Analysis of Chinese, Soviet, Cantonese, Beijing, Jin, Ning, Lu and Fujian furniture styles of mahogany furniture

Ancient Chinese homes have two main lines of vertical and horizontal lines. The vertical line is based on history: furniture series that originated in various periods, namely early furniture, Han and Tang furniture, Song and Yuan furniture, Ming and Qing furniture, and national furniture. The second main line is the horizontal line. The horizontal line takes the local style as the context and produces the furniture pattern of one place one place.

Generally speaking, there are Su style (also known as Su Zuo, Suzhou production), Cantonese style (also known as Guang Zuo, Guangzhou production), Beijing style (also known as Jing Zuo, Beijing production), and other schools, such as Jin style, Ning Style, Lu style, Fujian style, etc. Among them, ancient furniture produced in Suzhou, Guangzhou, and Beijing, each of which represents the style characteristics of one side, is the three masterpieces of ancient furniture. As follows, we introduce the ancient furniture of various schools of horizontal lines.

Su Zuo Furniture

In the Ming Dynasty, there were no schools in China. At that time, furniture production was mainly concentrated in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River centered on Jiangsu Province. With the passage of time, the prestige of furniture making in Suzhou, Yangzhou and Songjiang in Jiangsu Province has become higher and higher. At this time, whether it is furniture used in the palace or furniture used in the private residence of the official residence, they are flowing from here to all directions. , People call it "Su style". The so-called "Su style" appeared in the Ming Dynasty and was the birthplace of Ming style furniture, so it can also be said to be "Ming style". In other words, the famous Ming-style furniture at home and abroad is mainly Suzuo furniture.

The formation and development of Su Zuo furniture were inseparable from the development of social economy and culture at that time. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Suzhou, which was known as "paradise", was the center of economic development in the southern part of China. Sun Jiagan of the Qing Dynasty wrote: "Inside and outside of the gates, there are a lot of household goods, pedestrian flows, and unrestricted signs. Yun Jin said that he is prosperous, and he can't catch the door. " In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, silk weaving, embroidery, printing and dyeing, red-carved lacquer ware, jade carving, furniture, and Taohuawu woodblock prints produced in Suzhou were well-known. Zhang Han in the Ming Dynasty (Song Chuang Meng Yu. Bai Gong Ji) records; "The luxury of Jiangnan is more than San Wu .... Wu is beautiful and beautiful, and thinks it is not beautiful, but also precious .... Literature. The so-called "Three Wus" in the literature refers to Suzhou and Wuzhou and Changzhou, collectively referred to as the Three Wus, headed by Suzhou. The so-called "manufacturers" naturally include furniture making.

In addition to economic factors, the development and style of Su Zuo furniture also has a close relationship with the highly developed cultural arts and specific cultural environment in Suzhou. The Wumen School of painting in the history of ancient Chinese painting was born here. The four members of the Wumen School in the Ming Dynasty, Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin, and Qiu Ying, all lived in Suzhou for a long time.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Suzhou area was densely covered with gardens, and the world was full of brilliance. These literati doctors pursued the high artistic conception and sentimentalistic landscapes and flowers, which had a subtle influence on Su Zuo furniture. In particular, Wen Zhenheng's "Long Wu Zhi" in the Ming Dynasty, Tu Long's "Examination Remains" and Li Yu's "Xian Qing Ou Ji" in the Qing Dynasty, these three books evaluated and summarized the furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties The improvement of Su Zuo furniture's art level. The reason why Su Zuo furniture stands out and the wind spreads can be said to be the result of breeding under this cultural background. The existing Ming-style furniture in the Gusu garden is simple and simple in style, simple and generous, ancient and elegant, like a small bridge and flowing water, and the charm of Jiangnan people.

The world-famous Ming Dynasty Su-made furniture mainly has the following characteristics and styles :

First, the style is generous, so clean and elegant, there is no complicated carving and inlay, even the carving and inlay are very simple and rich in tradition. And mainly manifested in the cabinet and the screen. Taking ordinary cabinets as an example, the frame is usually made of hardwood, then painted according to the lacquering process, pasted with linen, painted with ash, polished and smoothed, painted two to three times, and finally applied a matt paint to dry and start decorating patterns .

Draw the sketch on the lacquer surface first, then control the groove according to the pattern, and then insert the various texture inserts made according to the figure in the groove in advance, and use the glue to dry it, which is the finished product. The carvings in Su Zuo furniture are mostly piled up in small pieces. The large-area carvings are very rare. The common inlays are mostly jade, ivory, Luodian, colorful stones of various colors, various wood carvings, and chicken wings in wood carvings. More wood. The advantage of this inlay technique is that it can make full use of the material, even if it is only the size of soybeans or stone fragments of Luodian sand, it will not be discarded.

