Cultural Sustainable Development Strategies of Chinese Traditional Furniture: Taking Ming-Style Furniture for Example

Abstract

In view of the gradual decline and near-stagnant crisis of traditional furniture art from the late Qing Dynasty, the article studied the cultural sustainable strategies of Chinese traditional furniture represented by Ming-style furniture, hoping to promote the revitalization of traditional furniture and good inheritance of traditional culture in modern society. Based on the theory of “Methodology of Affairs”, the article proposes that the sustainable strategies of traditional furniture can be understood as a correlation system under the joint action of “internal factors” (shape, function, technology, etc., of furniture) and “external factors” (social environment, economic environment, humanistic environment, etc., in which furniture develops). Starting from the two aspects, the article finally analyzed the improved translation of internal factors in five parts: shape and function, structure and connection, material and process, color and furnishing, decoration and aesthetics, and studied the adaptive changes in external factors from five dimensions: politics, economy, culture, society, and users. The article hopes to help this endangered Chinese traditional furniture art develop in a sustainable direction, and also provide a reference for scholars working in the field of the inheritance and development of traditional culture.

1. Introduction

Furniture art is an important part of the material culture and spiritual culture of human society, and often reflects the historical changes and cultural inheritance of a country and a nation. From the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the late Qing Dynasty and modern times, Chinese traditional furniture has experienced prosperity and decline. It reached the peak of its achievement in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. During this period, Ming-style furniture was famous for its “simple, elegant and harmonious” creation. It is highly respected and occupies an important position in the history of world furniture [1]. However, with the drastic changes in politics, economy, culture, art and other aspects since the 19th century, Chinese traditional furniture art has also undergone changes, causing a once glorious situation to gradually decline. It was not until the reform and opening up that Chinese traditional furniture was revived and developed with an increase in consumption and collection demand.

Many scholars have made significant progress in exploring how to restore traditional furniture and transform it into modern forms. For example, Pei Shuai and Gu Yan studied the form of Ming-style literati furniture from the perspective of bionics and applied its form and cultural connotation to the field of modern furniture design. Based on the form of Ming-style literati furniture, by exploring “shaped language morphological bionics” and “structured decorative morphological bionics”, the design features are summarized, and the application of morphological bionics in modern furniture design is explained [2]. Zhao Chenlong and others integrated Ming-style furniture elements into modern furniture design, giving modern furniture a unique shape, beauty and cultural connotation. At the same time, they organized research on Ming-style furniture elements and furniture design at home and abroad, discussed the characteristics of Ming-style furniture such as shape, materials, decoration and structure, and conducted case analysis to promote the inheritance of Ming-style furniture elements and promote innovation in the field of modern furniture design [3]. Liu Huanzhi and Tu Jun took “elements” as the starting point and proposed a modern improvement method based on the structure and form of Ming-style chairs. They analyzed the Ming style based on elements, found special symbols for various Ming-style elements in the category of seats, and expressed these elements through line drawing. They also conducted an in-depth study of the specific application of Ming-style elements in modern chairs, exploring the rules from multiple perspectives, such as shape, material, size, and meaning, etc. [4]. Zou Weihua deconstructed traditional Chinese furniture and extracted meaningful forms that are both traditional classic symbols and in line with modern aesthetics. He compiled the extracted DNA of traditional Chinese furniture and its arrangement into a graphic library, and then reconstructed the genetic factors of traditional Chinese furniture according to the material and spiritual needs of modern people. Through reconstruction, the design results of new Chinese-style furniture are generated [5].

However, judging from the existing research, the strategy of continuing and inheriting Ming-style furniture art mainly focuses on evolving the appearance of furniture, such as shape, structure, function, decoration, etc., while ignoring the social external factors closely related to the development of furniture, such as policy, economy, culture, ethnicity and lifestyle, etc. Furniture design should consider more historical factors, such as today’s lifestyles, cultural characteristics, advanced science and technology, etc. [6]. The former is the internal environment of the furniture, and the latter is the external environment. Herbert Simon once said: “A design problem can be stated as: adapting to changes in the external environment through the organization of the internal environment [7]”. Whether the internal environment or the external environment, both are indispensable. Therefore, the article starts from two aspects in order to conduct a systematic strategic research on the sustainable development of traditional furniture art. On the one hand, Ming-style furniture is a product of a specific period from the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. Its particularity requires that we cannot completely copy the style and structure but translate and improve it according to modern life. This step is to organize the internal elements of traditional furniture. On the other hand, modern society needs to learn from history and clarify the social and cultural causes behind the prosperity and decline of furniture art in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so as to guide modern society in its efforts to create a friendly environment that tolerates traditional furniture from many aspects. This step requires adaptation to the external environment. The internal environment determines the final form, function, technology, etc. of furniture, and the external environment determines the social environment, economic environment, humanistic environment, etc., in which furniture develops. The cooperation of the two will help the endangered traditional furniture art to develop in a sustainable direction.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Aesthetic Characteristics of Traditional Furniture: Taking Ming-Style Furniture as an Example

