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The Art
of Chinese Furniture |
On display in the
National Palace Museum in Taipei is a 33-piece suite of
20 different kinds of carved red sandalwood furniture,
which was formerly used in the residence of a royal
relative during the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.).
Modern people accustomed to using Western style
furniture are inevitably overcome with a longing for
past grandeur when they discover the quality of
materials used, excellence of workmanship, and the fine
ornamental carving of traditional Chinese furniture, as
represented in this exhibit.
The development of traditional Chinese
furniture went from the simple to the intricate, and
was closely inked to the Chinese lifestyle and cultural and economic changes in
China. In early antiquity, the Chinese sat mostly on straw mats on the floor.
After the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.), beds and couches began to come
into widespread use as seating. During the Wei-Chin (220-420 A.D.) and the
Northern and Southern dynasties (420-589 A.D.) period, Western-style chairs,
folding stools, and other seating gradually entered China. From this point on,
Chinese everyday living began to be conducted from chairs rather than sitting
cross-legged on the floor. Straw mats came to be used as coverings for beds and
couches. Beginning in the late
Ch'ing Dynasty, foreign living styles began to be adopted in China, with the
result that originally predominant Chinese-style furnishings gradually became
collector's items. Not only chairs, but also Chinese tables, cabinets,
bookcases, and decorative screens reached the summit of their development during
the Ming (1368-1644 A.D.) and Ch'ing dynasties.
Ming furniture features simple,
smooth, and flowing lines, and plain and elegant ornamentation, fully bringing
out the special qualities of frame-structure furniture. Influenced by China's
burgeoning foreign trade and advanced craftsmanship techniques, furniture of the Ch'ing Dynasty period turned to rich and intricate ornamentation, along with
coordinated engraved designs. Because of the high level of development of
Chinese furniture in the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties, most Chinese furniture
design today follows in the tradition of pieces from these two periods. In the
Taiwan on Taiwan, traditional Chinese furniture has been preserved in excellent
condition in the Lin residence in Wufeng, Taichung; in the Cheng residence in
Hsinchu, which used to belong to Taiwan's first scholar to pass the Chinese
civil service examination; and in the Folk Art Museum of Lukang.
As in traditional Chinese architecture,
wood is the major material used in the manufacture of furniture. This was in
response both to needs arising from Chinese lifestyles, and to China's rich
forest resources. The two main types are lacquered furniture and hardwood
furniture. Lacquered furniture was commonly used in palaces, temples, and in the
homes of the
wealthy. It includes the t'i-hung , or carved lacquer style; t'ien-ch'i in which
lacquer is used to fill in an engraved design, and then rubbed flat; miao-ch'i ,
or outlined lacquer style; and luo-tien, or furniture inlaid with
mother-of-pearl. Two or more methods might also be combined in the same piece.
Hardwood furniture was frequently found in the homes of the wealthy, but was
even more common in the homes of nobles and officials. Woods employed include
red sandalwood, pearwood, padauk, ebony, and nanmu. Of these, red sandalwood is
the most highly valued material for use in furniture making; it is dense, hard,
and resistant to decay.
Bamboo and rattan furniture also have a
long history. Bamboo is a product unique to Asia, and is an especially developed
industry in hot and sunny Taiwan. Simple and ingenious techniques are used to
make clever and useful products that can be "knocked down," and modular pieces
that can be used together or separately. Bamboo may be used in combination with
other materials, such as wood, rattan, metal, and ceramic tile, in endless
variation. Much bamboo and rattan furniture is exported to Europe and the United
States, where it enjoys great popularity.
Chinese are fond of furniture with
inlaid and carved work. In addition to shells and enamel chips, brilliant,
colorful, and artistically grained jade, stones, ivory (and other animal teeth),
horn, agate, and amber are used for inlaid designs. Marble, for example, is a
stone often used for inlaid work; colorful ceramic plates are also a popular
material for ornamentation. Another elegant technique used since ancient times
is the inlaying of different kinds and colors of woods in a single piece. The
methods of carving include relief carving, negative engraving, and free-style
carving. Common subjects for furniture carving are flowers; dragons and
phoenixes; the ch'ilin, a Chinese mythical beast; and stylized cloud and leaf
patterns.
Traditional Chinese furniture is generally
arranged in symmetrical suites or sets. These are, however, supplemented with
other more flexible arrangements to prevent the room from having too staid an
atmosphere. For example, paintings or examples of calligraphy might be hung on
the wall; ceramic, enamel or other knick-knacks might be placed in an antique
display cabinet; or flower arrangements made of jade or stone might top a square
occasional table. Any or all of these can add splashes of color and elegant form
to the room. These
delicate additions set off the heavy furniture to give a rich composite effect.
With Taiwan's increasing economic
prosperity, just about everybody now places great importance on interior design
and room arrangement, and is very particular when choosing furniture. And
because of a corresponding enhancement in spiritual life, traditional Chinese
style furniture now enjoys especial vogue. Many like to collect and use
traditional Chinese furniture in all sorts of ways in their homes; it has become
part of the modern lifestyle.
Traditional style furniture not only lives
and thrives in the Taiwan ; furniture aficionados of other countries who buy a
piece of Chinese style furniture will usually display it with pride in a
prominent place in their house. Exports of traditional Chinese furniture not
only bring monetary wealth, but also enable more and more people of countries
all over the world to enjoy and acclaim the beauty of the art of traditional
Chinese furniture. |
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