The second is the overall structure and smooth lines. When Su Zuo furniture was produced, it used a continuous crop of wood, which penetrated up and down, unlike the Qing Dynasty furniture where the components were separated. Specifically, the large objects of Su-made furniture mostly use cladding technique, that is, use the wood as the skeleton, and paste the hardwood sheet on the outside. This cladding method, although time-consuming and labor-intensive, has high technical requirements, but good cladding furniture Without careful observation and touch, it is difficult to conclude that it is a wrapping method. The purpose is to prevent people from seeing the flaws. Usually, the seams are treated at the corners, so that the wooden texture of the furniture surface remains intact, which saves materials and does not destroy the neatness of the furniture itself. In order to save materials, when making furniture such as tables, chairs, stools, it is often doped with other miscellaneous wood in the dark. This situation is mostly manifested in the materials used for wearing the utensils. This is the case for a large number of Su-made furniture currently in the palace, and this is true of Su-made furniture of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Most of Susuo furniture's oil-painted lacquers are designed to protect the wearing strap from moisture. It keeps the face from deforming and also hides the ugliness.

The third is the proportional size. The tricks and spaces of Su-made furniture in the Ming Dynasty, after repeated scrutiny, have reached the point where one point is longer and one point is shorter. Even for furnishings, there is a set of norms that adapt to each other.

The fourth is roundness. The so-called "clear round and clear square", no matter the cross-section of the part, the partial pattern, or the overall shape, are round and soft. Gives a natural beauty.

Five is good at making materials. The main materials for Suzuo furniture are high-quality hardwoods such as Huanghuali, red sandalwood, iron wood, chicken wing wood, gall wood and so on. Because these woods have the characteristics of hard texture, natural color, and beautiful texture, in order to fully display these natural wood colors, the craftsmen changed the process of repainting Song Yuan's good paint, adopting the process of not painting and polishing and waxing Beauty is at its best. This is one of the most obvious characteristics of Su Zuo furniture. The wood used for the top-quality Suzuo furniture is Huanghuali, so when we see the Ming-style Huanghuali furniture today, we can assert that it must be Su-style, which means it is produced in southern Jiangsu.

Due to the geographical conditions, the source of hard wood in southern Jiangsu was far less than that of Guangzhou and Beijing in the Ming Dynasty. They were mainly transported by sea channels. These materials were hard-won, so Supai craftsmen made furniture On top, use the materials carefully and carefully.

In ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy, there is a saying that "respecting ink is like gold", and Su Zuo furniture can also be said to have achieved the state of "respecting wood as gold". Su Zuo furniture should not only be beautiful in shape, but also save material, so that the furniture has a handsome style, which is the result of subjective pursuit under objective conditions. In the history, the Soviet-style artisans used the wood as carefully as a magician, and applied it ingeniously. Even small pieces of wood were used. Whether it is large or small utensils, all are carefully thought out to maintain their beauty. , Making it seamless, its near-great craftsmanship is breathtaking.

In the Ming Dynasty, after Su Zuo furniture was made, it mainly depended on the north of the canal and transported to Tongxian County, Beijing, and went to the imperial palace of the imperial court, or made it more expensive for the bureaucrats and wealthy merchants. Later, artisans can also buy furniture along the way, and there are many Ming-style Huanghuali furniture scattered along the canal. Today, hundreds of years later, when the worldwide collection of Huanghuali furniture whirlwinds, many ancient furniture dealers are looking for Huanghuali furniture from the folk along this transportation line. In the Ming Dynasty, the furniture going north mainly depended on water transportation. The Grand Canal belonged to the water transportation. The water transportation was the palace transportation, and the freight rate was extremely high. So when a piece of Huanghuali furniture was shipped to Beijing, the market was very high, especially the wooden items with the title It is said that a pair of noodle cabinets cost almost two thousand silver. A decent courtyard house at that time was only the price.

After Su Zuo Furniture passed the glory of the Ming Dynasty, it still occupied the position of "leading leader" in the domestic furniture field in the early Qing Dynasty. In the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties, with the development of the society and economy, and the changes in the social atmosphere and the psychology of the Qing rulers, the shape and decoration of furniture rapidly changed to the direction of richness, prosperity and flashiness. Under this circumstance, Su Zuo furniture gradually lost its dominant position in the world, and was surpassed by the later Guang Zuo furniture. Objectively, Huang Huali materials were exhausted, and Su Zuo furniture changed to mahogany. With the decline of Su Zuo furniture, fewer and fewer woods can enter the palace and eunuch's house, and they have to turn to the ordinary furniture market.

During the transformation of Su Zuo furniture from officials to the people, in order to be able to better adapt to the needs of the market economy, we had to absorb the craftsmanship of Guang Zuo furniture, so the face of Su Zuo furniture in the Qing Dynasty was formed. "Su Su". This Cantonese-style Su-made furniture refers to the Cantonese-style furniture's varieties and styles, but it is still produced according to the Su-style manufacturing process; or on the basis of continuing to follow the traditional practices, it can imitate the Cantonese in different ways in terms of decorative techniques and patterns He Jing style, and obviously has a tendency of foreign culture.

