Development history of modern furniture in China

China furniture originated in Xia Dynasty and experienced seven stages of development and reform in different periods.

The first stage-Xia, Shang and Zhou: the embryonic stage of early furniture in China, the earliest furniture was named "couch";

(prehistoric ~ 476 BC) 1978 ~ 1980, when the Institute of Archaeology of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences excavated the late Neolithic site (2500 BC ~ 65438 BC+0900 BC) in Taosi Village, Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, it was recognized from the traces and colored skins that the funerary objects included wooden rectangular plates and boxes. In the 2nd/Kloc-0th century BC, China invented bronze smelting and casting technology, and strong metal tools appeared, which provided conditions for the manufacture of wooden furniture, resulting in the gradual increase of wooden furniture after the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to the records in The Book of Songs, The Book of Rites and Zuo Zhuan, the wooden furniture in this period included beds, tables, screens and boxes. At the same time, bronze furniture also appeared. From the unearthed cultural relics, we can see the bronzes of Shang Dynasty and the bronzes with cicada patterns, which reflects that the bronze furniture of this period has reached a high level in casting technology, practicality and decoration.

The second stage-the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period: relatively low furniture was born;

(475 BC ~ 2 BC11year) During the Warring States Period, lacquer wood furniture was in a period of development, and bronze furniture also made great progress. Wooden furniture, such as desks, beds and other large-size furniture, is mostly a frame structure connected by tenons and mortises. Commonly used tenon joint forms include overlapping tenon, closed tenon, closed tenon, open tenon, open tenon and open dovetail joint. For example, large wooden beds, carved furniture and wooden furniture unearthed from Chu Tomb in Xinyang, feet and frames, feet and case surfaces, wooden beams and frames of drawer boards, fence columns and bedsteads are connected by the above methods, which are firm in combination and beautiful in appearance. A few, the sole of box furniture, often add a crossbar, called "reed"; (“GUI”； It is enough to use "pass" for furniture. It can not only support and fix the foot, but also protect the foot. After continuous improvement and development from generation to generation, these structures have formed an important feature of traditional furniture in China, which has been in use ever since.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties (2265438 BC+0 ~ 220 AD), lacquer wood furniture entered its heyday on the basis of inheriting the lacquer decoration of the Warring States, which not only had a large number and variety, but also had great development in decoration technology. The main features of furniture in this period are:

(1) Most furniture is low.

(2) Began to see the clues of evolution from low-level type to high-level type.

In the Western Han Dynasty, Taideng was introduced from India. Annotation of Ming Shi: "Climbing the couch means climbing the couch in front of the big bed." Putting a couch in front of the bed means that the height of the bed has increased. According to Taiping Yu Lan, "Emperor Ling likes to sleep in a bed." Hu Chuang is a kind of foldable portable seat for nomadic people in northwest China, and he hangs his feet when sitting. The evolution from sitting on the floor to sitting with one's feet down is a great change in the history of furniture.

(3) There is a cushion.

"Miscellanies of Xijing" records that the jade of the Han emperor was added with silk and cotton fabrics in winter, and the wood of the minister was added with felt pockets. This is the earliest cushion.

(4) There are many kinds of materials for making furniture.

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

The third stage-Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties: the appearance of tall furniture;

(220 ~58 1 year) The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were a period of great ethnic integration in China's history, and cultural and economic exchanges between ethnic groups promoted the development of furniture. At this time, the new furniture mainly includes armchairs, waist-tied round stools, square stools, round tables, long benches, cabinets, barnyard grass, bamboo baskets and other bamboo and rattan furniture. The bed is obviously raised, which can be used for hanging feet, and the allowable bed surface, bed curtain and detachable multi-fold multi-mode enclosure screen are added. The increase in the variety of sitting furniture reflects that the standing chair has been gradually popularized, which has promoted the development of furniture to high type.

The fourth stage-Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties: during the grand ceremony of tall furniture, tall furniture and short furniture developed in parallel;

From 589 to 960, the development of China furniture entered a brand-new period in the Tang Dynasty. It changed the appearance of furniture before the Six Dynasties and formed a smooth, soft and elegant Tang furniture style. In the Five Dynasties, furniture modeling advocated simplicity, simplicity and generosity. This simple inner beauty replaced the tendency of furniture in the Tang Dynasty to deliberately pursue complicated decoration, which set a good example for the formation of furniture style in the Song Dynasty. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, furniture development had two main characteristics:

(1) The furniture further develops to high type, which is manifested in the increase of the variety of seat furniture and the appearance of tables.