2.1.1. Shape and Functional Beauty

The shape of Ming-style furniture shows the aesthetic characteristics of the interdependence of straight lines and curves, and the integration of squares and circles. The lines of Ming-style furniture are smooth and graceful. The design approach mainly uses the overall square frame to conflict with the partially rounded details and the curved shape of the backrest. The large-curvature stress-bearing components of the furniture and the small-curvature decorative moldings, patterns, dental panels, corners, etc., all pursue simplicity and smoothness, without being pretentious. In terms of overall proportion, Ming-style furniture focuses on the proportional coordination between the whole and parts, parts and parts, length and width, height and shortness. In terms of detail size, it strives to be as precise as possible and has strict standards to ensure that the size is just right, neither too heavy nor too delicate. As the old saying goes, “Anything more is too much, and one point less is too little” [8]. For some designs that rely on complex carving techniques, consideration should be given to making the best use of the material as much as possible. This not only establishes the aesthetic tone of the furniture, but also saves precious wood resources while meeting the needs of utility, which is in line with the concepts of conservation and environmental protection. It can be said that the staggered combination of curved and straight-line components is inseparable from the realization of specific functions of furniture. For example, the backrests of chairs in Ming-style furniture are designed with an “S” curve to meet the user’s back support needs; the shape of the armrests takes into account the weight of the user’s arms, and even the ends of the armrests are processed to make it easier for users to sit down and get up. In addition, the design of the four legs on the lower part of the chair is round on the outside and square on the inside, in order to meet the joint between the legs and the crossbars.

2.1.2. Structure and Connection Beauty

The overall structure of Ming-style furniture is deeply influenced by the beam and column structures of Chinese traditional architecture. Horizontal beams and vertical frames are inherited and developed on this basis, pursuing a rigorous structure and reasonable use of materials. The internal connection method of Ming-style furniture is realized through concave and convex combination of mortise and tenon structures of different shapes, which play a role in fixation and support. The protruding part is called a tenon; the recessed part is called a mortise. Tenons appear along the grain of the wood, and mortises appear across the grain, and the two combine to allow different parts to be joined together without the use of nails and rivets [9]. The structure of Ming-style furniture itself is a model under the guidance of ecological aesthetics. Taking the Ming-style official’s hat armchair as an example, it contains various shapes of leg modules, seat surface modules, top rail modules, crossbar modules, and different forms of carving modules (Figure 1); by combining them in certain ways and rules, a large number of unique chair forms can be created [10]. There are not only many types of modules, but also rich details. The detachable combination of mortise and tenon joints is diverse and suitable for standardized production, allowing various parts to be assembled freely [11]. The tight combination of mortise and tenon makes it easy to install and disassemble furniture during daily transportation, saving packaging and transportation space. It also helps contemporary users repair partially damaged or incomplete Ming-style furniture and strive to restore the whole effect while keeping other parts intact.

2.1.3. Material and Process Beauty

Literati in the Ming Dynasty loved the quiet and comfortable Huanghuali Wood. Its natural texture is clear and bright, displaying elegant pictures. Some are like mountains, some are like trickling streams, and some are like flowing and flying clouds, just like the beautiful mountains and rivers painted by the sky. Due to the extremely slow growth rate of the huanghuali tree, the core material of a nearly century-old huanghuali tree is only as thick as a thumb. It would take at least hundreds of years for the material to grow into a material suitable for making furniture. Therefore, the texture of huanghuali is very hard, extremely stable in both tensile and bending resistance, not prone to deformation, and can withstand the test of borers without decay [12]. Much huanghuali furniture from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties is still intact after dismantling the mortise and tenon joints in modern times, all because of the hard texture of huanghuali wood. At the same time, the hard wood also ensures that the furniture carvings are exquisite and delicate. No matter whether horizontally or vertically, carving with a knife will not cause the fibers to collapse and avoids rough defects that are difficult to repair. These properties are unmatched by other softwoods. In addition to huanghuali wood, more Ming-style furniture is made of local materials, such as ordinary elm and beech. Most Ming-style furniture needs to be lacquered during the production process, i.e., so-called lacquered wood furniture. This is because of the long history and wide use of lacquerware production. In ancient times, due to limited tools and techniques for furniture making, surface treatment was not as delicate as it is in modern times, and processes, such as plastering, covering with linen, and lacquering, also played a role in smoothing the surface. Other materials, such as rosewood, wenge, ebony, nanmu, iron pear wood, bamboo, etc., can also be seen in the ancient furniture that has been preserved to this day.

2.1.4. Color and Furnishing Beauty

The “literati temperament” of Ming-style furniture is partly due to the fact that huanghuali furniture usually presents the characteristics of overall plainness. The material color ranges from light yellow to orange–red, and the texture is warm and pleasant, giving people a quiet and reserved feeling. Therefore, Ming-style furniture is respected by the literati. Ming-style furniture retains the natural tone of the wood itself in color, and most of it is deep in color [13]. Common colors include orange, yellow–brown, red–brown, black–red–brown, dark yellow, light brown, etc. This earthy tone complemented the living environment of the time, such as halls, studies, bedrooms, courtyards, gardens, etc., and created a very literary atmosphere. However, after Emperor Qianlong came to power in the Qing Dynasty, Chinese traditional furniture tended to use rosewood furniture (deep purple in color and hard), replacing the previous dominance of huanghuali furniture (orange in color and warm). The hard material, deep purple color and smooth texture of rosewood furniture gave people the impression of nobility, stability and luxury, and were favored by dignitaries. They believed that furniture made of this color conveyed the meaning “Auspiciousness is coming”, so rosewood was highly respected in the Qing court [14]. The furniture placement in the Ming Dynasty paid attention to the beauty of symmetry in the interior, and the placement of furniture followed the principle of symmetry around the central axis. The main furniture would be arranged on the central axis, while the secondary furniture on both sides would be arranged symmetrically. In addition, the placement of indoor furniture also reflected thousands of years of Chinese etiquette and civilization. The master’s seat was the most honorable, with a fixed orientation in the center, and faced the upright position. The guest moved with the master, taking an auxiliary position, and sat facing the host. The main place should display Armchairs and Official’s Hat Chairs, and the auxiliary seats should display Lamp-hanger Chairs and Comb-backed chairs. Alternatively, the main place should display Lamp-hanger Chairs and Comb-backed Chairs and the auxiliary seats should display square stools, round stools, etc. This was on the same principle. Strict primary and secondary classification was used to express order and hierarchy.

