One of the many and most respected crafts of the antique Chinese dynasties was furniture making and great care was always taken to build furniture since there was a relationship between the scholar and those who built the tables on which they would write and paint. These highly respected craftsmen often relied on many intricate pieces and joints to construct their furniture more so than glue because of high temperature changes due to the Asian climate.
Similarly to the intricate architectural joints we’ve studied in class, a great amount of planning and craftsmanship went into designing and building such works of art. Like every kung-fu movie, where the grasshopper must first do menial tasks before receiving training from their master, an apprentice carpenter would start at the bottom and have to work his way up, gaining skills as he learns how to build furniture. Knowledge of how wood shrinks and warps and how to cut the wood was also past-on for generations. It is almost a shame that such craft and knowledge is disappearing to make place for large steel manufactured skyscrapers; perhaps there is much to be learned from these master craftsmen who would spend a life-time learning how to build a table.
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