"Tongya" records: "The name of Zhuo Yi (chair and table) was discovered in Tang and Song Dynasties." There were chairs and stools in the Six Dynasties, which were more popular in the Tang Dynasty. The height of several boxes is based on the seating surface, and the appearance of tables is inevitable because the seats are very high. High-grade furniture has a series of influences on the height of the living room, the size of utensils, the shape and decoration of utensils.

(2) Furniture develops into complete sets, with more types, which can be classified according to the right of use and function.

It can be roughly divided into: sitting type and horizontal type, such as stool, chair, pier, bed and couch. Chairs and objects, such as chairs, desks and tables. Storage category, such as cabinets, boxes, barnyard grass, etc. Clothes hangers, such as clothes hangers, towel racks, etc. ; Others include screens and so on. Gu, a painter of the Five Dynasties, described the arrangement and use of complete sets of indoor furniture in Han Xizai's Night Banquet.

The fifth stage-Song and Yuan Dynasties: there are many tall and short furniture;

(960 ~ 1279) The Song Dynasty was an important period for the development of furniture in China. First of all, chairs, stools and other high chairs that sit with their feet down began to be popular among the people, ending the custom of sitting on the floor for thousands of years; Secondly, the furniture structure establishes the frame structure as the basic form; Thirdly, the layout of indoor furniture has a certain pattern. It is in the process of inheritance and exploration that the furniture in Song Dynasty gradually formed its own style. Furniture in Song Dynasty is characterized by simple and exquisite modeling and reasonable and fine structure. Structurally, the boiler door structure has been replaced by the frame structure; Most of the legs of furniture are round or square, and a large number of components are combined with chamfered tenons and closed tenons. For cabinets, tables and other large planar members, the method of "leaving edges" is often adopted, that is, the thin core plate is inserted into the quadrilateral frame through the belt, and tenons are left at the four corners, which can not only control the shrinkage of wood, but also play a decorative role. In addition, the furniture in Song Dynasty also attached importance to the relationship between shape, size, structure and human body, with rigorous technology, beautiful shape and convenient use. There are many kinds of furniture, such as drum pier, top chair, high chair, piano table, kang table, basin frame, floor lamp frame, desk with drawer, mirror table and so on. Various kinds of furniture also derive different styles. The earliest combination furniture in China appeared in the Song Dynasty, called Yanji.

The sixth stage-Ming: the heyday of China furniture (due to the development and maturity of tools, technologies and materials);

(1368 ~ 1644) In Ming Dynasty or Ye Dynasty (16th century), with the further development of handicraft industry, furniture became a circulating commodity, and many literati participated in interior design and furniture shape research. All these contributed to the great development of furniture in Ming Dynasty. On the basis of inheriting the tradition of furniture in Song Dynasty, the furniture in Ming Dynasty inherited and innovated. It is not only complete in types and styles, but also exquisite in materials, simple and elegant in shape, rigorous and accurate in production, reasonable and standardized in structure, and gradually formed a stable and distinctive furniture style in Ming Dynasty, pushing China ancient furniture to the peak.

The seventh stage-Qing Dynasty: Furniture declined, but Ming and Qing furniture was the most influential representative of China furniture.

(1644 ~1911year) qing dynasty furniture has different rooms, such as hall, bedroom and study, with detailed classification and clear functions. Its main features are solemn modeling, heavy carving, large volume and magnanimity, which broke away from the simple temperament of beautiful and practical furniture since the Song and Ming Dynasties and formed the style of qing dynasty furniture. Qing dynasty furniture's workshops are mostly concentrated in coastal areas, with Yangzhou, Jizhou (Hebei) and Huizhou (Guangdong) as the main production centers, and the products are called Su Zuo, Jing Zuo and Guang Zuo respectively. Su Zuo inherited the characteristics of Ming furniture.