The rich and long-standing cultural connotation of Su Zuo furniture, although it has lost the favor of the upper class, it still maintains an elegant and handsome style, winning the love of ordinary people, especially literati, in the process of moving towards pure commodities , Made a market. And broke out a piece of highly commercialized classic furniture enjoyed by different classes, so as to popularize Su Zuo furniture, the folk has always been rich in the world.

In general, the biggest feature of Su Zuo furniture is light and small in shape and simple and show in decoration. It is not as thick and thick as Guang Zuo furniture, covered with carvings. The decoration of Su-made furniture is usually done with small areas of relief, line engraving, inlaid wood, inlaid stone, etc. The theme is mostly taken from the celebrity drawings of the past generations, with pine, bamboo, plum, mountain stones, flowers and birds, landscapes, landscapes and various myths and legends as The main, followed by traditional ornaments such as sea water cloud dragon, sea water river cliff, two dragon play beads, dragon wind Chengxiang and so on. Orchids are also commonly used. Most of them are homonymous, meaning auspicious. Most of the local decorative patterns are doubly twirled lotus and twig peony. Some of them also adopt grass dragon, square pattern, ganoderma lucidum and other patterns.

Guangsuo Furniture

As mentioned earlier, in the Ming Dynasty, Su Zuo furniture was the dominant Chinese furniture, and the whole world came to the Qing Dynasty. Guangsuo furniture appeared in the Qing Dynasty, and its major development was after the middle of the Qing Dynasty. As an important producer of hardwood furniture, although Guangzhou is later than Suzhou, its development is exceptionally rapid, with remarkable achievements and distinctive features.

Due to its specific geographical location, Guangzhou has been an important port for China's overseas trade since ancient times, and it is the main gateway for trade with overseas countries such as Southeast Asia and Arabia. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became an important window for foreign trade and cultural exchanges in China's "first place to gain popularity".

After the mid-Ming Dynasty, a large number of Western missionaries entered Guangzhou through Macao and then into mainland China. They spread Catholicism by spreading European science and culture. Some of their advanced scientific knowledge and Western culture contributed to the development of China ’s economy and culture. In particular, the Guangdong area is at the forefront of opening the door, and Chinese and Western cultures have been able to collide, absorb and integrate on a larger scale and more quickly under the new historical background.

Since Guangzhou is the main port and channel for the import of high-quality timber from Southeast Asian countries, countries in Nanyang are rich in high-quality timber. Timber foreign trade accounts for a large proportion of the goods exported from these countries. A large number of high-quality timber is continuously transported from Nanyang to China. The Chinese government also often sends officials Go logging in Nanyang. At the same time, Guangdong and Guangxi are the main producers of valuable wood in China, and there are many varieties. According to the "Museum of Natural History" records: "Hua Pear produces Jiao (Jiaozhi) Guang (i.e. Guangdong, Guangxi) Xijian, a flowering palm tree with leaves like pears and no solid, reddish purple and delicate texture, can be used as utensils and tables , Chairs, study utensils ". According to historical records, it can be known that the wood used to manufacture furniture in Guangdong is relatively abundant. These unique advantages have made the furniture manufacturing industry in Guangzhou prosperous and rapidly developed.

Due to the sufficient raw materials and the continuous economic development, the Qing rulers showed great desire for material life. They pursued a splendid, prosperous, luxurious, and rich atmosphere. The original Ming-style furniture could not meet their tastes. So Qing-style furniture came into being, and the main representative of the Qing Dynasty furniture was Guangsuo furniture. At that time, Guangzuo Furniture used materials without hesitation when pursuing luxurious and beautiful effects, resulting in the characteristics of bulky materials. Especially after Yongzheng and Qianlong, the magnates of the Daguan government continued to pursue luxurious styles in their lives, and their sizes were randomly increased and relaxed to show their grandeur and stability, and Guangsuo furniture also catered to their aesthetic taste from this point, so Guangzuo Furniture quickly replaced the original Su-made furniture status and became the main source of furniture in the Qing Dynasty with a unique artistic style. Li Yu, a famous dramatist of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, said after visiting Guangdong: "I traveled to the east of Guangdong and saw the utensils listed in the city. They are half of rosewood and red sandalwood.

The greater development of Guangzuo furniture was after the mid-Qing Dynasty, when the Western Baroque and Rococo art styles that were all the rage in the history of European culture and the decorative craftsmanship that reflected European luxury and magnificence during this period, followed the West. Civilization was introduced into China at the same time. Western-style commercial buildings and foreign businesses in Guangzhou city appeared like mushrooms. Sino-Western trade was flourishing. The commodities of Western countries were continuously imported into the Chinese market. The great interest, from the relatives of the imperial family to the people of Li Min, all admires the Western utensils, and it is fashionable to own.

