China’s traditional furniture reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty and became a treasure of human civilization. The subsequent Qing-style furniture still had high artistic taste during the Kangxi and Qianlong periods, but then it deteriorated and entered the The misunderstandings of thick scale but too large materials and vulgar and excessive decoration style have appeared in decline. The social reasons are that the feudal system is declining day by day, and official administration is corrupt and secretive. Corruption has become structural, and rulers are arrogant and extravagant, fighting for wealth. Economically, in a state of "isolation", the natural economy of agricultural society can no longer support the ever-expanding population. Population and productivity are low, let alone innovation and development. In fact, Eastern civilization is facing a huge crisis. It is weak and impoverished and unaware of the impending disaster. History lasted from the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. Traditional society collapsed and the nation was in the abyss of bloodshed, death, struggle and disaster. Chinese furniture and design have declined from their former glory. From a historical perspective, it can be considered that the style of Chinese furniture stopped flowing in the middle of the 19th century, or 1851. The reasons are:
(1) In the First Opium War in 1841 and the Second Opium War in 1850, Western civilization used "strong ships and sharp guns" to destroy the self-confidence of Eastern civilization. When the Qing emperor got married in 1851, the palace even imported furniture from the West.
(2) In the mid-19th century, the Austrian Michael Thonet had mastered the solid wood bending technology and mass-produced bentwood furniture. Almost at the same time, the American John Henry Belter developed Inventing layered building block technology, British Samuel Pratt was the first to obtain a patent for "spring soft pack". These actually show the birth of modern furniture.
(3) Since the mid-19th century, Western furniture has undergone many fundamental changes in the process of turmoil and transformation in furniture styles, and it has begun to explore modern furniture, shifting from emphasizing decoration to emphasizing functionality. Change, from heavy manual work to heavy machinery. More importantly, European theorists such as John Ruskin, Cole and others put forward the idea of ??"industrial design" such as "the combination of art and technology".
(4) In the early 19th century, all European countries completed the Industrial Revolution. In order to show off the great achievements brought about by the Industrial Revolution to the world, Britain proposed holding a World Expo in the mid-19th century, which quickly received responses from European countries. In 1851, the world's first international exposition opened in London. The exhibition hall is entirely made of steel and glass structures and is called the "Crystal Palace".
From the mid-19th century, Western furniture began to realize modernization, while Chinese furniture declined. It is worth pointing out that although China's furniture style has stopped flowing in general, there are still bright spots in some areas. For example, Western-style furniture workshops such as Shui Mingchang that appeared in Shanghai have adopted the "Western style made in China" approach to make products. There is a good collection of Western-style furniture, and a large number of Chinese patterns are used in decoration. Another highlight is the "new furniture" produced in Shanghai and surrounding areas after the founding of the People's Republic of China, which is similar to the "practical furniture system" implemented in Britain after World War II.
The Chinese furniture market only truly opened to the world after the reform and opening up, and consumers truly began to understand the styles and trends of international furniture. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that the Chinese furniture industry eagerly imitates European furniture, American furniture and Japanese furniture. DOLCN.com
However, when Western modern furniture ideas are pioneered by new materials, new equipment, and new processes, and are rolling in with Western culture, we have to re-examine the modern design theory and practice of Chinese furniture. Regarding this issue, there are several basic considerations:
(1) If Chinese modern furniture does not have its own modern style with national characteristics, it will have no place in the international furniture market. Chinese modern style furniture must have excellent Tradition and continuous innovation are two characteristics that can survive and develop.
Furniture is a product with profound cultural connotations. It actually reflects the consumption level and living customs of an era and a nation. Its evolution actually reflects society, culture and human psychology. and behavioral cognition. Since the reform and opening up, a large amount of Western culture and Eastern culture have been introduced, and modern Chinese people have begun to identify with diverse cultures. However, the Chinese nation has thousands of years of cultural accumulation, and the blending and conflict of Chinese and foreign cultures have shown a more colorful and complex side. . In any case, China has regarded modernization as its goal towards the future, and multiculturalism will inevitably become our choice. On the one hand, multiculturalism takes modernization as its value orientation, but on the other hand, its specific construction can only be given to specific national forms. This has been proved by world history and reality (the modernization of Europe and Japan and the modernization of the United States). are different, each with its own specific national form). The cultural background of Chinese modern style furniture requires that Chinese modern furniture should embody modern functions and artistic needs in the Chinese national form, which is also determined by the survival and development status of the Chinese nation.
