People's lifestyle determines the development direction of furniture. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people used to sit on the floor, so the furniture was mostly low. In the Tang Dynasty, people's lifestyle changed, and people began to sit high and hang their feet, so China's vertical foot furniture gradually appeared. In the Tang Dynasty, after five dynasties and ten countries to the Song Dynasty, the vertical furniture completely replaced the floor-standing furniture, and the manufacturing technology was basically mature. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China furniture reached its peak, which really pushed China furniture to the artistic peak. Excellent materials and exquisite workmanship are incomparable to the furniture before the Ming Dynasty.
China furniture covers a wide range, usually referring to "tables and chairs" and so on. The ancients sat on the floor, with beds in the room and mats on the ground; Later, screens, tables, desks and other furniture appeared. The bed was both a bedding and a seat, and on this basis, the couch was extended. There were few changes in Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han and Wei Dynasties, and stools and tables appeared, but they were not the mainstream. It was not until the Han Dynasty that Hu broke into the Central Plains, and during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, high-style chairs appeared one after another, and sitting with feet down became popular. In the Tang dynasty, the form of rest was still two forms in parallel. People use tall tables, chairs and stools, but sitting on the floor is still a daily habit of many people.
China furniture had a fundamental development in the Tang and Song Dynasties, which played a vital role in the formation of furniture in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Why did the furniture development in the Tang and Song Dynasties develop at such a high speed? There is a reason for this.
From the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties, the pursuit of luxurious life was the fashion of literati and famous families. During the Five Dynasties, the furniture was initially improved, including straight-backed armchairs, long tables, screens, beds, couches and piers. It laid the foundation for the most perfect stage of China historical furniture. From the middle and late period of 10 century, the economy of Song Dynasty developed rapidly, and the city was prosperous and rich. In the Song Dynasty, high-rise furniture was quite common, and high tables, tables and heights also appeared accordingly. Sitting with feet down has become a fixed posture, and the change of daily life in China history depends on sitting posture. The prosperity of urban life has led to the construction of a large number of high-grade houses and gardens. It is inevitable to build furniture to decorate rooms, which provides a good social environment for the vigorous development of furniture industry.
Tang dynasty furniture
Furniture in Song Dynasty laid the foundation for the development of furniture in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Song Dynasty is a period of unprecedented development in the history of furniture in China, and it is also a period of unprecedented popularization of furniture. In the Song Dynasty, there were beds, couches, tables, cases, stools, boxes, cabinets, clothes hangers, towel racks and washstands. There are also special furniture, piano tables, chess tables and so on. Furniture forms are also varied. There is only a square, rectangular, long, round and semi-round table, as well as a kang table and a kang case; Stools are square, rectangular and other shapes; Chairs include armchairs, armchairs, round-backed chairs and top chairs. Yan Ji was also invented in the Song Dynasty. At that time, all servants decorated houses, but they were imitations. Yan Ji consists of seven works, with a certain proportion. Its characteristics are that it can be combined at will, gathered and dispersed, long or short, and can be engaged and disengaged vertically and horizontally. Meet the requirements of high society. Furniture production in Song Dynasty has changed a lot. We began to use various decorative forms, such as girding waist, horseshoe, grasshopper leg, cloud foot, lotus support and so on. At the same time, various structural components, such as dental plate, Luo Guojian, short guy, overlord sword, mud support, tea bell feet, and collection points are used. By the Song Dynasty, China had basically completed the transformation of living style, and high-standard hanging furniture was dominant. In Gong Yanli, the ruling class made a batch of high-grade furniture for free. The Song Dynasty tables and chairs unearthed in Julu, Hebei Province are perfect representative works, reflecting the development level of furniture art in Song Dynasty. Therefore, without the prosperity and development of the furniture industry in Song Dynasty, there would be no perfect and exquisite Ming-style furniture. Ming-style furniture was developed on the basis of the development of furniture in Song Dynasty.
The prosperity of handicraft industry in Ming Dynasty promoted the development of furniture.
In the Ming dynasty, the number of craftsmen in handicraft industry increased compared with the previous generation, and their skills were also very superb. In the Ming Dynasty, the handicraft technology in Jiangnan area was greatly improved compared with the previous generation, and professional furniture design and manufacturing industry organizations appeared. By the Ming Dynasty, there were more and more specialized books summarizing various technical experiences. The monograph on wooden furniture should be Lu Ban Jiang Jing Jia Jing. This book was compiled by Zhong Nurong, a royal craftsman of Beijing Administrative Office in Ming Dynasty. It is divided into two parts: architecture and furniture, among which the classification of furniture is more detailed. Such as chairs and stools, desks, beds, cabinets, benches, screen seats, etc. Different forms are described in each category. For example, there are big beds, Zen beds, cool beds and rattan beds; There are word tables, desks, folding tables, round tables, piano tables, chess tables and square tables. Others, such as material selection, mortise and tenon structure, furniture size, decorative patterns, line feet and so on, are specified and described in detail. The book "Lu Ban Jiang Jing Jia Jing" is a summary of the experience of French architecture and furniture manufacturing. Its appearance played an important role in promoting the development and formation of furniture in Ming Dynasty. There are also books about furniture, Long History compiled by Ming Dynasty. In the book, all kinds of furniture are analyzed and studied in detail, and the materials, production and style of furniture are evaluated respectively. Gao Lian's Eight Chapters of Respect for Life in Ming Dynasty also combined furniture making with health preservation, and put forward a unique view. The appearance of these books has guided the design of furniture form and the improvement of production technology, and enriched the theory of furniture production.
The emergence and development of Ming-style furniture, the main geographical scope is in the Jiangnan area with Suzhou as the center, and the Ming-style furniture in this area continues to maintain a distinctive and unique style. By the early Qing Dynasty, Ming hardwood furniture was produced in many parts of the country, but it is not difficult to see from the products that only Suzhou has the deepest style and technology. This unique style of Jiangnan furniture is widely loved. People regard Soviet-style furniture as authentic Ming-style furniture, which is also called "Soviet-style furniture". After constant changes, evolution and development, China furniture entered a complete and mature stage in the Ming Dynasty, and formed a unique style, which was called "Ming-style furniture". However, Ming-style furniture was mixed with literati's interest, and literati participated in the design of furniture, which was not available in previous generations of furniture. There are many fine furniture left over from the Ming Dynasty, which can let us intuitively understand the development process of Ming furniture. Ming style furniture has many styles. Furniture art, like other arts, also developed greatly in the middle and early Ming Dynasty. A large number of furniture treasures handed down to this day record the hardworking wisdom and brilliant achievements of craftsmen.
Hardwood Ming style furniture
There were not many innovations in furniture in the early Qing dynasty, and the furniture style of the Ming dynasty was still maintained. After the mid-Qing Dynasty, the style of qing-style furniture gradually became clear, and new features appeared in furniture, which interacted with Ming-style furniture nationwide and was different from Ming-style furniture. The overall size is wider than that of Ming-style furniture, forming a steady and vigorous momentum. The styles are also very rich. For example, the emerging plush chair has many styles, and new forms such as backrest, armrest, waist-girding, and dental strips emerge one after another. In the decoration, we often use gold lacquer, painting and other techniques to show the rich and magnificent effect of Guanghua. Qing dynasty furniture took Hegan as its heyday. During this period, there were many kinds of furniture, wide styles, high technology level and the most "clean style". In terms of decoration, this period strives to be gorgeous, and pays attention to combining with other handicrafts, using different materials such as gold, silver, jade, coral, ivory, enamel and treasure inlay, and pursuing resplendence. It's a pity that some furniture in this period is bulky because of excessive pursuit of luxury.