Mortise And Tenon Is A Traditional Chinese Woodworking Method Of Joining. The Protruding Part Of The Wooden Component Is Called A Tenon Or Tenon, And The Recessed Part Is Called A Mortise Or Mortise And Tenon Groove. The Mortise And Tenon Snap Together And Play A Connecting Role. The Mortise And Tenon Joint Is The Main Structural Method Of Traditional Chinese Architecture, Furniture And Other Wooden Appliances. It Shows The Combination Of Strength And Beauty In Every Square Inch And Is The Crystallization Of The Wisdom Of Ancient Chinese Craftsmen.
1 National Wisdom Earlier Than Chinese Characters
There Are Many Legends About The Origin Of Mortise And Tenon. The Most Popular One Is That During The Spring And Autumn Period, Lu Ban Wanted To Test His Son To See If He Was Smart Enough, So He Made A Toy Out Of Six Wooden Strips. This Wooden Toy Uses The Concave And Convex Parts Of The Wood To Snap Together Very Cleverly. It Can Only Be Taken Apart If The Order Of Snapping Is Clear. Later Generations Called This Toy Luban Lock And Considered It The Originator Of The Mortise And Tenon Joint.
In Fact, The Birth Of Mortise And Tenon Joints Is Much Earlier Than Luban Lock. As Early As The Neolithic Age More Than 6,000 Years Ago, The Hemudu People Had Already Applied The “High Technology” Of Mortise And Tenon Joints To Building Houses. In The 1970s, Thousands Of Wooden Components Were Unearthed From The First Phase Of The Ganlan Building Relics Discovered At The Hemudu Site In Yuyao, Including At Least Dozens Of Hewn And Tenoned Components. This Is The Earliest Mortise And Tenon Joint Discovered In Archaeology So Far. Although Metal Tools Had Not Yet Appeared During This Period, And It Was Not Easy To Use Stone Tools To Process Wood, Archaeologists Still Identified The Rudiments Of Mortise And Tenon Forms Such As Double-Layered Tenons, Convex Square Tenons, Round Tenons, Dovetail Tenons, And Tongue-And-Groove Tenons. . These Basically Meet The Requirements Of Stress Conditions, Indicating That The Construction Technology Of The Chinese Ancestors Has Reached A Very High Level. The Mortise And Tenon Joint Found In The Hemudu Ruins Is An Important Contribution Of The Chinese Nation To The History Of World Architecture. It Also Shows That The Mortise And Tenon Joint Is Chinese Wisdom Earlier Than Chinese Characters.
During The Spring And Autumn Period And The Warring States Period, Craftsmen Used Dozens Of Mortise And Tenon Joints. All The Main Mortise And Tenon Joints Used In Modern Wooden Structures Have Been Developed And Applied At This Time. For Example, In The Warring States Tombs Unearthed In Changsha, Hunan, Xinyang, Henan And Other Places, Joining Methods Such As Dovetail Tenon, Edge Tenon, And Silver Ingot Tenon Have Been Used In The Coffins Of Ancient People. People Also Found Open Mortises, Hidden Mortises, Through Mortises, Half-Through Mortises And Dovetails In The Lacquered Furniture Unearthed From The Chunqiu Tomb In Zhaoxiang, Dangyang, Hubei Province, Indicating That The Lacquerwood Furniture Manufacturing During This Period Was Already Very Sophisticated. “Chu Ci·Nine Bian” Says: “The Round Chisel Is Square And The Chisel Is Incompatible. I Know That It Is Discordant And Difficult To Enter.” It Is Difficult To Match The Round Eye And The Square Tenon To Metaphorize The Disagreement And Incompatibility Between The Two Parties, And Also From One Aspect. It Confirms The Universal Application Of Mortise And Tenon Joints At That Time. It’S Just That There Was No Word For Mortise And Tenon At That Time, And People Called This Joint Method Chisel.
There Are Few Records About Mortise And Tenon Joints From The Han Dynasty To The Southern And Northern Dynasties. However, It Can Be Seen From The Excavated Architectural Remains And A Large Number Of Paintings And Sculptures That The Wooden Construction Technology During This Period Made Great Progress, And Larger Wooden Buildings Appeared, Using Mortise And Tenon Joints. The Dougong System Based On Mao Has Also Been Basically Formed.