By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the furniture technology had tended to be heavy, blindly sought after, rich and luxurious. Because the sculpture is complicated, it destroys the overall sense of modeling and feels bad. Qing dynasty furniture takes tenons as his work, and does not seek surface decoration; Beijing is a heavy wax worker, hollowing out with a bow and making good use of swim bladder; Extensive work focuses on sculpture, emphasizing sculpture and decoration. Decorative methods include wood carving and inlaying. Wood carving is divided into line carving (male carving, female carving), shallow relief, deep relief, general carving, round carving and Qi Diao (removing rhinoceros and removing red); It is inlaid with mother-of-pearl, wood, stone, bone, bamboo, ivory, jade, enamel, glass, gold and silver and metal ornaments. Decorative patterns are usually used to symbolize flowers, people, birds and animals, such as good luck, many children, longevity and official prosperity. Furniture parts usually have decorative functions. For example, it is carved on the long side, straight rung and foot column of the plate; Or use auspicious flowers and ancient coin-shaped components instead of short columns. In particular, the biggest changes in foot shape include square straight legs, cylindrical legs and Fiona Fang legs, as well as three-bend wishful legs and slub legs. The middle end of the leg is either tied or not tied, or there are prominent carvings and animal heads; There are animal claws and horseshoes at the foot end, such as Beijing Shisha, leaf rolling, treading beads, eversion, eversion, copper sleeve and so on. Waist changes are high or low, and some add fish holes and lines; There is a carved tooth baffle between the side legs. The red carved Yunlong cabinet, the mother-of-pearl plush chair, the square table for ancient coins and flies, the rosewood lute table, the mother-of-pearl dressing table and the five-screen mother-of-pearl couch collected by Shenyang Palace Museum are all the essence of qing dynasty furniture. There are plush chairs, armchairs, round-backed chairs, recliners, chairs, armchairs, benches, piers, beds, couches and so on. There are round tables, semi-round tables, square tables, piano tables, kang tables, desks, dressing tables, bars (tables), tables (tables), flowers, coffee tables and so on. Storage furniture includes Bo Gu cabinets, bookshelves, stuffy reed cabinets, bookcases, boxes, etc. Other furniture includes seat screen, enclosure screen, lamp holder and so on.

In the furniture of the ruling class (such as the court and government), most of them pursue complicated decoration and use ceramics, jade, ivory and shells. As decoration, especially palace furniture, lacquer wood furniture is made by carving, filling, gold painting and other means in arts and crafts. The vast folk furniture manufacturing industry pursues applicability and economy; Most of the processing methods are manual operations.

/kloc-in the second half of the 0/9th century, it is a kind of furniture that retains the early tradition and only partially blends Chinese and western carvings. Later, some foreign-funded furniture factories appeared in some coastal trade ports, some engaged in the management of traditional furniture in China, and some specialized in imitating European classical forms or American furniture. It is under the influence of these external factors that modern furniture in China has undergone new changes. Great changes have taken place in variety, form, structure and technology.

(After the beginning of the 20th century) At the beginning of the 20th century, furniture handicraft workshops were established in various places. By 1920, wood workshops, workshops and craftsmen had spread all over the country, forming a huge handicraft team. In furniture production, China traditional furniture and new furniture made in China coexist. Traditional furniture has a long history and a broad market, such as painted luggage in Ganxian County, Jiangxi Province, willow in Hekou Town, Lead Mountain, Jiangxi Province, hardwood furniture in Shanghai, lacquer furniture in Beijing, mother-of-pearl furniture in Yangzhou, etc. , all enjoy a certain reputation in domestic and foreign markets. The paint screen in Beijing won the first prize of 19 14 Panama Expo.

In 1930s-1940s, with the exchange and spread of various western design trends, modern furniture in China presented complex changes in some coastal cities. In the 1940s, some furniture factories organized by national industrialists and businessmen opened in major cities. According to the different processing methods and techniques, it is often divided into two industries: Chinese furniture and western furniture. Since then, China's traditional furniture and modern furniture have developed in different ways. Modern furniture is easy to popularize and apply because of the simplification of tenon structure, especially after the advent of plywood (such as panel furniture made of fiberboard), the structure of frame panel has been well improved, which has become a popular technological practice in vast areas of China. However, its development is uneven and slow, and the furniture forms in many cities and vast rural areas in mainland China still retain the features of traditional furniture in China. With the development of the times and the improvement of people's living standards, traditional crafts are also facing the challenge of industrialization.

Due to the change of social and economic structure, the rise and expansion of specialized chemical plants and the continuous improvement of mechanization, the development of modern furniture in China has been promoted. In 1980s, in the process of reform and opening up, furniture enterprises imported a large number of European furniture production equipment, mainly panel furniture production lines or stand-alone supporting equipment. It has been largely "armed" in hardware. However, under the condition of planned economy, state-owned enterprises did not make these equipment play its due role. At this time, the workshop-style private enterprises began to reappear and grow rapidly under the market economy system in the 1990s. China furniture was baptized by western modern furniture thoughts, and the furniture industry developed rapidly and was full of vitality. The embryonic form of a modern industry has been formed, and office furniture enterprises have begun to embark on a virtuous circle.