Due to the influence of this style, many of the widely-used furniture are more imitated in Western style in terms of shape, structure and decoration. For example, the shape is mostly waist-shaped. , The pursuit of gorgeous, luxurious, and more than ever. Some of them were directly drawn from the Western-style patterns that were very popular at the time, such as the passionflower on the most common widely-made furniture, which is a flower resembling a Chinese peony. Passionflower is characterized by smooth lines and endless changes, which can be extended freely according to different shapes. It mostly takes one flower or a few flowers as the center and stretches its branches around, and most of them are symmetrical up and down. If the decoration is on a circular object, the branches and leaves are mostly circulated, and the decorative patterns on all sides are cleverly connected, making it difficult to distinguish their heads and tails.

Mahogany Inlaid Screw Master Chair

Passiflora and Su Zuo furniture's traditional twisted lotus pattern is completely different, which has become an important feature to distinguish between Guang Zuo furniture and Su Zuo furniture. Another example is the structure of some Cantonese armchairs, which clearly shows the influence of the French Rococo style that was popular at the time. As for some carved furniture, it is particularly delicate and breathtaking. It can be described in this way that every piece of high-end furniture is a beautiful sculpture. All kinds of carving techniques are used to the fullest. What are bas-relief, relief, high-carving, through-carving, round carving, three-dimensional carving and so on. The engraving area is wide and deep, and some furniture engraving decoration area is up to more than 80%. In addition to large-scale carvings, Guangzuo furniture pays more attention to the inlay art. The skill is a must. In the craftsmanship, the term "inlay" is a lacquerwork term.

The mosaic art in Suzhou, Yangzhou, Hangzhou and other places in China is very popular. In order to pursue a beautiful color beauty, Guangsuo furniture will inlay to a higher level. The inlaid materials come in all shapes and sizes, usually marble (marble), jade, gemstone, enamel, ceramic, snail, metal, boxwood, ivory, amber, glass, oil painting, etc. Mosaic works are mostly insert screens, hanging screens, surrounding screens, etc., which has become a precious and wonderful flower in China's furniture decoration. Today, when we see the mahogany furniture inlaid with marble and snails, if we conclude that it is a widely-made furniture, it is generally not wrong.

The decorative themes of Guangsuo furniture are very rich. In addition to Western-style patterns, there are also a considerable number of traditional patterns. It uses natural forms of animals and plants, such as plants such as pine, bamboo, orchid, plum, chrysanthemum, grapes, etc., animals have cranes, Deer, lion, sheep, dragon, bat, mandarin duck, etc. Some are moire, kuai, and seawater. The most common are bamboo joints and plum blossoms, but the combination of Chinese and Western is more common.

The characteristics of the production of Guangsuo furniture are that the materials are thick and the shape is heavy. In order to emphasize the consistency of wood, most of them are made of one wood, and the materials are all the same. That is, the same kind of wood is used to make a piece of furniture, such as rosewood All are rosewood; if you use red sandalwood, the whole piece of furniture is all red sandalwood, the inside and the outside are consistent, all kinds of wood are not mixed with each other, and the widely used furniture is not painted in the paint, so that the wood is completely exposed, let people have a real look, At a glance.

The atmosphere and luxury of Guangsuo furniture were favored by the royal family of the Qing Dynasty. In order to meet the needs of the royal family, the Qing Dynasty Construction Office specially set up "Guangmu Zuo" to undertake woodworking activities. A considerable amount of furniture existing in the palace comes from the wooden work of the office. In the Yongzheng year of the Qing Dynasty, many famous Guangdong craftsmen such as Luo Yuan and Lin Bin were also called into the palace to make furniture for the palace. During the Guangxu period, another Guangdong master Liang Bu was summoned to go north to sculpt a dragon bed for the emperor's wedding. During the Yongle period, Guangzuo hard-woodworkers entered Beijing in shifts. Almost all Qing Dynasty manufacturing offices were well-known masters. If the Suzhou area is the birthplace of Ming-style furniture, the Guangdong area is the palace of Qing Dynasty furniture, and the latter is more important in Qing-style furniture. Qing-style furniture is most famous for Guangsuo, and its furniture exports are much larger than those in Suzhou.

Of course, from the perspective of art and overall, Guangsuo furniture is not as good as the Soviet style, but from the perspective of furniture history, Cantonese style is still a wonderful page in Chinese classical furniture. It replaced the Su style in the mid-Qing Dynasty. The situation became the main furniture of the Qing Palace and became synonymous with furniture of the Qing Dynasty. There is a certain historical reason for Guangzuo furniture in the Qing Dynasty to achieve such a high status. The first is that it retains the excellent format of traditional furniture in the structure, while at the same time absorbing the gorgeous decoration form of European furniture; in the application function of the furniture, it has also made a brave development, which has been loved and promoted by people. Guangsuo furniture in the Qing Dynasty also profoundly affected the development of furniture in major cities along the coast of China. For example, craftsmen in Suzhou, Shanghai, Yangzhou, Ningbo, and Beijing all imitated the form and craftsmanship of Guangsuo to a certain extent.

