Chinese Cultural Relics
Furniture before the Han Dynasty
Before the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), people inhabiting the country's heartland had the habit of being seated on the floor covered with wall-to-wall mats - to be more exact, of kneeling on the floor while squatting on the heels. Sitting with the legs stretching out was resented, and seen as disrespectful. Furniture used at the time fell into four categories - those on which people slept or sat including mats, beds and couches, tables, both long or short, on which things were placed, screens and mosquito nets, trunks, toilet cases used by women and suitcases. All these were low, commensurate to people's habit of being seated on the floor. A couch unearthed from a Han Dynasty tomb is only 19 centimeters tall. Even lower - just 5 centimeters - is a table from a tomb of the same dynasty at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province.
Large numbers of people fled areas north of the Yangtze River to the south during the period of the Wei (220-265), Jin (265-420) and Northern and Southern (386-589) dynasties, when wars were fought incessantly between warlords for control of the country. That chaotic period also saw many nomads migrate from the northwest and northeast to the better-developed heartland. All this compeled the Han Chinese to change their etiquette and customs. While resented by the Han Chinese, for example, sitting with legs stretching out was absolutely normal among migrants of China's ethnic minority groups. With those nomads there, came "furniture with high legs," such as chairs and stools.
Furniture before the Han Dynasty
Before the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), people inhabiting the country's heartland had the habit of being seated on the floor covered with wall-to-wall mats - to be more exact, of kneeling on the floor while squatting on the heels. Sitting with the legs stretching out was resented, and seen as disrespectful. Furniture used at the time fell into four categories - those on which people slept or sat including mats, beds and couches, tables, both long or short, on which things were placed, screens and mosquito nets, trunks, toilet cases used by women and suitcases. All these were low, commensurate to people's habit of being seated on the floor. A couch unearthed from a Han Dynasty tomb is only 19 centimeters tall. Even lower - just 5 centimeters - is a table from a tomb of the same dynasty at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan Province.
Large numbers of people fled areas north of the Yangtze River to the south during the period of the Wei (220-265), Jin (265-420) and Northern and Southern (386-589) dynasties, when wars were fought incessantly between warlords for control of the country. That chaotic period also saw many nomads migrate from the northwest and northeast to the better-developed heartland. All this compeled the Han Chinese to change their etiquette and customs. While resented by the Han Chinese, for example, sitting with legs stretching out was absolutely normal among migrants of China's ethnic minority groups. With those nomads there, came "furniture with high legs," such as chairs and stools.
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