2.1.5. Decoration and Aesthetic Beauty

For Ming-style furniture, the texture and pattern of the wood itself were the best form of decoration. This aesthetic concept shows a simple and natural ecological view. Suzhou literati Wen Zhenheng (1585–1645) put forward the standards of simplicity, practicality and naturalness for the aesthetic requirements of furniture in his book Arrangement of Superfluous Items [15]. He believed that too much carving and painting would make furniture look vulgar. Natural furniture should not be engraved with vulgar patterns, such as dragons, phoenixes, flowers and grass. The decorative techniques of Ming-style furniture can be summarized into three types: pattern decoration, functional decoration, and metal accessories. Pattern decoration does not pursue large-area carvings and embellishments, but skillfully uses the natural color and texture of wood to embellish patterns on small areas of parts, using the “complexity” of details to highlight the “simplicity” of the whole, giving a harmonious feeling. Common decorative patterns mainly include plants, animals, geometry, utensils, figures, and auspicious patterns. Functional decoration refers to the changes in shape of some components of Ming-style furniture that are decorated with round carvings or openwork carvings at the ends or where the shape ends. Although this seems to be for decorative purposes, it is actually intended to indicate the function of the components and allow people to accurately recognize the specific functions of sitting, leaning, lying, supporting, storage, and display carried by furniture components when appreciating and using the furniture [16]. Taking the sitting and leaning functions of Ming-style chair furniture as an example, the functional indicators of the armrest, top rail and side wipers are the most obvious. Metal accessories come in a variety of styles and serve as auxiliary decorations. Common accessories include hangtags, button heads, buckles, hinges, climbing handles, nails, handles, corners, etc. The combination of the luster of metal and the warmth of solid wood enriches the overall artistic style.

2.1.6. Concept and Ecological Beauty

Ming-style furniture is the culmination of Chinese traditional design ideas and creation wisdom. Its design and manufacturing methods are largely influenced by the ecological views of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, thus reflecting a pure and simple ecological aesthetic. For example, the Confucian ecological view of “harmony and coexistence” is intended to explain that the harmony of heaven and earth leads to the creation of all things, and creation must be carried out without violating the natural laws. The Taoist ecological view of “the unity of nature and man” emphasizes that man and nature should be a community. All things in the world are born from the natural laws. The natural law is the universal law that exists in all things, and it is the constant relationship between nature, society and life. The Buddhist ecological view includes the “Zen essence of nature”. “Zen” is essentially a philosophical realm of “emptiness” and “quietness”. Zen’s attitude toward nature advocates attributing the nature of all living things to nature. It emphasizes that Zen is not an external addition but nature itself. People who practice Zen should be integrated with nature. Only by becoming a part of nature can we understand its true meaning. Zen thought expresses the pursuit of natural purity, a free and comfortable life, the care for life and the admiration of freedom; it advocates simplicity and purity, advocating natural texture and true character, not deliberately emphasizing decoration, and advocating “less is more”. Records of Examination of Craftsmen, a Chinese early handicraft technology classic, points out that “Natural climate, geographical location, wood beauty, and the craftsmanship, these four make up a good work” [17]. Natural climate and geographical location mean that creation must comply with the laws of nature and absorb the spirit of heaven and earth. Wood’s beauty and craftsmanship mean that the natural beauty of the material itself without modification can set off the exquisite craftsmanship of the craftsmen. It can be seen that the ancients’ pursuit of natural beauty is reflected in the traditional ecological aesthetics in furniture creation.

2.2. The Reasons for Prosperity and Decline of Traditional Chinese Furniture Art

Furniture manufacturing is a large and complex social labor, and the impact of social environment on lifestyle will be reflected in it. The social environment includes the synthesis of multiple macro factors such as politics, economy, culture and psychology [18]. Therefore, furniture reflects to some extent the epitome of a country’s politics, economy, culture, habits, behavior and other aspects. Traditional furniture is not only the result of historical accumulation, but also a product of the times under the influence of various social factors. As can be seen from Figure 2, Ming-style furniture reached the pinnacle of the developmental history of Chinese traditional furniture in terms of category, shape and aesthetics.