Jing Zuo Furniture

The so-called Beijing-made furniture is the genre of upper-class furniture in the Qing Dynasty in Beijing. Modern historians generally recognize the furniture made in Beijing by the Qing court palace workshops such as the manufacturing office and the imperial supervisor. Mainly. Jing Zuo furniture has straight lines, Qu Yi and each other, and strives to be concise, simple, bright, natural style characteristics, so the shape is rigorous and stable, elegant and beautiful, Jing Zuo furniture in the material selection, process manufacturing, use function, decoration methods are all aspects Achieved an organic combination.

Although folk daily furniture in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei also belongs to the category of Beijing furniture, they are not strictly Beijing furniture in the strict sense. Among the furniture genres in the Qing Dynasty, Jingzuo furniture is an important part, forming a three-legged stand with the Su style and the Cantonese style.

After the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu established the Qing dynasty, and the furniture of the Forbidden City was severely damaged. The Qing Palace overhauled the imperial palace, built royal gardens, summer resorts, and Old Summer Palace. On the other hand, I tried my best to pursue the indoor furnishings of Ronghua Fugui, which led to a great increase in the demand for furniture in the early Qing Dynasty. At the beginning, the main source of furniture in the Qing Dynasty was purchased from the place of origin. During the Kangxi period, it was still purchased from the Suzhou area along the old system of the Ming Dynasty. After the Yongzheng period, the new Guangzuo furniture was favored by the ruler. Dominate. Therefore, Beijing furniture can be divided into early, middle and late phases. The earliest Beijing-made furniture is actually fine furniture from Jiangsu and Guangzhou, and the number is huge. In the thirty-six years of Qianlong, there were as many as 150 tributes to the palace in Liangjiang, Liangguang, Jiangning, and Lianghuai.

Later, in order to further meet the needs of the palace life, the Qing Dynasty's construction office set up furniture manufacturing institutions, including wood work and broad wood work, specializing in the production of the wood work of the palace. At the same time, the office also recruited many highly skilled and skilled craftsmen from Jiangsu and Guangzhou to specialize in wood work. In the Qing Dynasty, there were thousands of high-end furniture made by the manufacturing office for the palace.

"Clearing the work schedules of Yangxindian Office" is the first-hand material for studying the palace furniture of the Qing Dynasty. After investigation, it was produced by the Office only in the short period of more than ten years from the first year of Yongzheng to the fourteenth year of Yongzheng. There are more than a thousand kinds of tables, chairs, stools, cabinets, shelves, tables, screens, and bed, such as gold rosewood table, silver rosewood table, glass surface inlaid silver rosewood table, black lacquered gold backrest chair, purple lacquer painted inlay The bamboo kang and so on, the fine craftsmanship, the variety of styles, and the luxury of the decoration, to the extent that can not be added, can be described as extremely luxurious. During the Qianlong period, it was even more remarkable. We can imagine the luxury of the royal family only from the purchase of red sandalwood for making furniture, as recorded in "Everything in the Yangxindian Construction Office": "Qianlong 11th August 2 On the 16th, Treasurer Bai Shixiu saw that there were more than 3,000 catties of red sandalwood outside for the survival plan. The price of each catty of silver was two cents per cent. Please buy them in order to apply other words successively. Hope, allow it to buy, and appreciate it. "Another example is" In the Palace Advance Order ":" On the 22nd of October 21st in Qianlong, political officials from Changlu Salt entered: one hundred red sandalwood wood, one foot long Four to one foot, four to five feet. " On the 23rd of October 23rd in Qianlong, Qianlong, the political officer of Changlu Salt entered: "One hundred red sandalwood, ranging from one to three feet long."

Because of the financial and material resources of the palace office, the furniture is made with no cost and materials, and the decoration is luxurious, and precious materials such as gold, silver, jade, ivory, enamel, and treasures are inlaid, which makes Beijing furniture "imperial". It has formed the distinctive characteristics of grand luxury and combination with various handicrafts.

The Beijing-made furniture in the palace is generally between the Soviet style and the Cantonese style. The materials used are smaller than the Cantonese style. It is similar to the Su style, but it is wider than the Ming Dynasty furniture, and the local size is also increased. The furniture is carved and decorated The scope of it has increased with it, and its shape is vigorous, steady, complicated and gorgeous. Most of the furniture of the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods preserved in the Imperial Palace in Beijing today are the masterpieces of the construction office. It is highly coordinated with the Qing Dynasty architecture, algal wells, window decorations, and the gorgeous handicrafts of the palace.

From the perspective of decoration, Jing Zuo furniture is different from Su and Guang, and it has a unique style. It absorbs the bronze wares of the Shang Dynasty and the stone carving art of the Han Dynasty to the furniture, and melts the bronze culture and the stone carving culture into the furniture art. This is the achievement of Jing Zuo furniture The place is also unique in style from other places. These different patterns of ornaments are quiet, elegant and antique. Commonly used patterns are Kuilong, Kuifeng, Chiahu pattern, Pan pattern, Chia pattern, Animal face pattern, Thunder pattern, Cicada pattern and Hook and roll pattern.

