The Forbidden City is a marvel in the history of Chinese architecture.
In addition to the huge construction project, its construction art is even more ingenious.
It is hard to imagine that without any building materials such as reinforced concrete, this building made of wood can stand in the wind and rain for 600 years. Some experts have built a model of the palace exactly like the real Shoukang Palace on the seismic platform in a scale of 1:5. Until the earthquake was 10.1 magnitude, the Shoukang Palace model still did not collapse. You know, the largest earthquake in human history is 9.5 magnitude, and its energy is equivalent to 2 billion tons of TNT explosives exploding at the same time.
If we hadn't witnessed it with our own eyes, it would have been hard to imagine that this wooden building using tenon and tenon structures could have an amazing amount of energy.
Tenon and tenon structure is a kind of wooden frame structure, the components between the use of concave and convex combination of the connection method, the outside does not leak, the inside is hidden. For thousands of years, Chinese craftsmen have relied on this to make carpentry furniture that can be used for several lifetimes.
The concave part is called 卯 (mǎo), the convex part is called mortise (sǔn), and the mortise bites, which plays a role in connecting without nails and glue.
In modern times, tenon and tenon are still widely used in the production process of high-end furniture, which is not only called the "soul" of Chinese furniture, but also a bright pearl that cannot be lost in traditional Chinese culture.
Tenon and "Kyosaku"
The tenon structure dates back to six or seven thousand years ago.
In 1973, about 20 kilometers away from Ningbo City, Hemudu Town, Yuyao City, discovered a Neolithic cultural site dating back 6000 to 7000 years ago, known as the Hemudu Site, which unearthed a large number of wooden components of mortise and mortise structures.
We don't know what kind of inspiration the ancients created this precedent, but the birth of this culture continues to this day, and even created architectural miracles.
And this magical, sturdy structure, in addition to being widely used in Chinese architecture in later generations, there is also an important application scenario is wooden furniture. Especially in the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, the mastery of the tenon structure in the field of furniture by skilled craftsmen has reached the peak of perfection.
Among them, the most prestigious "Jingzuo", "Guangzuo" and "Suzuo" three major schools of mahogany furniture craftsmanship, can be called the main representative of them. In particular, the "Jingzuo" school, which is a typical example of Qing-style furniture, has made great contributions to the inheritance and development of the tenon structure over the years, and to the removal of falsehood and truth.
Kyosaku imperial dress cabinet
After Ming Chengzu Zhu Di built the capital of Beijing, to build the imperial palace, it was natural to make a lot of furniture and utensils at the same time.
At that time, it was mainly from the two major schools of "Su Zuo" and "Guang Zuo" in the south to recruit skilled craftsmen to serve in Beijing, and mainly used the "Su Zuo" technique to take into account the "Guangzuo".
These craftsmen came to Beijing, gradually combined with the cultural needs of the imperial court and the royal style orientation, and absorbed many literati ideas, and after the combination and transformation of Su Zuo and Guangzuo, the Beijing furniture technology gradually took shape.
According to the previous layout of the city of Beijing, one east and one west are basically one official and one businessman, and the craftsmen all go to the south city, and in the past people called it "South City Hat", mainly concentrated in the area of the north gate of the Temple of Heaven now, and at this time it was officially called a banner, called Jingzuo.
At that time, Kyosaku was dedicated to the royal service and was subordinate to the Office of the Interior Office of the Qing Dynasty.
The craftsmen in the manufacturing office are all of a grade - eating the national fenglu according to the level.
After the Opium War, due to the lack of national strength and financial resources, coupled with the gradual reduction of the demand for furniture after hundreds of years of construction in the palace, the royal family could not continue to supply the office, and these craftsmen could only make a living on their own and scatter to the people.
Tenon Avenue: natural, scientific, artistic
The tenon and tenon craft is an essential skill of ancient craftsmen, and the level of the craftsman's craftsmanship can be clearly reflected by the tenon structure of his hand. If the mortise is used properly, the two wooden structures can be tightly fastened to achieve the degree of "seamless".
In ancient times, the whole set of furniture and even the whole house did not use an iron nail, but it could be used for hundreds or even thousands of years, which was a miracle in the history of human light industry manufacturing, and it was also the credit of mortise and mortise.
Tenon and tenon round wrapped round structure
The most basic tenon structure consists of two components, one of which has a mortise inserted into the eye of the other, so that the two members are connected and fixed.
Mr. Liu Yansong, a disciple of the master Guiyou, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage "Jingzuo Hardwood Furniture Making Technique", once shared his views on tenoning. He said that mortise and mortise are not only a structural form, but also far beyond the structure itself. Originating from nature, the tenon is also scientific and artistic.