The reason why Ming-style furniture achieved such achievements is due to the following factors. First, the relaxation of the customs ban in the Ming Dynasty promoted deeper trade exchanges between China and other countries, enabling a two-way flow of goods/products and ideas. The so-called “customs trade ban” refers to restrictions on individuals or organizations from conducting cross-sea foreign trade. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di (the emperor in the Yongle period) adopted a series of methods to relax restrictions on overseas trade, and actively carried out trade with foreign countries with an open and inclusive attitude [19]. From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He made seven voyages to the West, bringing overseas various commodities, such as Chinese porcelain, tea, ironware, agricultural tools, silk, tapestry, gold and silver, loaded on board. These goods were traded in exchange for specialties from each country. Second, the development of the commodity economy caused the public to no longer be satisfied with the basic functional needs provided by furniture, which began to pursue aesthetic and symbolic meanings. Third, the idea of practicality promoted the development of technology, and many furniture professional books appeared to guide the craft. Fourth, the reform of the craftsman system increased the enthusiasm for craftsmen, and craftsmen made exquisite furniture to attract public consumption and stimulate the desire to buy. Fifth, literati were directly involved in the design and production of furniture, which gave Ming-style furniture an inherent literati temperament and promoted the development of furniture aesthetics.

Traditional furniture has gone through a transformation process from Ming style to Qing style and then to Shanghai style. Observing this, it is not difficult to find that, compared with Ming-style furniture in its heyday, late Qing furniture has different functions, forms, materials, structures, and sizes. In terms of design, decoration and craftsmanship, it has presented a completely different aesthetic taste, deviating from China’s thousands of years of furniture culture that advocates simplicity and nature. The reasons behind this are thought-provoking. First, the weakening of national strength brought about the stagnation of the furniture industry. As rulers of a large country in the East, the Qing Dynasty suffered from frequent wars, people were in dire straits, the treasury was empty, and the economy was in trouble. Traditional Chinese furniture declined from its former glory, and its artistic style gradually lost its aura. Second, the fusion of Chinese and Western cultures led to changes in furniture styles. In the 17th century, Western missionary Matteo Ricci entered China to spread Western knowledge, technology and culture, and introduced European Baroque furniture. Both Qing-style furniture and Baroque furniture appear as tall and solemn as a whole. Both show the persistent pursuit of lines, which are graceful, smooth and dynamic [20]. Complex elements are used to show the desired decorative effect and period characteristics. Third, the integration of national cultures resulted in rugged furniture styles. In 1644, the Manchu army (Qing army) entered the Central Plains and began to establish rule over the entirety of China. In order to show the heroic, rugged and strong characteristics of the grassland people who had lived on horseback for a long time, Qing-style furniture shifted towards a heavy, majestic and powerful direction [21], gradually departing from the “appropriate scale and exquisite proportions” of the Ming style. Fourth, changes in lifestyles led to the westernization of furniture form. At the beginning of the 20th century, Shanghai style furniture with dual characteristics of Chinese traditional furniture and Western furniture appeared. Some “boots and hat” style furniture became a distinctive feature of that time. For example, the “hat head” and “leg frame” of the large wardrobe are decorated with Western-style carvings, while the middle cabinet is in the form of Chinese three-door or two-door [22]. Learning from historical lessons will help us better explore strategies for the sustainable development of traditional furniture culture.

2.3. Research “Methodology of Affairs”

In the methodology of affairs, Professor Liu Guanzhong pointed out that a complicated design problem can be reduced to a correlation system under the joint action of “external factors” (people, time, place, context) and “internal factors” (technology, materials, craftsmanship, shape) [23]. The sustainable strategy of traditional furniture art also focuses on the overall thinking of the internal and external factors of furniture. Therefore, based on the internal design aesthetics of Ming-style furniture and the external social motivations for the prosperity and decline of traditional furniture, this article constructs a sustainable development strategy model for traditional furniture art represented by Ming-style furniture. It considers both the internal environment and the external environment. The improved translation of internal factors of traditional furniture is divided into five parts: shape and function, structure and connection, material and craftsmanship, color and furnishing, decoration and aesthetics. The adaptive changes in external factors of traditional furniture are divided into five parts: politics, economy, culture, society and users. The discussion will be elaborated from each dimension in order to provide reference for the continuation of Chinese traditional furniture art, and also provide new ideas and methods for the inheritance and development of Chinese traditional culture.

3. Cultural Sustainable Development Strategies for Traditional Furniture: Improved Translation of Internal Factors

From a sustainable perspective, cultural sustainability means that related products maintain good ancestry and sustainability in community development and can be well accepted and passed on by the entire community, groups and individuals [24]. Therefore, traditional furniture needs to connect with modern society through the refinement and translation of internal parameters. On the basis of meeting the emotional needs and aesthetic standards of contemporary national identity, traditional culture and memory are integrated into modern furniture to arouse emotional resonance among consumers and awaken their sense of responsibility and mission in inheriting ancient furniture aesthetics and creative wisdom.

3.1. Translation of Shape and Function

Ming-style furniture shows the artistic characteristics of smooth lines, harmonious proportions, moderate size, and vivid charm. However, it also has defects, such as complex shapes, excessive local carvings, and redundant decorative components that are not in line with modern aesthetics. Therefore, in the translation of form, the confrontation between twists and straight lines and the balance between square and round bodies in the Ming-style furniture can be retained, and the linear components can be simplified into smoothness, stretch and strength. This orderly interspersion reflects its inherent cultural spirit, and effective use of the ups and downs of lines conveys the power of the continuous flow of life [25]. As the shape evolves, the function of furniture also changes. Bound by ethical concepts, traditional Ming-style furniture gives way to “dignity” in terms of ergonomics and comfort and pays attention to the etiquette and order of the furniture. With the changes in modern people’s living needs, the modern translation process of Ming-style furniture gradually focused on ergonomics, structural proportions and scale. Figure 3 shows the comparison between the Ming round-backed armchair and Hans Wagner’s “the Chinese chair”. “The Chinese chair” simplifies the lines of the Ming-style armchair and removes the footrests, and its proportions are more suitable for modern people’s sitting habits [26]. The overall height has been reduced from 1030 mm for traditional Ming-style furniture to 790 mm, and the seat height has also been reduced from 520 mm to 420 mm, which is more in line with the requirements of the contemporary indoor space environment. In terms of armrest design, the crescent armrests of the armchairs were improved into ergonomic “L”-shaped curve armrests, and leather cushions were added, highlighting the comfort and practicality of the furniture. Therefore, modern Ming-style furniture focuses on the human–machine relationship between shape and function, emphasizing the integration and adaptability of furniture and the space environment.

