golden ear

Chapter 337 Ancestral Craftsmanship
Early the next morning, Wu Tianyuan made an appointment with Mr. Ouyang, and the two of them went to see mahogany furniture together, and took Wu Tianyuan to a furniture factory near the suburbs. They had worked together for many years and knew each other well.

"Old Li, I'll bring the big local tyrant to look at the furniture. This is your Uncle Li."

Old man Ouyang introduced Wu Tianyuan to a fat old man in his 50s with a very kind face and a smile on his face.

"Hello, Uncle Li, I'm Wu Tianyuan, please give me your advice in the future." Wu Tianyuan hurriedly greeted him.

"My brother's name has been heard a long time ago, the national hero, Mr. Ouyang praises you to the sky!" Uncle Li also knew him very well, and said with a smile: "I have been friends with Mr. Ouyang for decades. My own! What kind of furniture do you want to talk about? It’s all at cost price, just don’t let me lose money.”

"Look at what Uncle Li said, long-term cooperation after business talk business, as long as the cost performance is high, you will definitely earn money." Wu Tianyuan said with a smile.

The three of them chatted and laughed for more than ten minutes, and Mr. Ouyang asked Uncle Li to do some work.He took Wu Tianyuan around first, there are many types of furniture, so you have to choose carefully.

"Old Li has been making furniture for decades. His ancestors were craftsmen in the manufacturing office, and the craftsmanship was handed down from his family. He used to follow others to do it, but later he grew up and has his own factory. Authentic ancestral craftsmanship, guaranteed quality, and fair prices. It must be more The market is quite low, so you can walk around more in the future, there is no harm."

Wu Tianyuan nodded, quality is the first, but Wu Tianyuan pays more attention to character, must be honest and reliable.After long-term cooperation, people are very responsible, they are not greedy or take possession, and they don't have to worry about the goods, and the quality is guaranteed.

They are all businessmen, and no one will do it if they don’t make money.But a gentleman loves money, and he gets it in a proper way.Everyone understands that you make money and make it clear that the price of raw materials has increased and labor has increased.In the case of ensuring quality, there must be an increase every year.

But let’s be clear first, the quality can’t be bad, as for the ones that have increased in price, it’s a drop in the bucket for Tianyuan, exporting to foreign countries, dozens of times the profit.

"Today I will take you around to learn about the market and people. In the future, you will come by yourself. As the old saying goes, playing with wood and furniture is the kingly way. Playing with furniture and playing with Ming style is the top. Come on, I Let me watch and talk to you."

Old man Ouyang led Wu Tianyuan around the warehouse while teaching him.

"Chinese furniture developed into the Ming Dynasty and began to enter the golden age. A large number of exquisite and practical furniture appeared. In the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, although the furniture materials were excellent, the carvings were cumbersome and the style changed greatly. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, furniture Like other arts and crafts, it is in decline."

"Due to its own truth, goodness, beauty, rich connotation and unique artistic value, Ming and Qing furniture has always been in the upsurge of international collections in the past ten years. Ming and Qing craftsmen put the highest quality materials, perfect design and meticulous craftsmanship Combined, they create "mysteriously wonderful" furniture that astonishes Westerners."

"Moreover, iron nails are absolutely not used in the production, but complex and ingeniously designed and combined furniture such as tongues and mortises are used, thus making Ming and Qing furniture a part of the excellent culture of the Chinese nation."

Mr. Ouyang briefly introduced the differences between Ming and Qing furniture while talking. The Ming Dynasty was the pinnacle of furniture. It inherited the aesthetic taste of the Song Dynasty.Full of streamlined beauty and a strong sense of design, it is exactly the same as the current popular minimalist style, and is sought after by collectors all over the world.

As for the Qing-style furniture, because of the emperor's preference, it emphasized elegance, luxury, and calm atmosphere.Most of the materials used are red sandalwood, and the carving is complicated and delicate. In Wu Tianyuan's view, it loses the most beautiful part of the furniture.The artificial temperament is too heavy, but it is also a fine art, and it is the darling of the auction house.

"Our ancestors made a piece of furniture by hand hundreds of years ago. They don't need any modern craftsmanship, but rely on the mortise and tenon structure. It can still be handed down. Do you think it's magical?"

Old man Ouyang caressed the mahogany furniture obsessively. Apart from calligraphy and painting, the furniture itself has been played with for a lifetime.Sometimes being smart is not the same as being wise. Being smart is being smart, and being wise if you are stupid is wisdom.

"The style characteristics of Ming Dynasty furniture are mainly manifested in the following aspects: First, the shape is stable and generous, the proportions are well proportioned, the outline is concise and stretched. The structure is scientific, and the tenon and riveting are precise."

"The craftsmen are good at selecting materials and ingredients, and pay attention to the natural texture and color of the wood itself. This is most obvious on the huanghuali. The carving and molding decoration are properly handled in the craftsmanship. The final metal ornaments are exquisite in style and soft in color, which play a very good role. decorative effect."

Old man Ouyang walked to a top box cabinet made of huanghuali, which is the treasure of Lao Li's store, and explained it to Wu Tianyuan in detail.

"The shape of Ming-style furniture and the proportions and sizes of each part basically adapt to the structural characteristics of each part of the human body. For example, the height of the seating surface of chairs and stools is between 40 and 50 centimeters, which generally matches the height of human calves."

"Large-sized seats, due to the proportion of the body, the sitting surface is relatively high, but it must be matched with the pedals. When people sit on it, the feet are on the pedals, and the distance from the pedal surface to the sitting surface is still 40-50 cm. between."

"The same is true for the table case. When a person sits on a chair and stool, the height of the tabletop is basically at the same level as the person's waist. Both hands can be laid flat on the tabletop naturally, or reading and writing, or drawing with a brush, which is extremely comfortable and natural. Both ends There should be a certain gap between the legs of the table, and the teeth of the table should also be controlled at a certain height, so that the legs can be stretched inward and the body can be close to the table.”

The back of the chair is mostly attached to the height of the human back, and the back panel is designed into an "S"-shaped curve according to the natural characteristics of the human back.And maintain a back inclination angle of 100-105 degrees with the sitting surface, which is the natural angle for the human body to maintain a relaxed posture.Others, such as seat width, seat depth, height and length of armrests, etc., are all in line with the proportions of various parts of the human body, and have strict size requirements.

"The most important thing people feel when using Ming-style furniture is that it is more practical than the current sofa. Every bit of it is the wisdom of the ancestors. Don't underestimate the curvature of a small back panel and the curvature of the hand. It is determined after many experiments. Let’s see the result. There are two things in China that are recognized by the world’s great collectors, one is porcelain, and the other is Ming-style furniture.”

"Look at this simple long bench. The most prominent feature is that the side legs are clearly narrowed, which visually gives people a sense of stability. A long bench with four legs protruding towards the four corners. Viewed from the front, the shape It looks like a galloping horse, commonly known as a horse fork. Viewed from the side, the legs are also forked outwards, resembling the appearance of a person riding a horse with their legs spread apart, commonly known as "riding fork".

"Each leg protrudes outwards from the front or the side, collectively known as four splits and eight forks. This situation is only prominent in square furniture. Square furniture also has these characteristics, but the fork is slightly smaller. Some It can be distinguished by eyesight, and some are not obvious, and can be distinguished by measuring with a ruler."

(End of this chapter)