"The more ethnic, the more global" - the world needs Chinese culture, and humanity needs Chinese-style home furnishings. The status and influence of Chinese culture in the world are increasingly improving, especially in leading people towards a more harmonious and happy life, playing an important leading role. The "wisdom" accumulated over thousands of years of Chinese culture provides authoritative solutions to issues concerning "nature, humans, and life," which cannot be replaced. Similarly, Chinese-style home furnishings, based on Chinese cultural concepts, will also be irreplaceable in addressing current human housing issues, particularly in matters of the "heart." Chinese-style home furnishings, which conform to the cultural attributes of Chinese culture, are unparalleled by home furnishings of other cultural attributes. Humanity needs Chinese-style home furnishings.
Besides cultural significance, Chinese elements themselves occupy an increasingly important position in the global design community. In the diverse choices of home furnishings by people of all ethnicities worldwide, preference for Chinese-style home furnishings is growing. Domestically, the 70s, 80s, and 90s generations, who form the main force of home furnishing consumption, are increasingly returning to their roots when choosing home furnishings, less easily influenced by foreign popular cultures, gradually becoming more calm with a stronger sense of direction, seeking and choosing more fundamental things.
In the most simple and essential relationships and issues between humans and nature, humans and life, humans and home environments, as well as lifestyles, Chinese-style home furnishings effectively integrate and carry Chinese culture at the unit of "home," subtly clarifying and solving these relationships and problems, allowing Chinese culture to closely and people-orientedly lead humanity towards a happier life.
The natural relationship between Chinese-style home furnishings and Chinese culture constitutes the main reason why "humanity needs Chinese-style home furnishings":
1. Extremely rich and profound cultural connotations: In the rich and profound Chinese culture, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are extremely important components. These three schools provide many explanations and doctrines related to "humans" from different angles and concepts, all centered around humans and linked to ways of life, standards of conduct, and attitudes towards living at home. They essentially describe the intrinsic content that home environments should express, such as filial piety, respect, harmony, trustworthiness, frugality (simplicity), propriety, caution, compassion, following the Dao naturally, and tranquility without action. These are the wisdom left by our ancestors to make life better in the world, and they are well reflected in Chinese-style home furnishings, forming the basic content that Chinese-style home furnishings aim to express.
2. Represents the highest level of home decor culture under Chinese culture: In terms of home environment arrangement and decoration (decor, soft furnishing design), our predecessors achieved greatly. Not only are there numerous descriptions in literary works, such as the depiction of homes in "Dream of the Red Chamber," but also in the Forbidden City, imperial gardens, princely mansions, and traditional residences, one can still see very refined home arrangements. These represent the top-level design standards of the time. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, venues like the Great Hall of the People, Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, some hotels, villas, and clubs drew heavily on previous achievements when creating Chinese-style interiors. Today's Chinese-style home furnishings combine the essence of past home cultures with modern people through furniture, decorations, fabrics, lighting, curtains, etc., continuing to inherit and develop Chinese-style home culture that conforms to the attributes of Chinese culture.
3. High artistic and cultural value inherent in the components of Chinese-style home furnishings: Items like Chinese-style furniture, calligraphy, paintings, porcelain, silk, wood carvings, stones, lamps, and gold, silver, copper, and jade products found in Chinese-style home furnishings each carry heavy artistic and cultural weight. Ming and Qing dynasty furniture reached the pinnacle in the history of furniture; paintings possess great Eastern charm; porcelain has captivated the entire world; silk has contributed to global human civilization; and copper plays an important role in daily life. The fusion of these elements with Chinese-style home furnishings not only enhances the flavor, quality, and class of decorating environments but also elevates the realm of humanistic spirit. In Chinese-style home furnishings, we not only enjoy the elegance brought by these arts and cultures but also improve our appreciation levels in such an environment.
4. Chinese lifestyle: Chinese culture contains much about lifestyles, aiming to help people live better lives. It advocates enjoying a good life in this world rather than feeling exhausted or overwhelmed. Many people today don't know how to choose a lifestyle that aligns more with "the way of nature." Ancient studies have addressed this, emphasizing tranquility, cultivation, elegance, grace, refinement, seclusion, and leisure, among others. Such lifestyles are relatively in line with the way of nature and help people enjoy a healthy and pleasant life, understand the true meaning of life, and elevate it. This also finds belonging for one's body and mind from both cultural and natural attributes.
