Little-known ancient chair: Shanxi Temple Chair

Nowadays, all kinds of ancient chair sets and traditional furniture catalogues have been introduced. However, there is a kind of chair that is rarely mentioned. Its existence is even less than that of the chair. Many people may not realize its existence or rare. This type of chair is a temple chair from Shanxi, Shaanxi.

Temple chairs, also known as row chairs, are more common in the areas of Jinzhongnan and the border between northwestern Shanxi and Shaanxi. The regional characteristics are very distinct. Henan is also found but the workmanship and age are far less than the former. The row chairs are generally distributed in the temples. It is said that the worshippers of the Buddhas and Buddhas are used for rest. There are also pairs of furnishings, but the placement is still to be verified. The shape of the row chair is ancient, with the rhyme of the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It is in the Ming Dynasty and is weak in the Qing. After the Qing Dynasty, the production is relatively rough, the relief pattern is thick and shallow, and the knife method is gradually stylized. It loses the feeling of smooth and natural in the early stage. It was made later in the Qing Dynasty. Most of the row chairs are made of eucalyptus, and a few are made of pine or other cork.

This type of chair is characterized by a long body and a strong sense of volume. The elderly can approach four meters and the short one is nearly three meters. Therefore, it is not suitable to move. The front end often has multiple legs to support the seat plate and the lower leg. Multi-carving, the upper part is more than a shackle, the legs at both ends are often thicker, and the carving is more elaborate than the small foot in the middle. Some are for the valgus, and some are for the three-legged, roll-over, and the production form is not limited. One grid, but the style is rough and pale; the middle legs are often small, for auxiliary support, there are also different carvings, and the common ones are more than the sword legs. The interdental inserts between the legs support the seat plate or the waist and form a plurality of door-shaped openings, and there are pedals near the ground. The front legs are all enclosed in the shackles to restrain and strengthen the structure, but the middle feet Sometimes I don’t wear it and it’s on the ground. The front end of the temple chair is similar to the structure of the opening of the sword and the leg of the sword. We seem to find some shadows in the low seat of the Song Dynasty. As shown in the picture, the song "槐阴消夏图" has a similar structure. The number of hind legs is generally less than that of the front legs, often only two or two or one in the middle and not carved. A row of chairs with a waist tends to be decorated with a plurality of annulus plates at the waist, as shown in the figure four and eight.

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There are usually two types of chair trays, one is made of sheet metal, or the core board or single board. The other type is made up of several strips of long material side by side, with gaps between them and the head. Parallel to the inside of the groove of several tows.

The back of the chair usually has a brain that spans the full length of the temple chair. One or two traverses are placed under the brain. The high-relief lotus-like clip or lotus leaf is often used between the brain and the scorpion, the scorpion and the scorpion. The shaped clips are equidistantly arranged as a decoration in a row, and also serve as a connection reinforcement. The clip flower will not exceed two rows. Under the clip flower, it is usually one to two layers of ankle ring plate. The number of the ring plate is just one less than the number of the clips in each layer. It is separated by short materials and is often used for opening or hollowing out the fish door hole. The embossed and embossed patterns are mostly plant patterns such as petals, grasses and lotus leaves. They have a strong legacy of the Yuan Dynasty and infiltrate the colors of Buddhism.

The temple chair ornamentation highlights the characteristics of the Liao and Jin Dynasties. It is said to come from a ruin temple in Yuan Dynasty in Shanxi Province. If the source is reliable, then it is really a rare Yuan Dynasty furniture that can be handed down. It seems that it can at least reach the middle of the Ming Dynasty in terms of its shape, ornamentation and preservation. There is often a layer of curved plain plate and chair plate under the ring plate. The curved plate is also separated by several curved short materials, and some are more beautiful and also made into a bright foot form. The ends of the back of the chair are usually also equipped with a bottle of teeth. This form of the back of the chair seems to be very closely related to the building. We can often find similar structures from the building fence of the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

The above is the basic style of the temple chair, but there are also a few unconventional ones, but the basic structure remains unchanged. The overall workmanship and style still highlights the ancient rhyme of the Song and Yuan styles. It is extraordinary and unconventional, breaking the rules of the world. Not similar to the distinctive features of other furniture.