Later, a lot of Beijing-made furniture was scattered from the palace where the officials were noble, and these furniture went to the people to ask, and the people followed suit, which became the late Beijing-made furniture. This kind of furniture is also known as imitation court furniture and has been extended to the Republic of China. After the addition of the Beijing-style artisans, mainly from the native Hebei, some rough-working artisans, like building houses and building horse-drawn carriages, not only have poor skills, but also poor artistic cells, artistic feelings and pursuits, which is a need for a means of earning a living.

Therefore, the quality and art of Beijing-made furniture during this period have been greatly inferior, and they are generally renovated and renovated. In order to pursue commercial profits, they cut corners to cut corners. For example, mortise and tenon do not pay attention, rough handling, too large mortise to wrap cloth or smash into a bamboo wedge to finish. In the carving of furniture patterns, there is a great deal of arbitrariness and often loses shape, thus losing the "taste" and price plant of real Beijing-made furniture, just like the large number of fake fakes we see on the antique market today, without art At all.

Although the influence and achievements of Jingsuo Furniture are not as good as those of Su and Guang, they are derived from the Su and Guang factions. They still have a place and a certain position in history. It has inherited the craft tradition of the past dynasties in the decoration technique and has developed. The ingenious combination of various craftsmanship constitutes its own unique style and characteristics, representing an important period of the Chinese nation's long furniture culture. However, it should be pointed out that Jing Zuo furniture's excessive pursuit of luxury and decoration will definitely dilute the practical functions, so that the furniture becomes a pure decoration. This can not be said to be the regret left by Jing Zuo furniture.

Other genres

In the history of ancient furniture in China, in addition to the three major schools of Su, Guang, and Beijing, there are many local schools, such as Jin, Ning, Lu, Yang, and Min. These three schools have different styles and characteristics. Weave together the splendid furniture culture of the Chinese nation.

Jinzuo Furniture

Among the many local furniture schools, the Shanxi school is quite unique. Earlier we described that the local furniture genres were not formed before the Qing Dynasty, and the local schools we are talking about are all after the Qing Dynasty. The Jinpai furniture was formed before Ming Yongle (1424). It focused on practicality and materials, pursuing a powerful and strong style. Its shape is sturdy, the structure is rigorous, the workmanship is fine, and it has obvious admiration for local wood carving decoration. Northern local characteristics. This kind of folk wood furniture is known for its dowry and cabinet skills and strong local flavor until the Qing Dynasty.

Shanxi Classical Furniture Museum Showroom

The formation of the unique style of Jin Zuo furniture has its historical geography and economic reasons. It is said that after the defeat of Li Zicheng, the peasant uprising swept away a lot of treasures in Kyoto, preparing to retreat to Shanxi and then come back to the east. As a result, this matter did not come as expected. The Qianzhuang, on the basis of the Qianzhuang, has formed an important Shanxi merchant in history. These wealthy billionaires have built manor houses with huge amounts of gold, and the now-famous "Qiao Family Courtyard" is a typical example. It is said that in Shanxi, there are many famous courtyards such as the Wang Family Courtyard and the larger one than the Qiao Family Courtyard. These deep house courtyards, of course, need a lot of furniture to display, so Jinpai furniture came into being. In the early Ming Dynasty, the rapid development of agriculture and handicrafts in Pingyang, Fenzhou, and Taiyuan prefectures promoted commercial prosperity. The successive operation of Chengchi temples and residential houses also promoted the development and improvement of wooden furniture. In particular, the military fortress of Taiyuan Prefecture has a certain social and economic foundation. In the early Ming Dynasty, the military consumption of North Fortress increased and the trade became more and more prosperous. The wooden furniture in Yangqu and Yuci also developed greatly and formed the main production areas. The rise of Datong's furniture industry.

Jin Zuo furniture is dominated by lacquered wood furniture. It originated from Yao and Shun lacquer wares built in Shanxi. Later, it was mainly used in the application of techniques such as smooth lacquer, cloud carving, snail and lacquer painting.

The development of Jin Zuomu furniture and lacquered wood are obviously different. The former has been steadily gradual since ancient times; the latter has been promoted intermittently and scattered in production areas, and some techniques have started late. If it is inferred from time, the furniture of Jinzuo is generally expanded from south to north, and spreads all over the place, and its main products are concentrated in Taiyuan, Yangqu and Yuci. Why is there such a situation, this should be analyzed from the historical background at that time.

The first is the impact of immigration. According to historical records, political corruption and frequent wars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, coupled with the Yellow River breach and the prevalence of locust plagues, the Central Plains area is "a thousand miles of red land, and there are no people in the wild." The adjoining Jindi has a pleasant weather and a stable life. As a result, a large population of the Central Plains entered Jin, making the area of ​​Jinnan densely populated and a heavy social burden. In the 50 years since 1368 (Hongwu) to 1419 (Yongle), in order to consolidate its foundation and implement the policy of "recuperating and restoring" after the Ming Dynasty, it organized eight times with Guangji Temple in Hongdong County as the immigration point Large-scale immigration, immigration to a new place, brought Jin culture and agronomy, craftsmanship, including furniture manufacturing technology.

