Behaviour-guided Study Of The Mortise And Tenon Construction Of Ming Furniture

As an example of traditional Chinese artefacts,Ming furniture is a material remnant of the dynamic behaviour of the ancients,cemented in the social behaviour of the people of the time.The classic Ming furniture is inseparable from its mortise and tenon construction,which was the product of the combined wisdom of the cultural classes and skilled craftsmen of the mid to late Ming dynasty in China,and has had a profound impact on the design and transmission of furniture skills worldwide.This thesis explores the impact on Ming furniture and mortise and tenon construction in the context of the economic development of the Jiangnan region in the mid to late Ming dynasty,the change in the style of scholarship,and the social context of the artisan registration system.The thesis starts with three levels of behaviour(consumption,design and manufacture)and gradually explores the interconnections and influences between the growth of demand,the accumulation of shapes and the structural refinement of Ming furniture.It begins by discussing the growth in demand for Ming furniture in the Jiangnan region in the light of the changes in the commodity economy brought about by the rise of agriculture and handicrafts during the Ming dynasty,and then the intervention of the values of the literati in the design and construction of furniture in the light of the changes in the style of the scholar under the influence of the extravagant economy.The article uses documentary and comparative research to find out the demand market for Ming furniture by studying the consumer behaviour of furniture in the Jiangnan region,mainly in Suzhou,to discover the similarities and differences in the mortise and tenon construction of furniture from the perspective of the consumer and user groups,to find out the influence of the intervention of the literati’s ideas on the process of making Ming furniture in terms of shape and structure from the cooperation between the literati and the craftsmen,and to give an insight into the past.It also puts the development of mortise and tenon construction into the social context of Ming furniture at the time,linking the relationship between form and structure from a humanistic and sociological perspective,and reflecting on design and life in the present.