On The National Characteristics Of Chinese Furniture Design

Chinese furniture is the crystallization of Chinese culture. In the process of thousands of years'development and evolvement, Chinese people have created a unique oriental furniture system with their sagacity and talents. From the Chinese furniture, the peculiar views of Chinese culture, philosophy and design can be felt and the peculiar national characteristics can be observed. The national characteristics of Chinese furniture are quite obvious; but a systematic research on it cannot be found both at home and broad. This thesis explores the design karma of Chinese furniture from the perspectives of cultural anthropology, phenomenology and the principle of "comprehending principles in culture, and interpreting furniture in principles ". Based on the relation with substance, man, life, time, shape and harmony, the thesis elaborates the formation karma of Chinese furniture and reveals the national characteristics of it.The design of Chinese furniture is exquisite in functions and ingenious in substance. With regard to the category, based on sitting, lying, carrying, storing, separating, hanging, etc in daily life, China has initiated unique sitting furniture, lying furniture, carrying furniture, storing furniture, separating furniture and hanging furniture. As to the shape, Chinese furniture has experienced the change from short models to tall models. In respect of the style, Chinese furniture has evolved from the etiquette of the Shang and the Zhou Dynasties; the solemnity of the Han and the Wei Dynasties; the luxury of the Sui and the Tang Dynasties; the elegance of the Song and the Yuan Dynasties; and the simple beauty of the Ming Dynasty to the overlaboration of the Qing Dynasty, different eras reflecting their corresponding features. In culture, humanity, courtesy, and neutralization are the implied reasons for Chinese furniture. In philosophy,'harmony between human and nature'and'using things to bear the principles'are the essence of traditional Chinese furniture design. In aesthetics,'charm, beauty, elegance and smooth', being the main aesthetic features of Chinese furniture, respectively account for the homophony of'shape, decoration, color and texture'. In ideology, the poetic cultural characteristics endue the Chinese people with poetic creation and human expression in the furniture. Geographically, China's vast territory brings up noticeable geographic features of Chinese furniture and it also brings up the local styles such as Jiangsu style, Beijing style, Guangdong style, etc and the versatile folk custom furniture. With regard to layout, the characteristic space concept, geomantic omen concept, integration concept, etc of Chinese furniture help to bring about the main internal furniture display of symmetry. With regard to moulding, digital imaginative thinking, integrated thinking and symmetric thinking bring up ingenious moulding charm to Chinese furniture. In decoration, the way Chinese people decorate the house endues craftsmanship, process, design and theme of Chinese furniture decoration with striking national characteristics. As to the material, Chinese furniture has indissoluble reason with timber, especially tries best to highly praise for hardwood material, thus turning a wooden leaf on the furniture history. In structure, Chinese furniture has experienced the evolution from box structure to frame structure; and due to its close relation with architecture, the furniture reflects unique Chinese modulus view. In craft, the capable carpenters share their craftsmanship, creating the peculiar craft pattern and craft beauty of Chinese furniture.Nowadays, in the design from "Modern Chinese Style Furniture" to "New Chinese Furniture", we should give proper evaluation of the design of ancient furniture and learn from it, absorbing cultural signals for design innovation and promoting its harmonious design. Only in this way can Chinese furniture revitalize its previous brilliance in the future.