The Study Of Furniture In The Dunhuang Grottoes

This thesis attempts to make a study of furniture mainly based on the pictorial materials from the Dunhuang Murals in the Dunhuang Grottoes with special reference to the history of furniture of China and aims to verification of the relationship between Dunhuang Furniture reflected as rich pictorial documentations and the main trend of traditional Chinese furniture in the matter of development process of furniture in the different historic periods and the difference between the two style as well. This thesis is going to discussing in detail the subject of furniture following their development course in the history by a compare study the pictorial material under the three catalogue and the detail graph lists of furniture catalogue are attached: the furniture of seat and bed;An office desk and the small table;catalogue of other items of furniture.There is slightly difference between the two forms of bed, one is called Chuang (床) and other is called Ta (榻) in the Dunhuang Murals and there are no recording of Ta is found among the Dunhuang Manuscripts, there are appeared other kind of bed: one is the six foot of bed in a big size and another is of in the big shape of lotus flower. There are rich recordings of the terms of furniture among the non-Buddhist Dunhuang Manuscripts, especially concerns with the books of accounts which belong to Dunhuang local monasteries. From the Sui Dynasty to the Five Dynasties, there are a style of an edged couch appeared in Dunhuang Murals. On the Dunhuang Murals there was painted a bed with a mosquito net hanging around and a small table were found to be put on it .This kind of styled bed had never been recorded in the classic history book. From the Early-Tang Dynasty, there were appeared a united bed with a bedstead , a mosquito net, a form of screen around and a small and high table on the couch, this style of bed appeared on Dunhuang Murals as early as in the Sui Dynasty, but it was much later than its mature form appeared at the Central Plain of China as in the famous painting The Picture of Women Officers in The Easter Jin Dynasty. This available fact had reflected the Dunhuang social phenomena and this furniture were considered to be article de luxe only for well-to-do family during the Early-Tang Dynasty.A folding chair known as a foreign bed (胡床), which was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty , had been presented at Dunhuang in the unique style, the folding chair big enough for holding two people that were appeared in Dunhuang Murals as early as in the cave dated from the Northern Wei Dynasty and the style of the folding chair had been continued to developing until to the Five Dynasty. A four-legged stool is one of the earliest furniture of this kind found in China , appeared during the Northern Wei Dynasty. The high-legged furniture of seat had great influence not only to the Chinese calligraphy of the Han dynasty and the Jin Dynasty but to the concert perform in ancient times as well, inspiring of its function for free people's hand to more active space.In this thesis, I had Buddha's throne catalogued into furniture, including Lotus-Shaped Seat, Sumeru Throne, The Diamond Throne and the Lion's Seat, those are all served as an important seats for Buddha to sit.There are many kinds of the table on which sacrificial offerings are placed in front of the large scaled scene for Buddha's Preaching, many of them with curtains around. Some of the table with the sliding boxlike container with an open top or several trays that was painted in the Later-Tang Dynasty's cave in Dunhuang. And there are many furniture with curtains or the portable screens in exist. A rack for clothes with two horizontal bars shaped like Chinese character kai (开) which had been found together with a bed. Most of a closet and a cabinet are presented in a Chinese traditional shape with tent-shaped top. There are many lacquer wares furniture. According to the textual research, a few artist who good at lacquer painting were very active in Dunhuang.The development and the style of Dunhuang furniture obviously detained later than the most part of China. The remote location of Dunhuang are the main reason of the block up. But the Dunhuang art had been created uninterrupted for over 1000-year period and had left us a rich pictorial materials and authentic documentations for furniture study. It has great significance and value to dig deep those images for furniture study.