Chinese's awareness of furniture is low, the awareness of architecture is also low, we are not willing to protect ancient buildings, so up to now can stay in the Tang Dynasty buildings in the country only four, the Song Dynasty ancient buildings are not many, the Ming and Qing Dynasty buildings still have a part, the most important is the Beijing Forbidden City.
This is not the case with the Western concept of architecture, and most of the buildings in all European countries with historical traditions can be preserved, which is a gap between Chinese and Western concepts.
Furniture is most closely related to architecture, so we don't pay much attention to furniture. In the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century, many old furniture was dismantled and repurposed.
Publication. The first person to study Chinese furniture was a German named Gust** Ecke. In 1944, he published a monograph "Illustrated Examination of Chinese Huali Furniture", which included a large number of ** and his insights on Chinese furniture.
A German wrote the first monograph on the study of Chinese furniture with a very rigorous academic attitude, which is also recognized as the first milestone in the study of Chinese furniture in the world. Because of Mr. Ike's book, the world's major museums began to pay attention to the collection of Chinese furniture.
The second person to study Chinese furniture was an American. In 1971, the American R. Ellsworth (R. Ellsworth).h.ellsworth has written a large book called "Chinese Furniture", which also contains a wealth of ** and insights into his collection of Chinese furniture.
The third person to study Chinese furniture and write a book was Wang Shixiang. In 1985, he published "Ming Style Furniture Treasures", which promoted the awareness of furniture among Chinese, and because the book was published in Chinese, it was much more popular in China than the above two books.
Most of the furniture included in this book is from the National Museum and from Mr. Wang's personal collection.
These three monographs are milestones in the study of Chinese furniture, showing the understanding of Chinese furniture by Westerners and Chinese, raising Chinese furniture to an unprecedented height, making Westerners deeply understand the essence of Chinese furniture, recognize the culture of Chinese furniture, and realize what kind of life concept Chinese furniture brings to Chinese.
In the past, the study of artifacts was basically longitudinal. In the past, scholars would only study a certain field longitudinally from ancient times to the present day. Due to the development of information, more attention will be paid to horizontal research, that is, cross-disciplinary research.
There will be horizontal links between all crafts.
Hardwood furniture. Before Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, all the furniture that can confirm the exact age is lacquer furniture.
First, the limitations of the tool. Of all the woodworking tools in China, the planer is the latest to appear, which is completely different from Europe, and our planer only appeared in the 16th century.
Without a planer, there is no way to scrape flat hardwood. The reason for using lacquered furniture is that the wood is not smooth, so it is necessary to drape the linen and hang the ashes, and the putty is painted to cover up the uneven places.
The invention of the planer is the most important tool revolution in the history of Chinese craftsmanship. In China, the advent of planers has led to the rapid domination of the market for hardwood furniture.
The second is the Longqing switch. In the first year of Longqing, due to the emergence of capitalism and the increase in overseas ** at that time, Ming ** was forced to open the customs to a limited extent. The smooth flow of maritime transportation has led to a large number of high-quality timber entering China.
These two reasons made China's Ming-style furniture, including the precious Huanghuali furniture, rosewood furniture, and wenge furniture, popular in the late Ming Dynasty, especially from Wanli to Chongzhen.
Fan Lian in the Jiajing period wrote "According to the Eyes of the Clouds" recorded: "Fine wood furniture such as desks, Zen chairs, etc., was not seen when I was young, and the folk stopped using ginkgo gold lacquer square tables. ......Since Longwan, although the slaves of the fast armor family have used fine weapons. ......Extravagant, and beech wood is not expensive enough, where the bedboard table several tables are made of pear, gall wood, acacia wood and boxwood, extremely expensive and ingenious, it costs 10,000 dollars, and it is also vulgar. "The acacia wood mentioned here is said to be red sandalwood, and the other is wenge wood.
Fan Lian said that when I was a child, I couldn't see these furniture at all, and they all appeared since Longqing Wanli, and this record is very clear.
The appearance of Chinese precious furniture in the Wanli period is not an accidental phenomenon, but is caused by many factors.
Our important scientific and technological works, such as "Tiangong Kaiwu" and "Luban Jing Craftsman's Mirror", all clearly record planers, and these books were published after Wanli.
Carpentry tools in the West were invented earlier than us, and planers were available in ancient Rome.
The frame saw was available in the Song Dynasty, and there is its image material in the "Qingming Riverside Map".
Emperor of the Apocalypse. The Emperor of the Apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty of China was a penchant for carpentry. The two emperors of Jiajing and Wanli in the late Ming Dynasty were reluctant to go to court, so the politics were dark. At that time, many intellectuals were disillusioned with politics and turned to the pursuit of luxury living.
Therefore, many excellent cultural relics appeared in the late Ming Dynasty.
The pursuit of woodware in the late Ming Dynasty also had an impact on the emperor, so carpentry became the most important element of the emperor's life.
Ming and Qing dynasty furniture. The reason for the rise of Ming-style furniture, the first is the emergence of the budding capitalism, Longqing switch, such as ** allowing "silver for service".
The second is the progress of tools, the invention of planers.
The third is the intellectuals, the upper classes of society who are disillusioned with politics and pursue a life of luxury.
Chinese feudal society has an excellent system, that is, the imperial examination system, which is an important reason why China's feudal society is very stable.
