Classical Chinese furniture developed from ancient times. Fine lacquered wooden furniture had already appeared as early as the Han Dynasty. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Chinese began to change the habit of kneeling or sitting cross-legged on a platform to sitting with legs pendant on a stool. This gave rise to furniture of level height. The technically structured and multi-decorated Song furniture laid the foundation for the further development and perfection of Ming and Qing furniture. Classical furniture reached its zenith in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Each age was marked by its own distinctive artistic style.
Ming furniture is characterized by a simple and elegant structure with fluent lines and appealing proportions. Qing furniture in contrast is larger and more imposing with elaborate carving and inlaid decoration. These two types of furniture differed greatly in style but each reached a high level of artistic success and can claim a place in the history of world furniture. |
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Chinese furniture was highly developed in the Ming Dynasty. Carpentry skills had already reached a high level in the Song and Yuan dynasties. This combined with the growing prosperity of city commercial economy, the rise of house and garden buildings and the import of large quantities of hardwood from Southeast Asia facilitated its success.
From extant Ming furniture can be seen that Ming furniture covered all varieties of Chinese furniture. Its shapes, simple lines, pleasing proportions and a tight mortise and tenon structure formed a distinct artistic style. Great emphasis was placed on the use of the natural beauty of the wood grain together with adopting latticework and openwork carving. This simple classical style has helped to establish its fame.
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