5. Calming the "mind": In everyday life, some people often feel anxious, worried, restless, lost, or uneasy, causing them distress. These emotions, originating from the heart, affect individuals and can lead to various social problems. Besides being influenced by external environments, one's home environment also plays a significant role. Chinese-style home furnishings emphasize harmony between heaven and humanity and the way of nature. In such a home environment, it is easy for one's heart to become calm subconsciously, allowing the heart to find a better place of belonging and cultivation. A stable heart resolves many issues such as restlessness, impurity, unease, imbalance, disharmony, and agitation, thereby enabling a person's life to become "smooth, harmonious, and complete."
6. Chinese-style home culture: Chinese-style home furnishings should become a cultural phenomenon. As a type of home culture, it has rich inner content. Literary and artistic works from the past contain numerous descriptions, cleverly integrating the pursuit of high elegance, humanistic spirit, thoughts, life wisdom, and cultural cultivation. While enhancing the artistic appreciation level of home culture, it also allows people to experience vitality, leisure, and beauty through these objects, forms, moods, scenes, and flavors, achieving peace and tranquility. In a peaceful state, one’s mood becomes serene and tranquil, reaching a state of detachment, humility, respect, and love.
Chinese-style home furnishings are valuable in appreciation and insight, seeking a sense of clarity in this process, letting emotions be寄托and released, making one's mood pleasant, finding liberation and relaxation at home, and experiencing freedom and joy in an elegant environment.
The core of Chinese-style home culture lies in values and concepts, such as pursuing beauty, quietness, harmony, respect, reason, truth, clarity, and joy while adhering to the way of nature and removing human desires. It also includes health preservation, cultivating one's nature, self-cultivation, nurturing emotions, respecting rituals, as well as involving morality and aesthetics. All these aspects belong to Chinese-style home culture and enable people to live better from the most natural and essential perspectives.
Chinese-style home culture also reveals the profound essence of thousands of years of Chinese culture in our daily lives and within Chinese-style home furnishings, providing a tranquil and harmonious family haven. This makes it increasingly evident that humanity needs Chinese-style home furnishings amidst the noise and complexity of modern life.
7. Some characteristics of Chinese-style home furnishings: Chinese-style home furnishings preserve well the familial and hierarchical culture, along with clan rules, family regulations, and family teachings, placing great emphasis on the concept of "home." In design, they focus on balance and proportion, the flow of energy, symmetry, exquisite craftsmanship, strong national features, and distinct local characteristics, all conforming to living habits and customs. These are all part of inheriting Chinese culture. The cultural and artistic expressions of a nation always require carriers to be passed down, such as architecture, furniture, calligraphy and painting, and other art treasures. Chinese-style home furnishings serve as comprehensive carriers, organically presenting Chinese culture and art. In such an environment, it is easier for one not to become agitated, effectively controlling one's emotions, achieving mental focus, tranquility, and gathering energy, resulting in a peaceful and joyful mind and body. These features also allow greater recognition of Chinese-style home furnishings that conform to the attributes of Chinese culture.
8. Reflects the mainstream ideology of society: The reflection of mainstream societal ideology in home furnishings demonstrates societal recognition of home culture. Choices and preferences in home furnishings are significantly influenced by the cultural direction of the times. For example, during the Ming, Qing, and Republican eras, mainstream home cultures emerged, revered by the upper classes, subsequently forming societal trends. Nowadays, Chinese-style home furnishings are more favored by the elite class, reflecting deeper reflections on many things with increasing life experiences, gaining a deeper understanding of the relationships between humans and society, humans and humans, humans and nature, careers, and life, finding a point of belonging at a deeper level, aligning more with the way of nature, making oneself smoother. These also reflect the mainstream ideology of society regarding Chinese culture, demonstrating personal taste in one's residence while integrating collections, calligraphy and painting, rosewood furniture, etc., into one's home. These ideologies are unified in Chinese-style home furnishings, whether they are the essences passed down from previous societies or the admiration of contemporary society, representing the essence of mainstream societal ideology and the manifestation of home culture.
9. Better reflects surname culture and filial piety culture: Surname culture has a long history, and today, activities such as tracing one's ancestry and compiling genealogies are increasing. Regardless of where one is, everyone wants to know their roots, a fundamental aspect that does not change and is widely recognized. During the Spring Festival, ancestral tablets and genealogies are respectfully placed in clan temples and homes, and ancestors are invited back for worship. Additionally, ancestor worship during the Qingming Festival and regular memorial days exemplify the continuation and expression of surname culture.