3.2. Translation of Structure and Connection

Ming-style furniture has the characteristics of disassembly, interchangeability and modularity in structure. However, with the continuous development of modern science and technology, some mortise and tenon structures are too complex in structure and are mostly made by handicraft, which cannot adapt to the mass production of modern society using CNC numerical control processing equipment [28]. As a result, more and more people are not optimistic about the sustainability of traditional furniture art. Therefore, structural improvement is an important step in realizing the modern translation of Ming-style furniture. Jiarong et al. selected the Ming-style armchair as the research object, combined with the processing characteristics of existing CNC machine tools and the technical needs of solid wood tenon joints, and carried out a structural improvement design for the right-angle tenon in the armchair that was not suitable for CNC processing [29]. The two sides and rear of traditional armchairs are connected by straight mortises and tenons. The craftsmen need to use special tools to groove and cut the tenons, which is less efficient. Moreover, due to the inaccurate tolerances between the mortises and tenons, the quality is difficult to guarantee. Modern mechanical processing equipment can complete the processing and shaping of round tenons and waist round tenons in one go, making the processing process simpler and faster. Improving the production efficiency of mortise and tenon structures can promote the smoother operation of the production process, thereby having production advantages [30]. Therefore, the trusses and dental plates on the sides and rear of the chair were changed to waist-shaped tenons adapted to modern CNC machining and production, as shown in Figure 4a,b. The tenons at the chair legs and federal sticks were modified based on traditional tenons to meet the design requirements of not rotating vertically, and were transformed into rounded square tenons, as shown in Figure 4c,d. The finite element method was used to conduct static analysis and fatigue resistance analysis of the modified structure to verify its rationality and feasibility. It can be seen that modern Ming-style furniture shows the development trend of digitization, batching and automation in terms of structure and connection.

3.3. Translation of Material and Process

As forest area coverage shrinks year by year, precious tree species become increasingly rare. For the sustainable development of wooden furniture, in-depth research can be carried out from three aspects. First, constantly innovate and upgrade the mechanical performance of modern machines. Utilize digital and automated processing technology to cut precious wood raw materials into square materials as accurately as possible, reduce the loss rate and increase the utilization rate, so as to achieve the purpose of “making the best use of everything”. Second, look for alternatives to solid wood, such as artificial wooden boards, bamboo, bamboo fiber laminated materials and other new materials. Especially in the development and utilization of bamboo furniture, a large number of researchers have made breakthrough progress in this field. Experiments have fully proved the feasibility of bamboo in making traditional furniture [31,32,33,34]. “Bamboo Chanji” is an original handmade utensil brand. Using old materials of “Black Xiang Fei” bamboo, “Mei Deer” bamboo and “Purple” bamboo, it reproduces the “Rose Chair” of the Ming Dynasty through in-depth exploration of tradition, redesign and creation (Figure 5). Third, various biotechnologies, such as heat treatment, filling treatment and chemical impregnation, are used to modify wood. The purpose of modification is to make artificial fast-growing wood with low density and poor mechanical properties achieve the same high-quality strength and stable load-bearing capacity as hardwood. At the same time, it can also reduce wood deformation and cracking, and improve the mechanical properties of wood, such as dimensional stability, compressive strength, and flexural strength. Planted forest wood has the characteristics of low difficulty in planting, high survival rate, short growth cycle, and fast maturity rate. Because its resources are sufficient and easy to obtain, more and more furniture researchers have been working tirelessly to study the modification of fast-growing wood to replace precious and increasingly scarce solid wood [35,36,37,38]. It can be seen that modern Chinese-style furniture shows a diversified and sustainable trend in material and process.

3.4. Translation of Color and Furnishing

With the transformation of the modern living environment, people’s living space has also changed. Furniture arrangement is no longer bound by traditional etiquette and hierarchy, and indoor style also breaks the traditional monotony and sameness. Furniture and the overall interior style present a diverse mix and integration [27]. In the modern context, the colors of furniture are mainly divided into two categories: mainly plain colors, and mainly jumping colors [39]. Plain colors inherit the tradition of simplicity and elegance, including wood color, black, ink color, tea white, onyx color, etc. For example, the “Baqiao Table” designed by the “Pusu” brand shows a deep and solemn tone of rosewood. With a little polishing, it shows a smoothness, like silk, and a warm luster, like jade (Figure 6a). The graceful curves of the arch bridge outline a unique aesthetic feeling, incorporating the designer’s thinking and observation of ancient Chinese architectural structures. The curved skeleton under the tabletop has great tension, achieving a perfect balance between straight lines and curves, virtuality and reality, strength and beauty. The jumping color system has made bold attempts and innovations in the color matching of furniture. The regional tones and national colors are quite rich, such as vermilion, dark red, green, amber, navy, etc. The color contrast is strong and the tones are bright, showing a unique personality. For example, the “Big World” series of black walnut wood sofa designed by Jiang Qiong’er explores the expression of elegant life under contemporary oriental aesthetics in furniture color design (Figure 6b). The main color adopts traditional Chinese vermilion, with black walnut wood as the base tone. The vibrant red and the steady black wood form a harmonious contrast, bringing the warmth and comfort of home to the modern living space. It can be seen that modern and new Chinese-style furniture places more emphasis on the emotional value and beauty provided by the furniture in terms of color and furnishing.

