Photography: Chen Jian
"Long things", ancient means extra things, not necessary for daily life. In the late Ming Dynasty, the Suzhou literati Wen Zhenheng wrote "The Long Things", and he remembered some things that were "hunger, no food, no clothes." One of the "several couches" is dedicated to Su Zu furniture. It is reasonable to say that furniture is not superfluous, but also daily needs. It seems that it is somewhat unreasonable to be listed in the “long objectâ€. However, in the eyes of the late Ming literati, furniture is also an elegant play that can be tasted and appreciated. What they attach to is not the rice and oil, but the chess and painting, not the material, but the spirit.
Suzhou Museum "Long Story"
When Xu Jianping, who was in his early twenties, secretly portrayed the chair and stool table in the fencer's garden across the fence, he probably wouldn't have imagined that he would design furniture for another, more famous garden, in the past 50 years. The old house where Xu Jianping lived was not far from the network teacher garden. He said that the mahogany furniture left by the ancestors in the old house completed his earliest enlightenment, and the garden was his real teacher.
The gardens and furniture originally complemented each other. Chen Congzhou, an ancient garden expert, once said: "The garden lacks furniture, that is, there is no ink on the chest, and the level is high." The artificial garden of the Ming Dynasty is not only for appreciation, but also for life. Sitting in the middle of it, of course, there is no need for furniture. The Humble Administrator's Garden residence is located in the south of the courtyard. Among them, only Li Zhai is still intact. Xu Jianping designed nearly 200 pieces of furniture for this four-in house and restored the furnishings. In November last year, Li House was opened to the public, and the life of the owner of the former house could be imagined from this piece of furniture.
Xu Jianping redesigned the furniture for Li Zhai of Licheng Garden
Many years ago, Xu Jianping shifted his focus from designing a single piece of work to designing some large public projects. “A good piece of furniture is made. Once it is privately collected, it is difficult to disclose it. But if it is placed in a public place such as a celebrity’s former residence or a famous garden, it can be displayed to more people.†National level as a Ming furniture production skill The inheritor, Xu Jianping pays more attention to the promotion of classical furniture culture, because the reality of his situation makes him worried.
He went to a village in the north that specializes in making classical furniture. Every household is making a court ring chair. The only basis is the same picture on Wang Shizhen's "Ming-style Furniture Research", but it is different and wrong: It is not that the armrest ring is too thick or too thin, that is, the backrest curve is dull, not that the structure is wrong, or that the engraving is ugly. The ingenuity of Ming-style furniture is in the subtleties, which requires the use of materials, shapes, structures, carvings and the ingenious combination of the various components. If there is no designer's participation, the craftsman will simply lose the artistry of classical furniture when facing the photo “Linyiâ€.
Needless to say, the works of contemporary craftsmen, even the Su Zuo furniture that was handed down during the Ming and Qing Dynasties is not all pieces of fine works. As Xu Jianping saw, "80% are spoiled." On the Dongshan and Xishan on the edge of the Taihu Lake in the Ming Dynasty, the coffins of the two people are everywhere. With the ingenuity of the Jiangnan people, a generation of craftsmen came into being, but the craftsmen are only craftsmen. They lack the cognition and pursuit of aesthetics. It is simple to imitate each other, and the only thing that is satisfied is the basic use function. The chairs of ordinary people, although they are also Su Zu, but the proportion is not precise and coordinated, just ordinary sitting tools. "Some of the furniture that we saw in the book, such as those in Wang Shizhen's books, are all selected. Many people will find that many books published in the country about Ming and Qing furniture, many pictures are duplicated. It’s because the quality of fine furniture is small.â€
The essence of true Su Zuo exists in the private garden of the literati. Day after day, year after year, the Jiangnan literati and the chair and stool table in the garden "early honed", naturally hope that they are more in line with their own aesthetic. As a result, they became the best designers of Ming style furniture. Every curve of the wood, every time the connection of the enamel, and the carving of each pattern are all considered. They convey their intentions to the craftsmen to help them realize, or they don't mind becoming an "artisan", and the axe saw is just another brush for them. For example, Li Yu, a literati with a lot of “leisureâ€, talked about how to communicate with the craftsmen and how to use the leftovers to fill the gaps in the furniture to stabilize it. They are not ashamed to be in contact with carpenters. After all, even Ming Mingzong Zhu’s school is an avid woodworking enthusiast.
Carving pattern
Of course, in more cases, they still exert their own influence in the way of appraisal and appreciation, such as spring rain and moisturizing things. If they can make a book, they will have more influence. For example, Wen Zhenheng, who was born in the elegant family, is not afraid to share his views on furniture in Changzhizhi. He said that the chair should be short and should not be high, and should be wide and narrow. If you like, you can't use dragons and phoenixes, flowers and plants, and the desk should be "the center is wide and wide, and the surrounding side is only half an inch wide." He also believes that the square table can be used for literati to play calligraphy and painting, and the Eight Immortals table is only suitable for banquets, not "excellent".
