Study On The Mortise-and-tenon Joint In Ming Furniture

Ming furniture, one of the parts of the profound traditional Chinese culture, had been recorded into the list of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006 successfully. The quintessence of Ming furniture making is The mortise-and-tenon joint, which were the basic components of joint craft for connecting two or more components given not only its mechanical and durability properties, but also its aesthetic characteristics. A study on the mortise-and-tenon joint was selected because it can be well combined with the furniture making craft in modern times along with the development of time. Although the mortise-and-tenon joints were commonly used in ancient times, the design philosophy, even the using form are still worth learning nowadays. While modern technology has been able to independently complete some industrial and architectural projects, but there are still some technological problems, which were well solved by using traditional mortise-and-tenon joint methods due to the bearing capacity, general dimension of it. Therefore, it is of great significance for the development of modern crafting and the heritage of classical culture to study on the mortise-and-tenon joint in Ming furniture. By looking into the relevant literature as well as previous research on it, learning from relevant experts and conducting practice survey, not only the cultural connotation of Ming furniture, but the design philosophy, structure principle and mechanics principle of mortise-and-tenon joint can be further understood. There are wide possibilities on modern furniture development with the combination of the mortise-and-tenon joint crafting and modern crafting. Based on making research on the mortise-and-tenon joint principle, case study and future exploration, the study is objective to develop a new product by combining traditional crafting with modern technology. Meanwhile, it can promote the heritance of Chinese traditional culture. With the development of such innovative thought, there must be a significant breakthrough with the combination of traditional mortise-and-tenon crafting and modern crafting.