What's a plush chair like? Why is the word plush chair so attractive? What kind of chair can be called a plush chair?
Old mahogany fauteuil in Qing Dynasty
First analyze the word composition, fauteuil, which is a compound word, fauteuil+chair = fauteuil.
Taishi is the name of the ancient official rank in China; Chair, a form of furniture sitting, is named after an official position, which is unique in the history of furniture in China.
Comparison of plush chairs in Song, Qing and Ming Dynasties
The name "chair" first appeared in the Tang Dynasty. Before the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ancients all sat on the floor without high seats. After the furniture reform in Sui and Tang Dynasties, high-type furniture became the mainstream of furniture in Song Dynasty, and armchairs and top chairs with novel shapes appeared.
The prototype of the plush chair is the top chair of the Song Dynasty, which was developed from the exchange. Cross bed is an ancient Hu bed. Hu's bed is a simple chair without a backrest. When people add a backrest to its seat drawer, it becomes a chair to lean on. Because the four legs of this chair intersect in pairs, it is named "top chair".
Scarlet paint painted with gold swastika topped the list.
There is another interesting story about the origin of the plush chair in the Song Dynasty. According to Zhang's "Gui Er Ji", "Today's school chairs and ancient Hu beds are all used by attendants." Because Qin Shiyuan slaughtered national taboos, he fell backwards and broke into a towel. Yuan flattered the situation, first made 40 lotus leaves and carried them to a taboo place in the country, and the craftsmen added them in an instant. It is used by all the waiters. Nicknames are too much like teachers. "
That is to say, in the early years of Southern Song Dynasty, Silent Wu Yuan saw Qin Gui take off his headscarf and sit in a chair. In order to flatter him, he added a lotus leaf-shaped bow to the chair ring, so he called it "plush chair" because this chair was sat by Qin Gui.
In addition to explaining the origin of the name of the plush chair, we can clearly know that the plush chair at that time was a chair with lotus leaves on the top. This kind of headrest is similar to the U-shaped pillow and the cushion near the neck, which can support the head and neck comfortably.
The second argument is that the plush chair evolved from the "Wen Zhong chair". "Wen Taishi" refers to Wen Zhiming, a gifted scholar in the Ming Dynasty, and "Wen Taishi Chair" is the first place he used to sit. After his death, this chair belonged to Zeng Sun Wen. Wen Zeng entered the cabinet as a minister and was a surname of Chongzhen Dynasty. Because "Taishi" and "Taishi" are homophonic, and Wen lives in the official residence of Taishi, this kind of chair is called "Taishi Chair".
By the Ming Dynasty, the name "plush chair" had become popular, but it was no longer the top chair with lotus leaf pattern in the Song Dynasty, but an round-backed chair.
Round-backed armchairs are called "like a hoop" because the backrest is shaped like a circle. The word "hoop" originally meant a big round basket made of wicker or bamboo. Round-backed chair is formed, and the back of the chair and armrest slide smoothly. Sitting on it, not only supports the elbow, but also supports an arm under the arm.
Round-backed chairs are specially designed for the comfort of the chair waist. The back plate leans back slightly, and the seat surface is wide, so it is very comfortable to sit on. Therefore, it won people's love at that time, replacing its predecessor's round-backed chair and becoming a highly respected "plush chair".
Old mahogany round-backed chair in the early Qing Dynasty
Old mahogany round-backed chair in the early Qing Dynasty
People who don't know the history of China furniture are particularly easy to confuse the historical time when the top chair and round-backed chair came into being. Because of normal people's thinking, it is always thought that the top chair can be folded, which is convenient to carry and use, and should be an upgraded version after the round-backed chair came into being.
In fact, the handover of chairs is much earlier than that of round-backed chairs, and the difference between them is the difference in the second half. From this, we can probably infer that in the Ming Dynasty, inspired by the top chair, people made round-backed chairs and called them plush chairs.
Red oak round-backed armchair with wishful pattern in early Qing Dynasty
Since the Qing dynasty, the name "plush chair" has been widely used, but the plush chair in this period is completely different from before. It has become a chair with large size, heavy weight, heavy decoration and a screen back.
The back of a plush chair is generally decorated in three sections, and there are also four or even five sections. The three sections are the most typical and harmonious. Diversified carving and decoration styles highlight the identity and status of the owner, and are also symbols of nobility and elegance, which are often used in the middle of the hall or in more solemn occasions.
Beech plush chair in Qing dynasty
Intuitively, the plush chair has moved away from comfort and towards dignity, but it also tends to be healthy. These three right-angled shapes are "regular". When sitting, the back is straight, and the stress on the lumbar intervertebral disc and back muscles is reduced, which can avoid excessive tension of the back muscles and is beneficial to health.
Moreover, this kind of chair likes to adopt the pattern of lion theme, in which "Big Lion" is homophonic with "Tai Shi" and "Little Lion" is homophonic with "Shao Shi", so the lion pattern has become an auspicious symbol of promotion and knighthood, and is welcomed by feudal literati.
Bo Gu pattern plush chair in Qing Dynasty
Details of Bo Gu pattern plush chair in Qing Dynasty
By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the production of plush chairs was becoming more and more complicated, with a simple pursuit of "novelty" and heavy decoration, showing a cumbersome and cumbersome style. Although there has been some progress in modeling technology, there is a sense of decline from the perspective of the development law of the plastic arts of furniture itself.
Looking at the development of "fauteuil" from Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, we can find that: Fauteuil is not a chair with a fixed shape and traces to follow, but a leader in contemporary chair furniture. Then we have to ask, why are there so many chairs in history?
We have to go back to the word "Taishi".
Taishi is an official name in ancient China, which has been abolished and reset many times in history, but in the long historical stage, Taishi is only a nominal position, or just a title.
However, a surname has one feature, which is sealed in the name of etiquette. That is to say, the official position is at the end, and there is no way to get promoted. But the emperor will still reward you. What should I do? Then make a last name.
It can be said that surnames represent a kind of status and glory. In this way, we can easily understand why this kind of thing is always changing in history.
Old mahogany fauteuil in Qing Dynasty
Shou Ziwen plush chair in the early Qing Dynasty
China Furniture History is an old mahogany fauteuil chair in Qing Dynasty, which has a certain period of popular furniture and preferences. At that time, people called it a chair of high officials and dignitaries in their minds, or they thought it could represent a chair similar to a plush chair.
Therefore, the plush chair is more of an imagination of human dignity and status, and it also symbolizes that the people sitting in the plush chair are noble and respected. This is the beautiful wish of ancient literati and ordinary people in China.