The naturalness of tenons
Tenons did not appear out of thin air, but evolved step by step. From the Hemudu culture period thousands of years ago to the present, many forms of nature and life have been related to the connecting structure of tenons and tenons. For example, the connection between plants and soil, the connection between human bones.
The emergence of tenons conforms to the laws of nature, so it can evolve to today's scientific rationality. This characteristic, which originated in nature and benefits mankind, is its naturalness.
The scientific nature of tenons
Tenon has scientific rationality to be applied, on the contrary, it is not necessarily stable when a combination of convex and concave.
In fact, there is no shortage of enthusiasts at home and abroad who study the tenon system, and after the test of time and practice, they have found that not all tenon and tenon systems can withstand the test.
For example, the development of modern science and technology can make us conditional to study whether the structure of tenon is scientific.
In order to verify the scientific nature of the mortise and mortise system, Mr. Liu Yansong led the team to go through a large number of destructive tests, and finally proved that the design structure that was continued by the manufacturing office in that year could reach a pass rate of 97.4% (for details, see the book "Mortise and Mortise").
Excerpt from: Zong Guiyou and Liu Yansong, "Tenon", page 50
The artistry of the mortise
Tenon is also a combination of science and art.
Nowadays, the furniture and crafts made by the tenon and tenon technology have long ceased to be exclusive to the royal family, and the artistic beauty of the tenon and tenon has different aesthetic embodiments with the development of the times.
History is advancing and culture is developing. Through the hardwood furniture made and presented in a tenon structure throughout, we can see the understanding of beauty in different eras, and thus glimpse the historical bits and pieces.
The tenon and tenon that spanned thousands of years has been passed down to the present day, showing that the craftsmen are passing on the correct values to future generations in the right way: the tenon and tenon culture is not only a harmonious culture, but also a cooperative culture that complements each other, depends on each other, and complements each other. Spreading what is inherent in tenon will surely benefit mankind.
Tenon curved ruler structure
Mortise and intangible cultural heritage
Starting from the Ming Dynasty Office 600 years ago, tenon furniture formed a school of Beijing and continued to the Qing Dynasty. After the abolition of the office, the Kyosaku tenon craft was in a state of loss.
Today, the "Kyosaku Hardwood Furniture Making Technique" has been selected as a national intangible cultural heritage, and Mr. Zhi Guiyou is the only national representative inheritor of this skill. You may ask: Why are these artifacts that are clearly "material" "material" cultures?
The answer is that behind these visible and palpable objects, there are hidden tenon techniques and handicraft secrets that have been passed down from generation to generation.
It is their wisdom and skillfulness that have freed the ancient art of Kyosaku hardwood furniture from simple material existence, and have accumulated over time to become a precious intangible cultural heritage.
Unfortunately, in recent years, many old crafts have gradually withdrawn from people's sight, and even face the situation of "death and art". The inheritance of tenon and tenon skills also faces the challenges of the mechanized era.
Skills need to be passed on.
In 2009, after master Guiyou was appointed by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China as the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, he began to think about how to better pass on this masterpiece.
You must know that in the past years, these skills were taught orally by the masters, and they were not secreted. 'The master leads into the door, and the practice is in the individual'.
At present, there are many books on the market about the appreciation and research of mahogany furniture, but there are almost no books on practical production.
As early as 2007, Master Guiyou began to sort out the preparations, and together with Liu Yansong, an apprentice who has received professional education in modern higher science and engineering, theoretical practice, the two masters and apprentices spent nearly 10 years, while discussing and recording; while verifying, while writing, and finally put their 50 years of valuable Beijing hardwood furniture traditional structure construction secrets and experience, old hardwood furniture maintenance techniques and tips to paper, book publishing, so as to go deep and simple, The illustrations and texts open up the "black box" of the tenon and tenon craftsmanship that the carpenters of the past generations did not teach outsiders.
National Non-Genetic Heirs Guiyou Master (right)
With apprentice Kyojo Tenon Art Museum Director Liu Yansong
The book not only condenses the infinite wisdom, craftsmanship, experience and design concepts of the skilled craftsmen of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but also systematically summarizes and sorts out all the essentials of the Tenon Technique of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is not only the ingenuity of the master, but also the knowledge, thoughts, thoughts and achievements in production practice, and at the same time, it is also a necessary experience for ordinary people to understand the magical Tenon Technique and the Tenon Culture.
This book is called --
"Tenon"
This book is very mysterious and mysterious, and it is difficult to teach the rare method, the accumulation of experience, and the incomprehension of the craftsmanship: it is equivalent to giving us a key to open the "black box", which is more conducive to the preservation and inheritance of the tenon and tenon craftsmanship.