Filial piety culture has had a significant impact on people from ancient times to the present. Stories of the Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars have been passed down through generations, promoted both officially and by the public, becoming a standard for measurement.
These surname and filial piety cultures align with the concepts of Chinese-style home furnishings, embodying a form of humanistic spirit in the home and carrying it forward organically.
10. The role of Chinese-style home furnishings: The greatest role of Chinese-style home furnishings is to organically and progressively form a relatively complete structural system that links religion, philosophy, morality, art, and culture with home-related connections. It unifies the natural properties, cultural properties, and spiritual realms of Chinese-style home furnishings, drawing nourishment from Chinese culture, and subsequently expressing "tranquility," "peace of mind," "gentleness," "elegance," "harmony," "modesty," "gracefulness," "purity and simplicity," and "returning to simplicity," enabling people to live better, enjoy and perceive life, while also gaining spiritual satisfaction and self-cultivation.
11. What do the post-80s and post-90s generations focus on regarding Chinese-style home furnishings: As the main force of future home consumers, the post-80s and post-90s generations are beginning to build or envision their homes. Meanwhile, they will pay attention to and refer to many factors such as environmental protection, safety, health, taste, benefits for children's education and marital harmony, face-saving, culture, collection, appreciation, etc. Elements like Sinology, aesthetics, Oriental elements, what the elite class admires, satisfying sentiments, following the Dao naturally, unity of heaven and humanity, harmony, stress relief, etc., will gain pride from the popularity of Sinology in society and the rise in the status and influence of Chinese culture globally. This also increases acceptance, fueled by the enthusiasm for collecting and the admiration for rosewood furniture, as well as preferences for Oriental aesthetics. All of this finds entry points within Chinese-style home furnishings, finding answers within them. By integrating these elements into Chinese-style home furnishings, the quality and class of the home are enhanced, ensuring environmental protection while meeting cultural demands. More importantly, it satisfies the hidden requirements of Oriental culture, etiquette, order, harmony, tranquility, filial piety, and the aesthetic beauty of Chinese culture, showcasing personal taste and affection for and inheritance of Chinese culture.
12. Advantages in nurturing the next generation: Regarding the nurturing of the next generation, there is a common belief: "hoping for sons to become dragons and daughters to become phoenixes," aiming to cultivate elite individuals with high quality and high moral standards. There is also a recognition of the subtle educational methods, especially the early enlightenment education provided by the family environment. What children see, play with, and grow up in affects their development significantly. This foundational stage becomes their later foundation, akin to Mr. Qi Gong and other great scholars benefiting immensely from their early environments. Conversations often include phrases like, "My ancestors once had something... I saw something at my grandmother's house as a child," illustrating the profound influence these factors have on future generations. These advantages are precisely where Chinese-style home furnishings excel in cultivating a noble demeanor. Whether in overall design or specific object placement, Chinese-style home furnishings can well reflect nobility, especially the awareness of collecting and the concept of collectibles. Beyond the physical items themselves, this conscious collection enhances class, taste, and artistic cultivation, enriching humanistic spirit. Simultaneously, the ideological unity of "unity of heaven and humanity" and "following the Dao naturally," focusing on the relationship between humans and the environment, and the elite culture of "gentlemen, scholars, virtue, and talent" in nurturing individuals is realized. This is the subtle advantage of Chinese-style home furnishings in nurturing the next generation, providing rich nutrition for the cultural, artistic, and humanistic spirit cultivation of future generations.
Culture needs to be inherited and developed, just as the "auspicious" culture passed down for centuries by the Chinese and the daily emphasis on "spirit, energy, and vitality" all aim to achieve a good state through the cultivation of "virtue and wisdom," allowing us to live healthier and better lives, more in accordance with the "Dao." Chinese-style home furnishings, as carriers of Chinese culture, organically combine numerous essences, starting from the simplest and most natural perspectives, emphasizing harmony between heaven and humanity and the harmony between humans and nature, paying great attention to human life.
May Chinese culture, through the wisdom and nourishment contained within Chinese-style home furnishings, guide people worldwide towards a more harmonious and happy life. "The more ethnic, the more global" — humanity needs Chinese-style home furnishings.