As Wen Zhenheng said, the literati valued the "elegance", compared with the average craftsman, they attached more spiritual things to the furniture. Just like the official hat chair, it forces the user to sit in danger. If it is used for a long time, it is obviously not very comfortable, but it seems to have a cultural comfort for the frustrated literati. The philosophy of "the place of heaven and earth" contained in the circle chair can only be understood by Chinese literati. The spiritual pursuit and desire of such literati are often difficult for those rough craftsmen to dream about.
The philosophy of "the place of heaven and place" contained in the circle chair can only be understood by Chinese literati.
Although Xu Jianping insists on retaining the inherent humanity and artistry of Su Zuo Furniture, it does not mean that he is an ancient person. In the large-scale project similar to the restoration of Lizhai furniture in the Humble Administrator's Garden, it is natural to strictly restore the shape of the furniture at that time. However, in designing Su Zuo furniture for modern people, he strives to preserve the traditional culture while also making appropriate Improvement. He showed us an official hat chair he designed, he increased the inclination and width of the brain, so that the head can just comfortably rest on it, and the curve of the backboard is more fit. The curve of the human body, so, sitting up will not appear too cautious, but at the same time it can show the tall and straight spirit of the rider.
If you put the modern seat designed by Xu Jianping with the seat of the Ming Dynasty, you will find that the former is obviously shorter. This is because most of the ancient Chinese houses are directly in contact with the ground. In order to prevent the cold and dampness from entering the body through the soles of the feet, the design of the chairs tends to increase, leaving the feet off the ground. For our modern people, the improvement of housing conditions, the avoidance of cold and wet is no longer necessary, and the feet can naturally fall to the ground safely and steadily. Although it seems that the chair legs are short, the knowledge inside is not so simple. After the legs are short, the proportions of other parts should be changed accordingly. The lines of each part need to be re-adjusted to harmony. Therefore, some people shorten their legs and look like they are missing, and Xu Jianping's works seem to be one and the same, the proportion is appropriate. He advocates designing furniture instead of “Linyi†furniture, that is, on the basis of fully understanding the connotation of furniture culture, re-creating his own works by flexibly applying elements such as structure, lines and ornamentation.
The reason why Xu Jianping wants to treat his own furniture so rigorously is partly due to the tradition of Su Zuo's "cherry wood as gold". During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, precious wood rosewood, huanghuali, and red rosewood crossed the sea, or were tribute to the court, or consumed by artisans in Guangzhou, leaving few woods for Su Zuo. Because the wood is precious and hard to come by, every craftsman is very cautious about his own work. Repeated observation, scrutiny, measurement, and careful calculation of each piece of wood, and use the neat and beautiful parts of the wooden texture as much as possible on the surface. In the design of the structure, each piece of wood has its effect. If one is reduced, it will fall apart, and adding one will become a burden.
Su Zuo "cherish wood as gold", as much as possible to use the clean and beautiful parts of the wooden texture on the surface.
Every piece of wood has its effect. If you reduce one, it will fall apart. If you add one, it will become cumbersome.
The connection to these woods is an ancient structure. Today, in the furniture factory, glue and nails are commonly used. Xu Jianping chose to splicing his own furniture. The glue will be old, the nails will rust, and only the enamel can support the furniture until the wood rots. "The characteristic of Chinese furniture is that it depends on the connection. If there is no connection, it is also called classical furniture." Although it is much more complicated than direct gluing and nailing, Xu Jianping still insists.
Xu Jianping used ancient enamel structures to splicing furniture.
In recent years, Ming-style furniture has become more and more popular. On the one hand, Xu Jianping feels gratifying, traditional culture is recovering, and on the other hand, he is also worried, because the industry is profitable, so the sand is all down, the fake materials are there, and the work is rough. There are some, shoddy, people are keen to make money, it seems that they are more than calm down to savor the culture. A few years ago, a student asked me to study furniture design. Xu Jianping was moved by his sincerity. He left him to study woodworking for three months in the furniture factory. Unexpectedly, the veteran apprentice couldn’t stand the boring and boring work of the workshop. Less than a month, I did not leave without saying goodbye. This incident has caused Xu Jianping to be hit hard. The so-called slow work is more so, especially for the delicate Su Zuo. The three months of loneliness are so difficult, and can you talk about other things?
Furniture processing workshop
In the late Ming Dynasty, Zhou Gongyi wrote a question on his own piece of rosewood chair: "Nothing to sit still, it seems like two days. If you live for seventy years, it is one hundred and forty." For the ancients, the chair The time on it is so slow. And today's people who are anxious and anxious, even with the most expensive seats, can you appreciate the wonderful time on the seat?
(Transfer: National Geographic Chinese Network and Huaxia Geography)
Sulfamic Acid,Sulfamic Acid For Descaling,Sulfamic Acid Tile Cleaner,Sulfamic Acid Descaler
Shaanxi United Xingchuang International Co., Ltd. , https://www.lxcgj.com