Pursuing the law of the survival of classical furniture and the combination of material and spiritual aspects

Lin Daiyu first entered Jiafu and went to see the two monks in the life of Jiamu. After saying goodbye to Mrs. Xing, she entered Rongfu. After getting off the bus, she entered the hall and looked up to see the big man who wrote "Rongyutang". Then I saw a large number of ancient objects on the large red sandalwood carvings, and sixteen wooden blocks in the underground. This is the description of Jiazheng’s main room in the classic masterpiece "Dream of Red Mansions". The description of these furniture in the novel not only shows the status of Jia Zheng, but also creates a solemn atmosphere.

What are the unique charms of classical furniture? Is the understanding of classical furniture correct today? What are the values ​​of those homes that have been circulating for hundreds of years? How should modern people guard the furniture culture that the ancients passed down... The reporter interviewed the famous collector Mr. Ma Weidu, taking us into the world of classical furniture and pursuing the law of survival of classical furniture.

Exploring the survival rules of classical furniture

In the history of more than 5,000 years in China, Chinese furniture has undergone a long process of evolution in different periods, from the initial “sitting on the ground” to the “sit down”, the transition from low furniture to high furniture. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the artistic achievements of classical furniture reached the peak of the most brilliant. It can be said that in the process of evolution, furniture has its own unique law of survival, and these laws are gradually being dusted in the clouds of history. Modern people cannot accurately understand why furniture has evolved into what it is.

Ma Weidu told reporters that Europeans have a habit of sitting down because the climate in Europe is relatively cold and the weather conditions make them sit up high. Because of the relatively dry climate, Asians have formed a living habit of sitting on the ground. During the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, high-grade furniture appeared. Before that, our ancestors were sitting on the ground, and the furniture used was some low furniture.

According to the records of ancient books, the ancients had different sitting postures such as sitting and squatting.箕踞 is considered the most rude sitting posture. In "Book of Rites? Qu", there is also the saying that "there is a squat, sitting on the squat", that is, the legs are open, flat and straight, and sitting like a squat. Mr. Ma Weidu said: "When you want to understand furniture, you must first understand the history of Chinese clothing." The reason why he was treated as impolite is determined by the costumes of the time. "Because in the Han Dynasty, the ancients wore trousers (no trousers), not even trousers, it was very rude, so the ancients must be squatting, the clothes are covered, and the lower body is covered. "Because we are a nation that is good at learning, this is why we later took a seat from the ground and sat down to create a high-end furniture that fits our living habits."

In addition, the classical home has a lot of things to explore, and sometimes literally can discover the knowledge behind the furniture. Taking the word "chair" as an example, the original method of writing is "reliance" and has the meaning of relying on it. In the Song Dynasty, with the increase in wooden furniture, the wording of this word gradually became the "chair" on the side of Muzi. The "stool" was originally used for trampling, such as the horse stool, so the stool is not directional, can sit on all sides, and the chair is directional. "This is a process in which furniture is developing. Every piece of furniture has its own reason. Today we hope to find out the rules of survival of furniture and draw a blueprint for the future of Chinese furniture."

Grand view of classical furniture

When mentioning the “Chiseling Craftsmanship – China Ancient Seat Exhibition” held at the China Millennium Monument, Ma Wei told reporters that he hoped that more people could truly understand the rationality of Chinese furniture. The rationality of the so-called furniture is not only the furniture of red sandalwood and huanghuali that we are familiar with. A very important part of the furniture is a large number of folk and rural furniture, commonly known as wood furniture, lacquered wood furniture. These 500-year-olds, even the furniture of six or seven hundred years, whether it is the throne of the Palace Museum collection or a Maza in the country, they constitute the grandeur of Chinese furniture. When these pieces of furniture come together for an exhibition, we can feel the charm of Chinese furniture. In fact, the charm of Chinese furniture is not only the texture, but also the texture of precious wood such as red sandalwood and huanghuali. What is more important is the shape of the furniture. For example, what kind of shape does the furniture exist in the world? Modeling gives people some kind of enjoyment, which is crucial.

In addition, Ma Weidu said that the principle of Chinese furniture production is dignity first, comfort second. In the design of furniture, the first consideration is the issue of human dignity, and then the issue of comfort is considered. Westerners, on the other hand, are the opposite. This is why western furniture has more curves than oriental furniture and is shorter than oriental furniture. This is the result of Western pursuits. This is also one of the differences between Chinese furniture and Western furniture.