By The Tang And Song Dynasties, The Application Of Mortise And Tenon Joints In Wooden Buildings Had Become Very Mature And Standardized. An Important Symbol Was The Appearance Of The Book “Building French Style”. “Building French Style” Is Full Of Pictures And Texts. It Is The Most Complete Book On Architectural Technology In Ancient China And Has A Profound Influence On Later Generations. At This Time, The Chisel Was Already Called The Mortise And Tenon Joint. The “Er Cheng Yi Shu” Compiled By The Song Dynasty About Cheng Yi And Cheng Hao Records: “The Chisel Is The Mortise And Tenon Joint. A Round Mortise And Tenon Joint Makes It Round, And A Square Mortise And Tenon Joint Makes It Square.” “Building Methods” Also Uses “卯” The Word “Eye” Describes The Mortise And Tenon Structure. The Book Divides The Mortise And Tenon Joints In Wooden Buildings Into Three Categories, Namely Paving Joints, Beam Joints And Combined Column And Drum Joints. They Were Called “Mountain Surface Pressing Eaves Surface”, “Mantis Head Joint” And “Combined Column Dovetail Tenon”.
As People Gradually Changed From Kneeling To Sitting With Their Feet Down, Tall Furniture Appeared In Large Numbers, And The Mortise And Tenon Structure Originally Used In “Flying Eaves And Brackets” Was Gradually Used In Furniture Manufacturing. During The Ming And Qing Dynasties, The Application Of Mortise And Tenon Structure In Architecture Tended To Be Simplified, While Its Application In Furniture Reached Its Peak. Scholar Wang Shixiang Mentioned In The Book “Research On Ming Style Furniture”: “My Country’s Furniture Structure Tradition Became More And More Mature By The Song Dynasty. Since The Song Dynasty And The Ming Dynasty, It Has Undergone Continuous Improvement And Development, And The Organic Combination Of Each Part Is Simple And Clear, In Line With The Principles Of Mechanics. , And Attaches Great Importance To Practicality And Beauty.” This “Structure” Refers To The Mortise And Tenon Structure. The Precision Of Ming And Qing Furniture Craftsmanship, The Tightness Of Fastening, And The Elegance Of Shapes Amaze The World.
2 A Model Of Combining Practicality And Beauty
Traditional Chinese Wooden Buildings Are Divided Into Large Woodwork And Small Woodwork In Operation. The Former Mainly Refers To The Backbone Structure Of A Building, Which Is A Structural System That Can Withstand Loads, Such As Columns, Beams, Beams, And Purlins Of A House. The Latter Mainly Refers To The Use Of Small Wooden Components To Form Large-Area Patterns, Such As Doors, Windows, Caissons, Partitions, Etc. In Real Life, Wooden Furniture Is Usually Classified As Small Woodwork. Mortise And Tenon Joints Are Widely Used In Both Large And Small Woodwork, But The Emphasis On The Technical Level Is Different.
In Large Woodwork, The Main Function Of Mortise And Tenon Joints Is To Form A Whole With Sufficient Strength And Structural Stability After Construction. Therefore, Mortise And Tenon Joints With Strong Load-Bearing Capacity Such As Straight Tenon, Cross Tenon, And Dovetail Tenon Are Widely Used. The Cornices And Brackets Are The Most Distinctive Features Of Large-Scale Wooden Buildings In China And Have Always Been Praised By The World. The Cornices, Like Cranes Spreading Their Wings, Are Actually A Special Structural Form Designed To Solve The Corner Problem Of The Cornices On Hip Roofs. The Bracket Is The Transitional Part Between The Roof Trusses And Columns Of A Large Building, Transmitting The Roof Truss Load To The Columns, And Then From The Columns To The Foundation. The Brackets Overlap Vertically And Horizontally To Form A Layer Of Brackets, Which Can Resist Earthquakes. Although There Are Many Types Of Brackets, Their Basic Structure And Combination Rules Can Be Traced. The Mortise And Tenon Joints Used In The Brackets Are Basically Composed Of A Series Of Cross Tenons. The Wooden Components Of The Same Horizontal Layer Each Sacrifice One-Half Of Themselves And Intersect Together According To The Principle Of “Mountain Surface Presses Eaves Surface”. Pass The Weight Downwards In Layers.