(2) Although Chinese traditional furniture has left us a rich heritage, it cannot simply be considered as a national form carrier of modern style. The national form carrier of modern Chinese style furniture should be a combination of tradition and modern Chinese culture that inherits tradition. This requires:
On the one hand, modern scientific methods must be used to conduct professional, three-dimensional and quantitative in-depth research on Chinese traditional furniture. Only in this way can the design ideas and scientific spirit contained in it be fully revealed, the so-called "Chinese traditional factors" can be extracted, and the traditional modeling and decorative elements can be extracted using semiotic methods; The impact of level and other constraints on the design of traditional Chinese furniture is infused with modern factors, expanding design ideas, and providing a clear and followable theoretical basis and operational approach for the creation of modern Chinese style furniture. Take architecture and clothing as an example. Shikumen buildings are Shanghai buildings with strong local characteristics. The renovated "Xintiandi" is more like a warm and comfortable small square in a small European town. It is actually similar to the Shikumen residences of Shanghainese people. It has nothing to do with it anymore, but this is the essence of Shikumen or Shanghai - something innovative based on the integration of Chinese and Western things. There are similar examples in clothing. The Manchu and Qing Dynasty cheongsams can be made into such a curvaceous yet subtle and gentle style; the Tang suit can also show off its style, especially in northern children's clothing, which shows its ethnic characteristics. www.dolcn.com
On the other hand, the modern Chinese nation is very different from the traditional culture and lifestyle, and its functional needs are also very different. Therefore, we cannot simply copy excellent traditional furniture, but deeply understand the method, evolve and create in the variety, shape and function of furniture. Chinese modern style furniture should have a deep oriental cultural charm and have the varieties and functions needed for modern life.
(3) A mature furniture style must be unique, stable and consistent. Uniqueness means having clear characteristics that are easy to identify; consistency means that this characteristic is implemented from the entire furniture series to the shape, facade, part, detail decoration, etc. of individual furniture, and the concept is complete and unified; stability means that it can be maintained over a long period of time. During this period, the basic characteristics remained unchanged and a number of representative works were produced. The acquisition of uniqueness, stability and consistency must depend on them and the main factors affecting them, including social, historical, ideological, cultural, functional, technical, environmental, etc., being basically in harmony. state. Without this basic state of harmony, style would have no consistency and stability. Usually in transitional periods of history, when old styles are outdated and new styles are not yet mature. Therefore, a mature style has certain objective meaning. Creating a style subjectively regardless of objective conditions, or copying past styles, will all fail.
The reason why it is difficult to construct modern furniture style in China is precisely because Chinese society has been in a period of rapid historical transformation since the reform and opening up, with huge changes in social and economic systems, and conflicts and conflicts in ideological concepts. , With the rapid advancement of science and technology, everything is changing rapidly. There is not enough time to develop mature tastes or it is difficult to form a first-class knowledge or tolerance for the style, shape, decoration, materials, functions, etc. of furniture. recognition. Therefore, I think that in the near future, we do not need to rush to establish "style", but more realistically focus on the development of "style" (Styling). This "style" can be called "New Chinese Style". For example, the floor-standing living room cabinet, its basic shape and structure were originally modern Western style, but functionally it meets the needs of modern Chinese people for audio-visual and entertaining guests, and the market has recognized it. If you add Chinese styling and decorative elements to it to make it more oriental cultural, you can transform it into a modern Chinese style. It doesn't make much sense to strictly distinguish between Chinese and Western styles without going too far. The important thing is to subtly integrate oriental culture into it, so that Chinese furniture has obvious oriental symbols.
The construction of modern Chinese furniture style takes time and requires continuous efforts of several generations. It can only be achieved when the social transformation is basically completed and enters a stable period. However, modern people are people who stand on the bridge between tradition and future, carrying the past while looking forward to the future. Therefore, we should start doing it now. When we fall and our children and grandchildren take over the work in our hands, they will understand our glory and dreams, lament our struggle and efforts, and thank us for laying the foundation stone for them. . "Zigui is still crying in the middle of the night, and I don't believe that the east wind can't call him back." I firmly believe that when China becomes a world power, the Chinese furniture industry will also contribute to mankind with the same splendid furniture civilization.
About the author: Xu Meiqi, editor-in-chief of "Furniture" magazine
The article was published in
The 6th issue of "Furniture" magazine in 2003