3.5. Translation of Decoration and Aesthetics

Whether it uses local decorative embellishments to counteract the overall simple style, or uses decoration as an indicator of function, Ming-style furniture provides ideas for improving much of today’s flashy modern furniture. These decorative techniques are worth learning from. However, with the continuous progress of society, the decorative techniques of Ming-style furniture can no longer satisfy the aesthetic trends of contemporary people. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze deeply its design principles and simplify its redundant decorative lines and details in order to retain classic Ming-style furniture [40]. Taking the “Four Seasons Chair” designed by the “U+” furniture brand as an example (Figure 7a), the shape of this chair is derived from the ancient armchair. The difference is that it creatively changes the original rigid chair ring in the armrest part into high and low curves, drawing the outline of mountains and flowing water in traditional ancient paintings. At the same time, the designer also simplifies the structure of the gooseneck front posts, spandrel and other structures, and deletes redundant components, such as the “quankou” and the footstool, simplifying them to the extreme, presenting a simple and beautiful style. With the changes in the times, contemporary aesthetics pursues diversified collisions on the basis of refining the essence. While inheriting the elegant aesthetics of oriental literati, it also gives new vitality to the integration of modern art and fashion. It emphasizes a kind of ‘life aesthetics’ that combines trends and tradition and pays attention to function and poetic art in decorative techniques. For example, the “Shangxia” furniture brand collaborated with contemporary artist Huang Yuxing to create the “Kowloon Picture” carbon fiber six-fold screen (Figure 7b). The screen frame made of modern technology carbon fiber is combined with Huang Yuxing’s impactful visual language to build a fantasy and abstract art world. The screen is inspired by the Nine Dragon Wall, transforming the image of the dragon into nine pine trees connecting the sky and the earth, condensing the majestic beauty of nature with brilliant colors, and innovatively interpreting the oriental landscape. It can be seen that modern Chinese-style furniture pursues the integration of traditional culture and modern fashion and art in decoration and aesthetics.

4. Cultural Sustainable Development Strategies for Traditional Furniture: Adaptive Changes in External Factors

Based on the reasons for the prosperity and decline of traditional furniture from a sociological perspective summarized above, this article elaborates on the adaptive changes in the external factors regarding traditional furniture from five dimensions: policy, economy, culture, society, and users. If traditional furniture art wants to change the predicament that has made it almost stopped its development since late Qing Dynasty, it must not only consider the internal adaptation of traditional furniture to modern lifestyles, but also needs to consider the protection and inheritance of external factors. From the perspective of sustainability, the principle of sustainable development is “protection first, reasonable development”. It can be seen that protection is the premise of development and development is the basis of protection: together, they form a benign development circle and establish a sustainable development strategic system [41].

4.1. Policy Perspective: Furniture and Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritors, Intellectual Property Protection, Education and Talents

Government’s function is the basic factor supporting the sustainable development of traditional furniture, mainly reflected in the following three aspects. First of all, the inheritance and modern translation of Ming-style furniture are inseparable from the development of the handicraft industry and the passing down of craftsman skills from generation to generation. There are many openwork and relief carving techniques that are difficult and time-consuming and have no competitive advantage in the face of modern manufacturing. As a result, younger generations are rarely willing to devote energy to inherit and engage in these intangible cultural heritage crafts due to the pressure of life [42]. Therefore, the government should adopt supportive policies and set up special funds to ensure that it provides a solid guarantee for the quality of life and working environment of inheritors. At the same time, social platforms, such as Douyin and Weibo, can be used to expose the inheritors’ daily routine of making classical furniture, creating an effect for the whole society of joint protection of the intangible cultural heritage of handicrafts. For example, Yang Qinghu, as the intangible inheritor of Ming-style furniture, has more than one million fans on Douyin. He has gained widespread public support and attention by sharing the production techniques of Ming-style furniture in Suzhou.

Secondly, the government should establish and improve the legal protection system for intellectual property rights in the field of traditional furniture art and encourage innovative transformation of traditional furniture and improved designs of mortise and tenon structures. At the same time, punitive measures are being formulated to severely crack down on copying, plagiarism, misappropriation and other behaviors that steal other people’s intellectual achievements. Third, promote school–enterprise cooperation, build a bridge between universities and enterprises, invest in outstanding talents in the R&D and production of enterprises, and improve production processes and design aesthetics. For example, Huasong Home Furnishing Group has established in-depth cooperation with the Furniture Design Institute of Tsinghua University since 2014, and established the Academy of Art and Design, Tsinghua University of Huasong Scholarship to encourage innovation, promote the improvement of furniture design standards, and cultivate furniture design talents. In terms of education, Tsinghua University integrates traditional culture into the study courses and assessments of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in furniture, cultivating dual design talents who combine traditional furniture with modern design from the source.