Architect Liang Sicheng Once Said: “The Chinese Roof Curve, Which Has Always Been Regarded As Very Unique And Mysterious, Is Actually Just A Straightforward And Natural Result Of The Structure. There Is Nothing Beyond The Principles Of Mechanics Or Artificiality. It Is Both Practical And Beautiful. It Is An Extraordinary Success. The Entire Curve And Outline Of This Roof, With Its Majestic Upper Part And Its Eaves Spread As Lightly As Wings, Make The Actual Part, Which Is Originally Very Boring And Clumsy, Become The Crown Of The Entire Building, A Feature That No Other Building Has.” The Cornices And Brackets Of Chinese-Style Buildings Are Strong, Beautiful And Flexible. Although The Mortise And Tenon Joints Appear Chaotic And Complicated On The Surface, In Fact Their Construction Logic Is Very Rigorous And Clear.
Doors, Windows, Furniture And Other Small Wooden Products Need To Be Used And Moved Frequently, So They Are Required To Be Load-Bearing And Easy To Disassemble And Assemble. Mortise And Tenon Joints Are Widely Used. In The Ming And Qing Dynasties, Furniture Became An Object Of Appreciation For Literati, And The Joints Of Mortise And Tenon Became More Delicate And Restrained.
There Are Three Main Types Of Mortise And Tenon Joints Used In Small Woodwork: Board Surface Joints, Frame Joints, And Board Surface And Frame Joints. The First Type Of Panel Joint Is Very Common In Traditional Furniture And Wooden Decoration. Since The Panel Is The Part Of Wood That Is Easily Damaged And Deformed, The Method Of Panel Joint Is Very Important. Common Doors, Windows, Tables, Beds, Chairs, Etc. Are All Designed And Built Using A Framed Board Structure, That Is, The “Core Board” Is Installed Into A Frame With A Through Slot. The Mortise And Tenon Forms Used In This Joining Method Include Dragon And Phoenix Tenon, Dovetail Tenon, Etc. The Second Type Of Frame Joint Is The Connection Between Vertical Members And Horizontal Members. The Joint Cross-Sectional Shapes Are Divided Into Square, Circular, Fan-Shaped, Etc. The Third Type Of Joint Between The Panel And The Frame Is Mostly A Three-Dimensional Structure, Such As Shoulder Tenons, Corner Tenons, Etc., Which Connect The Panels On The One Hand And The Legs Of The Furniture On The Other. Taking Into Account The Convenience Of Disassembly And Assembly, Horse Pins, Also Called Tenons, Are Often Used In Furniture Such As Arhat Beds And Seats. This Kind Of Tenon Has A Bevel On One Side And A Part Of The Mortise. The Tenon Can Be Moved After Being Inserted Into The Mortise, Making It Very Convenient To Disassemble And Assemble.
The Advantages Of The Mortise And Tenon Structure Are Very Obvious. First, Mortise And Tenon Joints Are Stronger Than The Metal Fasteners Used In Modern Woodworking. The Various Structural Components Of The Mortise And Tenon Joint Interact According To Mechanical Principles To Form An Extremely Balanced And Harmonious State. The Foguang Temple In Wutai Mountain, Shanxi Province, Uses Beams And Columns In The Horizontal And Vertical Directions. Columns Are Erected On The Ground, Beams Are Placed On The Columns, And Columns Are Placed On The Beams, Staggering To Form A Roof. The Roof Is Supported By Beams And Columns, And Finally The Columns Are Firmly Fixed On The Ground. Secondly, The Mortise And Tenon Joints Have A Certain Degree Of Self-Recovery Ability, Which Can Cope With Loosening Problems Caused By Wood Expansion And Contraction, And Have Better Earthquake Resistance. In A Civil Structure Building Like Foguang Temple, The Walls Only Serve To Separate Spaces And Are Not Load-Bearing. The Weight Is All Distributed On The Extremely Elastic And Tough Wooden Frame. This Is The Important Reason Why Foguang Temple Has Survived For Thousands Of Years. The Third Significant Advantage Of The Mortise And Tenon Joint Is Its Reversibility. Each Component Connected By The Mortise And Tenon Joint Can Be Disassembled, Making It Easy To Transport, Assemble, Replace And Repair. Finally, The Mortise And Tenon Joint Relies On The Wood Itself For Connection. Whether It Is A Seamless Concealed Tenon Or A Well-Proportioned Exposed Tenon, It Brings A Beautiful Enjoyment To People. Precisely Because The Mortise And Tenon Structure Is A Model Of Combining Practicality And Beauty, It Has Gradually Become The Essence Of Traditional Chinese Structures Over Thousands Of Years Of Development And Evolution, And Is Still Widely Used In Various Fields Of Construction And Manufacturing.
