The Origin Of The Chair

The mural painting of Dunhuang Cave 285 shows two people sitting on chairs; Cave 257 murals show women sitting on square stools and cross-legged benches; There are women sitting on round stools in the stone carvings of Longmen Lotus Cave. These images vividly reproduce the use of chairs and stools in the families of the nobility during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Although the seat at that time already had the shape of a chair and a stool, because it did not have the title of chair or stool at that time, people used to call it "Hu bed", and in temples, it was often used for sitting meditation, so it was also called Zen bed. After the Tang Dynasty, the use of chairs gradually increased, and the name of chairs was widely used before they were separated from the category of beds. Therefore, when discussing the origin of chairs and stools, we must start with the Hu bed that was introduced through India during the Han and Wei dynasties.

Before the Tang Dynasty, there was also an interpretation of the word "chair", which was "next to the car", that is, the fence of the car. Its role is that people rely on it when riding in the car. Later chairs, in the form of fences on four-legged supported platforms, were inspired by the fence next to the car, and the seat was called "chair" after its name. Judging from the existing materials, the Tang Dynasty already had quite elegant chairs.

From the fifth generation to the Song Dynasty, high-type seats were unprecedentedly popular, and the form of chairs also increased, with backrest chairs, armchairs, circle chairs, etc. appearing. At the same time, according to the different levels of dignity and inferiority, the shape, material and function of the chair are also different.

Furniture from the Five Dynasties to the Two Song Dynasties generally retains the legacy of the Tang Dynasty, but high-type furniture is more popular than before.

The chair is very old and simple, although for many centuries, it was a common state of use. In the early dynasty, they covered the backs and surfaces of their chairs with cloth or leather and wood carvings, but they covered much less than 21st-century chairs, sometimes only 25 cm above the ground. In ancient Egypt, chairs seem to have been greatly enriched, with old-fashioned ebony, ivory carvings, gilded wood, etc. used. They are covered with expensive materials, ornate motifs and hunted beasts or carved captive figures. Generally speaking, the higher the status of the individual, the taller and more ornate his chair, which is a symbol of honor.