Shanxi Classical Furniture Museum Showroom

Mr. Feng Jicai is an enthusiastic protector of folk culture. His "Emergency Appeal-Dial 120 of Folk Culture" (Wenhui Publishing House January 2003 edition) mentioned the Gaobeidian and Lujiaying areas in Beijing Shanxi antique dealers who camped in Zhaizhai mentioned ancient furniture such as furniture and iron bells they resell, and also used the term "especially Shanxi people".

"Big player" Mr. Wang Shixiang is a well-known domestic furniture collector and appraiser. He once classified Ming-style furniture as "eight diseases and sixteen products"; several pieces of Ming and Qing red sandalwood and Huanghuali furniture that he donated to the Shanghai Museum have become The treasure of the town room of the museum. He published a special mention of Shanxi furniture in the article "Calling for the Rescue of Ancient Furniture" published in the "Relic References" (see "The Book of Golden Ash", Sanlian Bookstore, August 1998 edition) in 1957, saying: "Several A few months ago, Beijing Timber Company sent someone to Shanxi to buy old wood. After returning it from batch to batch, the hardwood materials in Hongqiao Market outside Chongwenmen were full of pits and valleys. They turned out to be dismantled furniture. The bed was already broken, and it was terrible.

I asked my comrades from the local wood company why the good wood was not shipped back. He said: Shanxi, a piece of hardwood, will not be allowed to leave the country, and it can be shipped casually after being dismantled. No one asks. Anyway, we sell materials, it does not matter. "Mr. Wang also used the words" The situation in Shanxi is more serious. "

The prosperity of the Shanxi merchants for centuries left Shanxi today with not only more than a dozen deep house courtyards that have been turned into tourist hotspots, but also home-made home items, calligraphy and painting books and so on. In the early 1950s, it was not only the furniture of a cart, but also the books of carts that were pulled from Shanxi ... This is well documented.

Shanxi style furniture, the jargon says "Jin Zuo". It is combined with Su Zuo, Jing Zuo and Guang Zuo as four major schools of Chinese furniture.

Jin Zuo furniture is in the Qing dynasty. It is characterized by its large size, heavy weight, thick and solid frame, and strong edges. Its materials are wide and hand-made, mainly made of walnut wood produced locally, supplemented by elm birch and cedar.

Because the material is slightly inferior, it restricts the display of the carving process, so he started an article on the painter, spreading the gray, black paint the gold, very particular, now Pingyao push lacquer, Jiangzhou carving lacquer can become a characteristic process, It has a lot to do with this.

The subtle and mysterious parts of the carvings, the local part of the dental plate is the most. Those with hard drum patterns, or hex patterns, or kidnapper patterns, those with soft drum patterns, or wishful patterns, or red tiger head and tail patterns, are all simply omitted and outlined in general, although there are preparations for dot dyeing and engraving. However, there is no such thing as a pile of gluttons and a search for chapters and excerpts. This seems to have the same interest as the standard for judging a good article, "resign from one's terms and act in a simple, concise manner".

The furniture of Jin Zuo is exquisite in workmanship, the exquisite and transparent structure can be compared with Su Zuo's Lingkong Wenqi Xuanshi, the majestic and dignified state can be compared with the elegant and majestic style of Jing Zuo, and can be extravagant and powerful. In order to imitate the third generation of red sandalwood work, Qianlong taste is very strong. The structure is precise and ingenious, the pattern is simple and refined, the tiger legs have teeth, the waist is supported by the cheeks, or the carving is chiseled, or the screw is inlaid.

Due to traffic congestion and stagnation, Jinbei furniture is more similar to Ming style, and retains the legacy of Song and Liao. Jinnan furniture is mostly painted with painted gold paintings, or landscape figures, or flowers and birds wenwan, commonly known as painted gold cabinets.

The cabinets and quilts set by Kangtou in the furniture of Jinzuo with their regional characteristics are derived from the custom of warm kimono in the north. There are many drama stories painted on the panel glass of the cabinet. The talented and beautiful ladies and scholar scholars, although they are more gaudy and charming, are also chic and lively. The Zhuanghu people need large cabinets, filing, matching tables, Kang tables, and shrines. The home of the clothing is equipped with screens, painting tables, drum mounds, circle chairs, incense tables, etc. , Duobaoge, Bogu shelf, small items are vanity box, basin stand, semi-round table, official suitcase and so on.

The materials used for Jinzuo furniture are commonly known as "one elm, two locusts, three walnuts, and commonly used materials for willow furniture."