4.2. Economic Perspective: Furniture and Innovation

Looking back at the history of furniture development, it is not difficult to find that the more developed the social economy, and the higher the degree of material affluence, the richer the categories of furniture, and the higher its artistic level. Since entering the 21st century, people’s pursuit of spiritual aspects, such as emotion, aesthetics, personality, and cultural connotations, have laid a strong economic foundation for the regeneration and sustainability of traditional Chinese furniture art. More and more furniture brands in China have begun to absorb the essence of Chinese Ming and Qing furniture and transform it by developing modern Chinese-style furniture that meets the aesthetic requirements and life needs of modern people [43]. For example, Sanyou Furniture’s “Ming and Qing Dynasty Charm” series, Gaofan Furniture’s “Hanlin” series, Fusheng Furniture’s “Ming Yue Qing Feng” series, etc. [44].

However, because the new Chinese-style furniture industry is still immature and the market is mixed, consumers have shown disapproval of some new Chinese-style furniture brands. First, modern furniture companies only stay at the stage of imitating Ming-style furniture or Qing-style furniture and completely retro traditional furniture, resulting in the furniture produced being incompatible with interior styles and modern lifestyles. Second, some companies only aim to make profits and capture the potential consumer market for new Chinese-style furniture, but they fish in troubled waters by producing shoddy products, passing them off as good, confusing the market, and leaving a bad impression on consumers. Third, although some companies are conscious of improving traditional furniture, they do not really understand the aesthetic characteristics of traditional furniture. They think that simply “subtracting” is an improvement on traditional Ming-style furniture. The grasp of details and size and the use of decorative patterns are relatively superficial, resulting in the furniture produced having only its own shape without developing traditional artistic conception and charm. For this type of enterprise, effective research methods can be used to guide the modern translation of traditional furniture. For example, Xue and Chen applied biological DNA genetic information to the design of a Ming-style recessed-leg table using shape grammar, thereby creating new forms of Ming-style furniture that maintain the original genes [45]. Yu used the inherent connection between Ming-style furniture and regional cultural genes to implant regional cultural genes into the design model of New Ming-style furniture and developed New Ming-style furniture products with regional cultural characteristics [46]. Su and others used extension semantics to analyze the characteristic vocabulary and graphic semantics of Chu culture, using the extended design intervals of each graphic semantics as reference elements for new Chinese-style furniture design, and finally generating a furniture design plan that imitates Chinese characters, providing theoretical support for furniture innovation [47].

4.3. Cultural Perspective: Furniture and Cultural Communication Channels

Considering that the public is not exposed to the aesthetics of traditional furniture, it often lacks artistic influence and elegant taste. In addition, Ming-style furniture comes from a time distant from modern life. For the younger generation, traditional furniture is an “outdated thing” and not attractive enough. Therefore, Ming-style furniture needs to explore suitable, interesting, and fashionable communication channels to fill the gap between the public and art, tradition and modernity. Through the exhibition of cultural relics and works on display, the museum allows people to understand the charm of ancient history and traditional culture from their own perspective. However, the public’s stereotype of museums as boring leads to the fact that few people will seriously understand the culture behind the collection. Therefore, in recent years, major museums have begun to break through and innovate, linking traditional culture with cartoon IP, modern technology, fashionable blind boxes, and game secret rooms, and successfully integrated these into young people’s lives.

The Forbidden City in Beijing has launched bracelets, necklaces, anklets and other jewelry co-branded with the theme of “Forbidden City Cat”; the Nanjing Museum has launched chocolates shaped like cultural relics that can be self-service 3D printed; the Henan Museum has opened blind boxes to allow the public to experience “digging for cultural relics” and “repairing cultural relics at home”; and the Suzhou Innovation Expo used history as the background, and cultural heritage and archival knowledge as clues, turning the 2000-square-meter exhibition hall into a secret room for solving puzzles. In addition to traditional channels, such as museums, exhibitions, lectures, and TV programs, many novel digital media outlets are also quietly emerging. Yao Jianping, the inheritor of Su Embroidery, once said in an interview: “The inheritance and development of Su Embroidery requires trying new methods and ways to enter the lives of young people”. For the first time, Su Embroidery works have been digitized in the form of digital collections. This is a very good way to spread and promote traditional culture in the Internet era. Through the above cases, it is not difficult to find that traditional culture combined with modern technology can arouse more interest and curiosity among young people. In the new era, not only does traditional furniture itself need breakthroughs and adaptations, but the ways to spread traditional culture are also worthy of our thinking and innovation.

4.4. Social Perspective: Furniture and Social Memory, Immersive Experience

Many scholars have pointed out that, if traditional furniture wants to continue to demonstrate vitality, it can impress consumers through cultural empathy [48,49,50]. In addition to the traditional functional design related to the practicality of the furniture itself, it is also necessary to plan cultural activities related to experience in society. Hangzhou is located at the site of the Imperial City of the Southern Song Dynasty. Over the years, it has continued to explore the connotation of Song Dynasty culture, allowing traditional culture to be spread and passed down in the lives of Hangzhou people. With the octagonal lanterns, hexagonal lanterns, rolling lanterns and other Song Dynasty palace lanterns hung on the eaves of the ancient courtyard, urban landmarks, such as the Imperial Street of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Drum Tower, and the Southern Song Dynasty Study Room, have become spaces for immersion in the life of the Song Dynasty (Figure 8a). Inheritors of Southern Song Dynasty official kiln ceramics, woodblock printing and other skills brought their exquisite works to the site for display; the Mingtang furniture brand used landscapes to recreate Song-style furniture; the Shuiyun Qinsi Embroidery brand, Ruilongxiangtang Crafts brand, Hangzhou Song Liquor brand, etc., have brough a variety of exquisite products imitating the Song Dynasty, such as clothing, tea products, hairpins, calligraphy and paintings, masks, etc., to spread the culture of Song Dynasty. Citizens and tourists can also wear Hanfu made in the Song Dynasty, go out at night under the illumination of palace lanterns, and immerse themselves in the past. In the life scenes with the Southern Song Dynasty palace as the background, citizens can not only appreciate Song porcelain and furniture, experience spices and make tea, but also learn handicrafts, such as rubbing, carving, and firing ceramics, and feel the unique charm of Song Dynasty culture and aesthetics.