"By the exhibition of furniture such as bedding and sitting exhibitions, I hope that the Chinese will care more about their spiritual life in the current situation of food and clothing." Now the people are often misled into things other than furniture. Most people are emphasizing whether they will appreciate if they buy something. "It's very troublesome because he ignores the feeling that art itself brings to him."

Of course, Ma Weidu also hopes that the furniture market, which is a bit off-road, can re-examine the existence of furniture and let some incompetent people enjoy our ancient splendid furniture culture. He also hopes that some manufacturers will use the cheap, popular wood to make classic furniture. Today, it is often used to make very classic shapes with very expensive materials to sell at very expensive prices, but this price is not something ordinary people can enjoy. "I hope that the spirit of traditional Chinese furniture culture can be brought to every Chinese."

dialogue

"Excellence in Money": What do you think are the shortcomings of today's classical artists?

Ma Weidu: The furniture made today is either retro-styled, collected as a collection, or an imaginary, unprincipled transformation of traditional furniture. In my opinion, none of the successes, and Far from the achievements of the past. Today, many so-called Ming furnitures have not carried forward the so-called good things in the past, but in accordance with some understandings of today's people, narrowly made some self-righteous furniture, let me see even the most basic design ideas. nothing. Just changing some proportional relationships under self-awareness, thinking that this is an innovation, is a very stupid behavior in my opinion. Unfortunately, in today's society, stupid behavior is greater than shrewd creation. We hope that such a savvy Chinese should have a shrewd creation in such an era, and it will contribute to the world and be contagious. We hope that a new furniture culture that is not worthy of our national culture can be reborn.

"Superior Money": How do you think the furniture made is successful?

Ma Weidu: I think that the success of a good furniture is based on the cost of its simple production, with sociology, literature, aesthetics, and even philosophical considerations. All these considerations can make furniture a level higher. The glory of furniture in the Ming Dynasty was based on the Song Dynasty, and Ming Dynasty furniture was produced by many contemporary top literati. And our top literati today rarely participate in furniture production, and many literati may not see this process. This is very different from the literati in the past. For example, the great literati in the Ming Dynasty, Wen Zhenheng and Tu Long, who wrote books on cultural relics, made a more classic comment on furniture, but there is almost no such person today.

"Excellence in Money": You think that ancient furniture contains both material and spiritual aspects. What is the reason?

Ma Weidu: Furniture is a very good combination of material and spiritual. First of all, it is not short-term consumption. General furniture, especially the favorite furniture, will follow a person's life, even for generations. Therefore, there will be many things that have been given to the spiritual level in history, but this is not something that everyone can capture. For example, the difference between the official hat and the chair, the difference between the official hat and the south chair, the difference between the official hat and the rose chair, and the difference between these differences, the positions of these chairs in the past family life have those differences Why do some chairs in classical literature focus on description, which represents a humanistic spirit. For example, in "Jin Ping Mei", Li Pinger "individually set up a chair to let Ximen Qing sit up." In fact, the chair is a symbol of power and also shows respect for Ximen Qing. Here, the chair emphasizes its cultural and spiritual needs. If you take a chair with you, the context and situation are different. Therefore, in classical literature, furniture has a proper description and use. For example, in Tu Long’s “Stationery Yabian”, Wen Zhenheng’s “Long Story”, and Li Yu’s “Easy Sending”, there are similar descriptions, such as some furniture resting here, suitable for another place. As usual, these are things that people today don't know. Today's people will not become popular because of the position of a chair. And we will think that if the chair is elegant, it is elegant wherever it is placed. However, the ancient literati did not think so. They felt that the position was elegant. Changing the environment was vulgar. This spiritual pursuit is not something that can be understood by one person today. This requires a deep involvement in the field of furniture, and may need to complement other categories of knowledge in order to clearly feel the original intention of the ancients.

TIPS:

What is firewood furniture?

Chinese classical wood furniture refers to furniture made of other woods other than hardwood, such as huanghuali, red sandalwood, ebony, iron pear, and chicken wing wood, which are commonly used in daily life, such as eucalyptus, eucalyptus, cedar, and fir. , Nanmu, various fruit trees, walnuts, etc. These wood furniture are generally painted on the surface, that is, wide paint, large paint, large paint ash, and large paint ash.

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