3 Eastern Philosophy Hidden In Wood
For Thousands Of Years, The Chinese People Who Advocate Nature Have A Unique Affection For Wood. The Chinese Use “Civil Engineering” To Express The Concept Of Architecture. The Ancient Chinese Believed That Wood Symbolizes Spring And Morning, Is Full Of Vitality And Vitality, And Is The Embodiment Of Nature’s Vitality And Sunshine. When People Live In Houses Built Of Wood And Use Wooden Furniture, They Also Breathe The Breath Of Nature And Gain Energy From Nature. The Mortise And Tenon Culture Derived From This Embodies The Ancient Chinese Philosophical Thought Of “The Unity Of Nature And Man” From One Aspect.
In The Writings Of Ancient Literati, The Mortise And Tenon Joints Hidden In Wooden Utensils Are The Spirits Of Nature. When Ancient Craftsmen Chiseled Away The Excess, The Two Pieces Of Wood Would Hold Each Other Tightly And Never Separate. There Is A Story Recorded In “Taiping Guangji”. It Is Said That There Was A Monk Named Guo Can In Fengxiang Buddhist Temple. He Saw Wood One Time And Could Not Cut It After Several Attempts. Guo Can Suspected That There Was Iron And Stone In The Wood, So She Changed The Saw To A New One, And Then Successfully Sawed Into The Wood. When They Separated It, They Discovered That The Wood Grain Inside Formed The Image Of Two Horses, One Red And One Black, Biting Each Other. Their Snouts, Noses, Manes And Tails, Hooves, Legs, Tendons And Bones Were All Lifelike. In The Eyes Of The Ancients, The Mortise And Tenon Joint Composed Of Two Pieces Of Wood, One Concave And One Convex, Is Just Like The Two Poles Of Tai Chi, One Yin And One Yang, Complementary And Symbiotic. The Mortise And Tenon Structure Is Tightly Connected And Leaves No Trace, Implying The Ancient Values Of Implicitness, Mutual Restraint And Mutual Checks And Balances. Using The Strength Of Wood Itself As A Balancing Force Instead Of Using Metal Objects Such As Copper And Iron Fully Embodies The World View Of The Harmonious Coexistence Of Man And Nature.
Mortise And Tenon Joints Are The Best Interpretation Of The Craftsman’s Ingenuity. Most Of The Ancient Chinese Carpenters Were Apprentices And Did Not Have Much Education Or Structural Mechanics. However, Through Long-Term Personal Practice, They Accumulated Rich Labor Experience, Developed The Ability To Use Materials According To Their Materials, And Were Able To Choose Suitable Wood For Use. In The Right Position, You Can Even Tell By Visual Inspection How Much Force Each Piece Of Wood Can Withstand. The Craftsmen Put All Their Efforts Into Every Tenon And Tenon, So That Every Piece Of Work Has Tenacious Vitality. The Ancients Said That What Is Above Is Called Tao, And What Is Below Is Called Weapon. Zhang Dai, A Writer In The Late Ming Dynasty, Praised Wood Craftsmen: “But Their Good Workmanship Is Painstaking And Their Skills Are Good. The Thickness, Depth, Density, And Density Of Wood Craftsmen Are Suitable For The Minds And Eyesight Of Later Generations Of Connoisseurs. This Is Not The Place Of Craftsmen.” Can It Be Done? The Skills Are Almost Tao.” The Exquisite Mortise And Tenon Joints Created By The Skilled Craftsmen Are No Longer Just A Physical Technical Performance, But Almost A Metaphysical “Tao”.
Mortise And Tenon Joints Also Embody The Chinese People’S Simple And Natural Aesthetic Concept. In Order To Embody The Aesthetic Ideal Of “Hibiscus Emerges From Clear Water, Leaving Natural Carvings Behind” On Utensils, The Chinese Invented The Mortise And Tenon Joint. Through The Arrangement And Combination Of Components, The Mortise And Tenon Structure Completes Various Forms Of Joints Such As Up And Down, Left And Right, Square And Circular, Curved And Straight, Etc., Making The Outline Of Wooden Utensils Concise And Stretched, Showing The Beauty Of The Wood Itself To The Greatest Extent. This Reflects That The Chinese People From Ancient Times To The Present Have Known How To Appreciate The Essential Beauty Of Nature And Advocate A Simple And Elegant Style.
Post time: Jan-04-2024