Another example is that the Forbidden City and Phoenix Technology Group jointly held the Painting Tour Along the River During Qingming Festival—Forbidden City Immersive Art Exhibition in Chongqing. This exhibition combines multi-sensory experiences, such as “audio, hearing, touch and smell”, with diversified interactive forms to create an immersive oriental aesthetics and cultural experience space based on reality and beyond reality, allowing the audience to fully experience the world shown in famous paintings and fully appreciate the beauty of Chinese culture. The theater plays the naked-eye 3D video of Bianhe River Pier in the form of a CAVE. The entire film uses a one-shot technique to reproduce the scattered perspective images in the original painting into a three-dimensional space, making the audience feel as if they are boarding a small boat traveling on the Bianhe River, watching fish leap and fly with cranes, from the hustle and bustle of daytime to sunset. At dusk, the lanterns come on again. When night falls, thousands of Kongming lanterns rise in a leisurely fashion, as if to enjoy the glorious scene that has lasted for thousands of years (Figure 8b).

4.5. User Perspective: Furniture and Poetic Life, Elegant Aesthetics

Although furniture displays aesthetics and artistry, in the final analysis it is different from pure art and cannot be appreciated in isolation. It must be purchased and used by consumers to realize its value. The state provides reasonable shopping subsidies to new Chinese-style furniture brands and companies to encourage the public to support the inheritance and continuation of traditional furniture art by purchasing new Chinese-style furniture. With the rise of public demand from the material level to the spiritual level, the improvement of public aesthetics and the influence of culture, people buy new Chinese-style furniture not only for its practical functions, but more importantly for the cultural, emotional and aesthetic values behind the furniture. This demonstrates the noble integrity and elegant taste of consumers themselves, not being corrupted by the world, and not pursuing exaggerated shapes and gorgeous colors. It also embodies a simple, healthy and green attitude, expressing a state of not being controlled by material desires, fame, fortune, and comparison, and returning to a state of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

It can be seen that the continuation of traditional furniture is not only the continuation of traditional culture, but also the continuation of the ancients’ philosophical ideas of harmonious coexistence, following nature, and making the best use of things. This is specifically reflected in the view of “people–furniture–environment” as a whole ecosystem. Ming-style furniture is based on natural materials, connected to the earth, nourished by the soil, and integrated with nature. At the same time, it also guides modern people to spontaneously pursue an active, healthy and interesting lifestyle, inspiring them to constantly pursue a “poetic dwelling” that satisfies their inner spiritual needs. Through the medium of “furniture”, people can better feel the aesthetic experience derived from nature when using furniture. Based on the concept of “elegant life”, a perfect balance of ecological harmony is formed between man, nature, society and human beings themselves, creating the “poetic dwelling” described by Heidegger [51].

5. Discussion

Nowadays, a number of new Chinese-style items of furniture have emerged on the market. They are a bold attempt to return to traditional values and improve modern furniture based on traditional Chinese furniture. Judging from the preserved traditional furniture materials and modern design concepts, some scholars have pointed out that Ming-style furniture should become the source of new Chinese-style furniture design. As Professor Lin Zuoxin of Beijing Forestry University said: “New Chinese-style furniture is a profound reflection on cultural loss” [52].

New Chinese-style furniture is a further development based on the inheritance of Ming-style furniture. It is neither completely retro furniture nor contemporary art that is completely divorced from tradition, but a new form of furniture based on traditional furniture. It is the rebirth of traditional furniture in the contemporary era. Although there are still many deficiencies and room for improvement in new Chinese-style furniture, their existence proves that the ancient Chinese furniture art, which was on the verge of discontinuation after the Qing Dynasty, can slowly recover and continue to develop in modern times.

6. Conclusions

• The essence of the sustainable development of traditional furniture is a process of finding the roots of history and modernizing them. Contemporary new Chinese-style furniture designers can start from the improved translation of the internal factors and the adaptive changes in external factors of traditional furniture, comprehensively analyze the internal translation of the aesthetic characteristics of Ming-style furniture, such as shape, function, structure, material, and decoration, and put this into a modern external environment composed of politics, economy, culture, society, and users in a process of systematic thinking, so as to better serve the innovative design of new Chinese-style furniture.
• Therefore, the purpose of exploring the sustainability strategies of traditional furniture based on the Ming style is not only to protect the continuation of a style, but also the inheritance of a culture and an aesthetic. There is still a long way to go for traditional furniture culture to be recognized and accepted by modern society and to maintain good adaptability and inheritance among society, groups, and individuals. The article provides a new research idea and strategy for this purpose, and also provides inspiration for scholars working in the field of the protection and development of traditional culture.