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Similar with other arts and crafts in China, Chinese Ming and Qing dynasty furniture is of great significance for its historical
culture, artistic foundation and its practicability in daily life.
In the southern China of Ming dynasty, rich businessmen, landlords and government officials tried to get in touch with those artists by sponsoring artistic creation, purchasing arts and crafts, even junketing and sustentation. As a result, they improved there own image self-consciously to create an elegant environment with the scent of books regardless of money. In the meantime, the literators also offered their literary talents and prodound thoughts. All these contributed to the unparalleled elegant design and classic and exquisite grains of the Ming dynasty furniture which became the classical works in the history of Chinese antique furniture.
During the Qing period, all kinds of the traditional Chinese arts and crafts were on their decline for both the workmanship and design. During the year-on-year wars in the late Qing dynasty, the craftsmen eventually lost the ease of arts creation.
In the Minguo period, antique furniture was attached great importance by some westerners and Chinese architects. During the following decades, westerners put Chinese Ming and Qing dynasty furniture on the status as important as that of other relics.

Ming furniture is treasured for its comfortable design, simplicity and elegance, while Qing furniture impresses people with its grandeur and pageantry. Though different in style, Ming and Qing furniture represents the zenith of classical Chinese furniture making because of the use of hardwood material and superb craftsmanship.

Ming and Qing furniture is finely designed and boasts harmonious proportion with its settings. It’s a combination of all these things: elegance and simplicity, harmony and utility. Take a reclining chair for example. It’s convenient, whether for sitting up or lying down; it also makes a good ornament in a living room.

Ming and Qing furniture has a wide variety of items, mainly including chairs, tables, beds, cabinets, and screen panels.

Sitting on the floor was common in China well into the 10th century. In the Ming dynasty chairs became an increasingly common furniture item. Curving chairs, folding chairs, and the throne are among the best known of Ming and Qing chairs.

This chair is not only designed to please the eye, but also to increase comfort. Made to support the elbows as well as the upper arms, the elegant curving arms and backrest are by no means inconvenient.

This type of chair has a pair of hinged legs that take on an "x" shape when unfolded. Foldable and easy to carry, it was usually taken outside for nobles and aristocrats to rest on when they went outing and hunting.

A stately large chair exuding sense of austerity and authority was a must-have furniture item in the living room of the wealthy and the noble in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The majestic throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City was good evidence of this practice. The regal supremeness permeated all over the hall when the emperors were sitting high on the throne and presiding over routine meetings with officials. In imperial China, the dragon was the most auspicious symbol of all, representing wisdom, strength and goodness, and it was often seen carved in the throne. Therefore, the throne was also called the ‘Dragon Chair.’

Arhat beds and frame beds were the two most frequently seen types of beds in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

It looks like a sizable chair. One can sit up or lie down on it. The arhat bed is distinguished by railings around the back and sides of the platform. This practice gradually gave rise to decorative railings attached to the seat frame of the platform.

Arbats are followers of the Buddha who have attained full enlightenment, peace and freedom. It’s said that secular men and Buddhists often had enlightening conversations sitting on this type of beds, hence the name “arbat beds.”

Raised posts are attached to the surrounding railings of the bed, rendering it as a small secluded ‘room.’ This ‘room’ within a room provided nighttime enclosure when it was hung with draperies around the outside of the frame that suited the season. This type of beds denotes people’s belief that bedrooms should be relatively dim and enclosed, while living rooms large and bright.

The screen panel is among the oldest furniture that has been popular for centuries in ancient China. Originally a practical furniture item used for separating space, the screen panel was later decorated with motifs denoting the social status of the owners. In the Qing dynasty, the screen panel inlayed or carved with dragons always went together with the emperors’ throne, displaying overwhelming imperial might.