2,000 years of Chinese feudal society and 1,000 years of European feudal society. One of the most important systems in Chinese feudal society is "learning and excelling". Europeans are hereditary aristocrats, we use the imperial examination system for talent selection, everyone is equal, standing on the same starting line, as long as you pass the three examinations, you can become the upper class.
The imperial examination system was established in the Sui Dynasty, and in the past 1,300 years, more than 600 champions have been selected, with an average of one every two years.
The excellent system of the imperial examination system ensured that the feudal society was centered on the literati, who not only had knowledge but also social status. Even though this system deteriorated in the late Qing Dynasty, it was generally an extremely effective system, so that the feudal society of 2,000 years did not collapse from the system.
The aesthetic level of China.
When the society revolves around the literati, the aesthetics of the literati are particularly important, so the furniture left by the feudal society is very exquisite. Because the furniture at that time was designed by the social elite and the highest level of society at that time, it became a huge wealth of society.
This aesthetic centered on the literati in feudal society was a high-level aesthetic.
There are four levels of Chinese aesthetics, which are pyramid-shaped. The first layer is gaudy (simple and clear, with the broadest mass base).
The second layer is implicit. Tang poetry and Song poetry are the most typical representatives, and they need to slowly appreciate its beauty, and they cannot be understood directly.
For example, Li Bai's "Sending Friends": "This place is a farewell, and it is lonely for thousands of miles." ”
The third level is "hypocrisy". For example, a typical Picasso painting.
The fourth level is "morbid", when aesthetics reach the top of the pyramid, it will take the shape of an inverted pyramid, and suddenly release it into the most popular thing.
The morbid aesthetic first recommended foot binding, and people before the Qing Dynasty regarded foot binding as beauty. Qing Li Yu's "Idle Love and Occasional Mail" specializes in teaching people how to appreciate foot binding;Most of the men in "Dream of the Red Mansion" have female beauty, and most of the women have morbid beauty, which is an aesthetic taste pursued by Chinese in culture.
There is also a morbid aesthetic of plum blossoms, which ancient literati would appreciate withered plums. The highest level of literati's appreciation of plum blossoms is called "sick plum", which is to appreciate the state of half-blooming.
There is gall wood in the furniture materials, and all the textures of gall wood are not normal, but sick. But the ancients believed that if there was a gall in the furniture, it would become a very high level of aesthetics.
The design principle of Ming-style furniture is simplicity, between subtle and "pretentious".
Principles of Chinese Furniture.
Ike believes that the principle of Ming-style furniture. First, do not make nails until necessary. In fact, the principle of Chinese furniture is not to use iron nails, and bamboo nails and wooden nails will be used when necessary in the past. Because iron rusts and corrodes wood.
Second, try not to use glue. China's excellent furniture, because the wood is very hard, the degree of bonding is relatively good, so in the past, Huanghuali, red sandalwood furniture, etc., as far as possible do not use glue, even if used, also use reversible glue.
In the past, the best furniture was called "dry plugging", and all the components could be combined by plugging and connecting, which was very rigorous, and like building blocks, it could be opened immediately.
Ike also believes that the way the Chinese do not use the lathe to make furniture is to use a lathe. In fact, some parts of the furniture in the Ming Dynasty were made by the ring.
Chinese furniture pays the most attention to structure, especially Ming-style furniture pays great attention to structure. For example, the "broken tenon", the general mortise and tenon structure, is to insert a tenon in the hole, so that it is easy to be opened. In order to prevent opening, the craftsman invented the "broken tenon", and added a "V" shaped tenon to the tenon, and the hole was propped up into a trumpet, and the tenon could not be taken down, and it could never be opened.
Comparison of Ming and Qing dynasty furniture.
The origin of furniture in the Qing Dynasty is very clear, the important furniture production areas of the Qing Dynasty are Guangzhou and Suzhou, Guangzhou is called "Guangdo", and Suzhou is called "Su Do". Shanxi's is called "Jindo", and Beijing's is called "Jingdo", both of which are named after regions.
The furniture in each region has its characteristics, such as Guang made furniture, and the typical feature is to spare no materials, because Guangzhou is a port city, and wood is the first to be obtained. Guangzhou's labor is expensive, and the materials are relatively cheap, so they are not stingy in materials.
Su-made furniture is transported through the mainland, and the materials are expensive, but the labor is relatively cheap. Therefore, Su does not hesitate to work to make up for the defects of less material. For example, chairs, a large number of chairs with rattan drawer surfaces, are made of Su.
If it is widely done, just put a piece of wood on it, because it is not short of materials.
Suzhou craftsmen used to finish their work, and there was no whole piece of wood on the ground except for wood chips. All wood is used, and it is very particular.
The contrast between the furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the heavy structure of the Ming Dynasty, less decoration, its decoration is the finishing touch.
The Qing Dynasty emphasized decoration and light structure, and paid attention to the overall gorgeousness.
Although there were also carved furniture in the Ming Dynasty, they were very rare.
Judging from the performance of details, the Ming Dynasty paid attention to subtle changes. For example, a small line angle is very delicate.
The Qing Dynasty paid attention to the first impact, and it had to attract your attention as soon as you got on the field.
The Qing Dynasty was a dynasty that studied carefully. Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong were all diligently seeking emperors who desperately studied Han culture and tried to rule the country with the essence of Han culture. Therefore, Han culture has always been pursued in Qing Dynasty furniture, rather than Manchu culture.
The furniture of the Ming Dynasty was simple and complicated, while the furniture of the Qing Dynasty was mainly luxurious.