The wood is hard and durable, and it is used in the creation of tables and chairs. "Good doors can be used for forty years, good cabinets can be stored for three hundred years, movable tables and chairs are not easy to make, and hardwood has to be tough." Due to the hard work of quality, this material is rarely used as a material for furniture after the Qing Dynasty. Willow wood is flexible and suitable for engraving, and it is often used for making lacquered cabinets.

"Dried elm and wet willow, the woodworker saw it away", so most of the top grade furniture in Jin's furniture is walnut. The material is well-proportioned, the texture is delicate, the weight is moderate, the hardness is appropriate, and the product is often given a sense of richness and stability.核桃木强直承接榫卯受力有余，变异性也小，且又易于雕花刻饰，若不髹漆，久置则色褐栗，皮赭酱，纹理与花梨木很是相像，故核桃木又有假花梨之称。

目前，能集中观赏到晋作家具的地方有位于平遥县城南大街的三晋大财东家私博物馆（原为百川通票号），藏有万余件清中叶之后的家具；位于祁县县城东大街的雨楼明清家私博物馆（原为巨贾何氏家族的宅院），藏品有4000余件。另在几处晋商大院内也有精致收藏。

祁县乔家大院中的犀牛望月镜为铁梨木材质，上部镜体为毛光玻璃，直径一米左右，周围有祥云映衬，为镂空雕刻；下部是一只回首的犀牛，卧于基架之上，背驮镜体。犀牛角目峥嵘，身甲清晰可见，四蹄形态，仿佛要腾空翔云，上下浑然一体，给人一种凝重威严、端庄朴素之感。通体呈重枣暗色，表面光泽四溢，不乏秾艳华丽。此镜一座便重达一吨,目前已被定为国家一级文物。

一只九龙灯做工极为精巧，高0.9米，上刻九条蟠龙，其中的八条分上下两层呈卐字型排列，中以一轴贯通，为乌木质地。 另一八条屏上刻傅山书写的《文昌帝君阴骘文》，刻工真实地再现了傅先生扫帚行笔的洒脱自若、遒劲雄浑。

太谷三多堂中收藏有400余件明清家具，多为乌木、黄花梨木、核桃木制成。其中的五扇式百寿大屏风，花梨木框架，大理石镶嵌，堪称明清家具之极品。此屏高3.8米、宽5米，重达千斤，上镶有92块大理石，嵌石周围以象骨包边，其整体由15副榫卯组合而成，呈八字收缩状，取内敛外放之意，上部为云雷纹图，中心为三晋书法大家，号称三代帝师的祁隽藻的字迹，内容为两汉十八位名贤之箴言警句、训词忠告，两侧各立一对小狮子，口含丝带，足蹬彩珠，属厚重中的玲珑，陡峻中的弛缓。

另有一大理石嵌帮的大烟榻格外气派风致。榻上置一张小炕桌，为楠木葡萄瘿剖制而成，图案浑沌莽苍、蓬芜庞驳，依其尺寸，非千年古树不能结。岁寒三友镜之造型类似于犀牛望月镜，只不过将“犀”之“喜”的谐音喻示，变得更具文人气息罢了，其圆型镜面也换成了山水纹饰的大理石。

而另一件羽毛镜为乾隆年间的制品，方镜之上以翠鸟之羽贴成一幅面积约半平方米的山水画卷，至今仍熠熠闪烁、荧光映耀。馆藏的多种椅子中，堪称独到者，是一对清式双鱼如意椅，其靠背上的镂空双鱼取“图心有意，意必吉祥”之趣，其造型之合度、比例之匀称、花式之清雅、工艺之考究，难得一见。

第二，明建国以来的二百多年，为防范蒙古贵族的骚扰，自1386——1396(洪武)即致力于建立北塞联防，晋商人由于承担了兵站任务而致了富，商业更加繁荣，除晋中、晋南的商品拥入外，新安商人经营的南货也源源而来，这些都推动了晋派家具的发展，为永乐年间晋派家具的初步成熟创造了条件。

第三，1465（成化)——1571年(隆庆)明王朝与蒙古贵族和议之前，北塞“九边”已成为全国性的消费大市场，商贾云集，贸易昌盛，再加上浮糜炫耀消费风气的影响，推动了晋派家具的完善并成为明家具的重要部分。

晋作家具自万历(1573年)后，在苏、广、京等家具的相互影响下不断汇流，并共同推动了明家具的提高，晋作的后期家具，日见精巧古趣和运线多变。广作造型的古色古香，铜饰件的精致、大理石镶嵌的悦目，雕漆的通法熟练、螺钿的满布自如等，也对晋作产生了重大影响，效仿者并不少见。

与苏、广、京三地相比，山西毕竟交通闭塞，其家具所用材料也就只能就地取材，除松、榆、杏、杨外，最常用的是核桃木。这些木材虽说远不及紫檀、红木那样珍贵，但它是山西土生土长的木种，具有地方特色，取之不尽，用之不竭。它们被制作成家具后，多涂深棕色或桔黄色，外罩桐油。这也可以算作是晋作家具的另一个重要地方特