The source of timber largely decides the quality of the furniture. Ming and Qing classical Chinese furniture is no exception. The imported tropical hardwood, mostly from Southeast Asia, was the most choice wood for Ming and Qing furniture

The Ming and Qing Furniture

Zheng He, a renowned Ming official, started his first maritime expedition in 1405 under the patronage of the emperor. During the subsequent 28 years, he and his fleet had six more trade journeys, reaching 37 countries around the world. Zheng Hiss journey gained remarkable achievements in increasing trade between China and those countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. A large number of tropical hardwoods, timber with great hardness and density, were taken back to China. Craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty used these valuable hardwoods like sandalwood and rosewood to make furniture for the royal family. The numbered timber that Zheng He brought back, however, was far from enough. To meet the increasing domestic need, the Ming emperors regularly had officials take long and arduous trips to Southeast Asia to purchase the rare woods.

Timber can be roughly classified into four color-categories in descending order of hardness and value: black, yellow, red, and white. Black stands for red sandalwood; yellow for yellow rosewood; red for blackwood, and white for other ordinary timber.

Judging by hardness and density, hardwoods rank among the top. Sandalwood, rosewood, and blackwood are all considered the best hardwoods. The choicest hardwoods are mainly distributed in Southeast Asia as well as in South China. They’re rare and expensive, even reputed as “Golden Trees,” because it usually takes up to hundreds of years to mature.

Red Sandalwood, the Rarest Timber

The purplish-black red sandalwood is hard, heavy, and sinks easily in water. The Chinese have long considered it the most rare timber in the world because it it only grows several centimeters in a hundred years. A Chinese table made of red sandalwood in the 18th century was auctioned off for the astronomical price of over $35 million USD in 1994 at the New York-based Sotheby’s auction house. Even today, it remains a symbol of wealth for most Chinese to have a suite of red sandalwood furniture.

Red sandalwood furniture does not need to be lacquered. It looks silky only when waxed, allowing the grain to stand out and the natural beauty of the wood to be the main focus of the piece. Impervious to insects, acids, red sandalwood furniture as well as handicrafts can be kept in good condition for a thousand years. More than its decorative and practical functions, red sandalwood is also medically significant. Viewed as a precious traditional Chinese medicine, it can be made into chairs or sofas with medical benefits.

The open trade policy of the Ming dynasty largely increased the storage of red sandalwood in the imperial warehouse. It was still used in the early Qing dynasty when furniture for the royal family was made. However, red sandalwood became much more rare in the mid-Qing period partly because the rulers issued an edict banning foreign trade. Its scantiness even prompted the Qing emperors to guide the making of imperial furniture. For instance, they required the use of quality wood be controlled and the furniture size reduced. As a result, the mid-Qing period saw the use of indigenous blackwood increasing as the storage of red sandalwood was used up.

Comfort and Simplicity of Ming furniture

An important style feature of the Ming furniture is its elegance and simplicity. Simple lines and minimal decoration serve as a foil to the natural beauty of the wood. However, this meaningful simplicity was achieved without compromising comfort.

The pursuit of comfort was reflected in such details as curves, lines, height, and size. The height of chairs and benches ranged from 40cm to 50cm, suitable for the lower legs to drop comfortably. The S-shaped backrest was as high as a person’s back. The tables were designed at the same height as the chest when one sits on a chair, and thus two hands could be placed easily on tables. Enough room was left under the tables for legs to stretch and bend. The numerical specifications of the Ming furniture has been passed down well into today, although its style underwent great changes.

Superb joinery skills were especially reflected at the joints, where only mortise and tenon, instead of nails, were used. The connected parts of furniture were exclusively tightened with glue made from the swimming bladders of sea fish. This type of natural glue, which was sophisticatedly processed, differed from its chemical counterparts and was health friendly. The extremely sticky natural glue and remarkable mortise and tenon joints together ensured the fixedness of the Ming furniture that has lasted for long.

Grandeur and gaudiness of the Qing furniture

Furniture produced during the early Qing dynasty followed Ming styles and continued to display simple lines. However a change in style gradually appeared in the early 18th century, and Qing furniture showed its uniqueness in larger sizes and overly ornate carvings.

Furniture became more elaborate. Straight lines, simple designs gave way to elaborately carved decorations. But it was by no means garish. Engraving and color painting were popular and important means of decorating furniture. The backrest, arms, and legs of chairs were often carved with different patterns. A refined screen panel might have taken ten skillful craftsmen up to several months to complete.

