide range of markets, such as Jiangxi Ganxian painted leather box, Jiangxi Leadshan Hekou town of willow wood, Shanghai's hardwood furniture, Beijing's carved lacquer furniture, Yangzhou studded furniture, etc., have enjoyed a certain degree of reputation in the domestic and international markets, Beijing carving lacquer screen in Panama in 1914 was awarded the Panama Expo first prize.

The 1930s to 1940s, with the exchange and dissemination of various Western design trends, modern Chinese furniture in some major coastal cities showed complex changes. By the 1940s, a number of furniture factories organized by national industrialists and businessmen opened in major cities. According to different processing means and techniques, they were often divided into two industries: Chinese furniture and Western furniture. Since then, Chinese traditional furniture and modern furniture have developed according to different business methods. Modern furniture due to the use of more simplified mortise and tenon structure is easy to promote the application, especially when the plywood (such as the use of fiberboard as the main material for the production of panel furniture) was introduced, the structure of the frame panels have been improved to a better extent, and then become the majority of China's regions are happy to adopt the craft practices. However, its development is uneven and slow, many cities in the interior and the vast rural areas of the furniture form still retains the face of traditional Chinese furniture. With the development of the times and the improvement of people's living standards, traditional craftsmanship is also facing the challenge of industrialization.

Due to the changes in the social and economic structure, the rise and expansion of professional factories and the increasing degree of mechanization have promoted the development of modern furniture in China.In the 1980s, in the process of reform and opening up the furniture enterprises introduced a large number of European furniture production equipment, mainly panel furniture production lines or stand-alone supporting equipment; in the hardware to get a greater degree of " armed". But under the conditions of the planned economy, state-owned enterprises did not make these equipment to play a due performance, at this time began to re-emerge workshop-type private enterprises, and in the 90's under the system of market economy, rapid growth. China's furniture to accept the baptism of the Western modern furniture ideas, the furniture industry is developing rapidly and vigorously. The initial formation of a modern industry, furniture companies began to embark on a virtuous cycle of track.

Three, modern furniture

Modern furniture is the 1970s in Europe and the United States produced a design thinking, they extract or decomposition of ancient furniture symbols or elements, rubbed into the modern modeling and materials. In production, the appearance of decorative traditional crafts carving and modern production processes coexist, the style reflects the eclectic and *** raw ideas, processing and manufacturing methods are mostly industrialized.