In the Forbidden City in Beijing, the best craftsmen used the best wood, normally red sandalwood, to make furniture for the emperors. Though superb in craftsmanship, Qing furniture sacrificed comfort, designed merely to please the eye. The Imperial ‘Dragon Chair’ was good evidence of this. With the armchairs and the backrest at right angles, the vast chair looks rigid and uncomfortable. It became a symbol of imperial power when the emperor was sitting high on the chair presiding over a court meeting. At this, it was more of a hierarchical symbol than a practical furniture item.

Not confined to the royal family the noble, the wealthy, and even ordinary people decorated their rooms with wood furniture. Different woods were used depending on status of the owners. The noble and the extremely wealthy used high quality hardwoods like rosewood, sandalwood, chicken wing wood, and ebony; the well-to-do usually used the less valuable ironwood or blackwood; and ordinary households turned to the least expensive woods. Inferior as the timber was, the furniture was decorated with auspicious colors or patterns for good luck and prosperity.

Red carries the wish for happiness, and in some areas it is the dominant color in a bride and groom’s bedroom. Almost every piece of furniture is painted red, from cupboards to wardrobes and beds.

Some auspicious patterns were frequently used to decorate Ming and Qing furniture. Dragons and phoenixes were considered an extremely auspicious decorative design, symbolizing good luck. Bats and happiness are both pronounced fu, therefore bats stand for happiness; the peony represents wealth; the lotus and Lingzhi, a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, are both symbols of good luck; geometric patterns were often carved, typically a swastika, or ‘Wan Zi’ in Chinese. In Sanskrit, the swastika represents well-being and in Buddhism, it stands for prosperity and good fortune.

Chinese are fond of furniture with inlaid and carved work. In addition to shells and enamel chips, brilliant, colorful, and artistically grained jade, stones, ivory (and other animal teeth), horn, agate, and amber are used for inlaid designs. Marble, for example, is a stone often used for inlaid work; colorful ceramic plates are also a popular material for ornamentation. Another elegant technique used since ancient times is the inlaying of different kinds and colors of woods in a single piece. The methods of carving include relief carving, negative engraving, and free-style carving. Common subjects for furniture carving are flowers; dragons and phoenixes; the ch'ilin, a Chinese mythical beast; and stylized cloud and leaf patterns.

Traditional Chinese furniture is generally arranged in symmetrical suites or sets. These are, however, supplemented with other more flexible arrangements to prevent the room from having too staid an atmosphere. For example, paintings or examples of calligraphy might be hung on the wall; ceramic, enamel or other knick-knacks might be placed in an antique display cabinet; or flower arrangements made of jade or stone might top a square occasional table. Any or all of these can add splashes of color and elegant form to the room. These delicate additions set off the heavy furniture to give a rich composite effect.

With Chinese increasing economic prosperity, just about everybody now places great importance on interior design and room arrangement, and is very particular when choosing furniture. And because of a corresponding enhancement in spiritual life, traditional Chinese style furniture now enjoys especial vogue. Many like to collect and use traditional Chinese furniture in all sorts of ways in their homes; it has become part of the modern lifestyle.

Traditional style furniture not only lives and thrives in the Chinese ; furniture aficionados of other countries who buy a piece of Chinese style furniture will usually display it with pride in a prominent place in their house. Exports of traditional Chinese furniture not only bring monetary wealth, but also enable more and more people of countries all over the world to enjoy and acclaim the beauty of the art of traditional Chinese furniture.

Less than 10,000 pieces of Ming and Qing furniture have been passed down into today. Largely due to its rarity the furniture has witnessed a large price hike over the past few years at auction houses. In the spring of 2006, an embroidered screen panel of the late Qing period was auctioned off in Macau at RMB 85,330,000 (over 10 million USD), setting a record auction price for Chinese classical furniture.

Although genuine Ming and Qing furniture might not be affordable, people can go to antique furniture markets to buy reproductions. There are dozens of antique furniture markets in Beijing, and Gaobeidian Market, Panjiayuan Market, Lvjiaying Market, and Zhaojiachaowai Market are ranked among the best.