The Secret Of Ancient Chinese Wooden Structures That Have Remained Strong For Thousands Of Years

In Ancient China, The Reputation Of Mortise And Tenon Craftsmanship Has A Long History. It Is Said That The Mortise And Tenon Structure Has A History Of At Least 7,000 Years In China, Starting From The Hemudu Cultural Site.

The Mortise And Tenon Structure, That Is, The Wooden Structure With Convex And Concave Mortises And Tenons, Is In Line With The Harmony Of Yin And Yang And Balances Each Other. In The Performance Of This Structure, There Is One Yin And One Yang, One In And One Out, One High And One Low, One Long And One Short. They Can Be Firmly Combined With Each Other And Can Not Only Withstand Pressure Loads But Also Produce Certain Shapes.

Whether It Is Small Furniture Or Large Palace Buildings, The Mortise And Tenon Technology Can Ensure That The Furniture And Wooden Buildings Are Strong And Stable. If An Earthquake Occurs, Buildings With Mortise And Tenon Structures Can Absorb And Unload Energy. Even If They Experience Violent Shaking, They Will Rarely Collapse, Which Can Minimize The Damage To The Building. This Structure Can Be Described As Unique.

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In Addition To Mortise And Tenon Joints, Natural Glues Are Often Used As Auxiliary Materials For Wood Products, One Of Which Is Fish Bladder Glue. There Is A Saying That Mortise And Tenon Joints Support The Strength Of Wooden Craftsmanship, And Fish Bladder Glue Is The Magic Weapon That Makes Wood Stronger.

Fish Bladder Glue Is Made From Deep-Sea Fish Bladders. The Use Of Fish Bladders Is Recorded In The “Qi Min Yao Shu” Of The Southern And Northern Dynasties, The “Compendium Of Materia Medica” Of The Ming Dynasty, And The “Yin Shan Zheng Yao” Of The Yuan Dynasty.

The Swim Bladder Can Be Used As Medicine And Food, And Can Also Be Used In Crafts. Fish Bladder Is Used Medicinally And Ediblely, And Can Nourish Muscles And Veins, Stop Bleeding, Disperse Blood Stasis, And Eliminate Tetanus. Used In Craftsmanship, The Swim Bladder Is Processed Into A Sticky Glue That Locks In Tenons And Strengthens Wooden Buildings.

Modern Chemical Glue Contains Formaldehyde, Which Is Double Harmful To The Human Body And The Materials It Comes Into Contact With. Fish Bladder Glue Is A Purely Natural Adhesive And Has Good Stretch Properties. Its Bonding Strength Is Greater Than Ordinary Animal Glue. Wood Changes Slightly With The Seasons, Either Expanding When Exposed To Heat Or Shrinking When Exposed To Cold. After The Fish Bladder Glue Is Solidified, It Will Expand And Contract Synchronously With The Mortise And Tenon Structure To Form An Elastic Connection. The Mortise And Tenon Structure Of The Wood Product Will Not Be Torn Apart By Simple Hard Bonding.

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Wooden Products Using Mortise And Tenon Structure And Fish Bladder Glue Are Also Easy To Disassemble. Due To The Fact That The Fish Bladder Glue Can Be Dissolved In Hot Water, When The Fish Bladder Glue Is Melted, The Wood Products Will Not Be Torn Due To Excessive Viscosity And Affect The Overall Structure When Disassembling The Wood Products.

From This Point Of View, The Wisdom Of The Ancients Was Comprehensive, Able To Consider Multiple Aspects And The Longer Term, And Skillfully Integrated Wisdom Into Different Links, Which Amazed Future Generations.


Post time: Jan-05-2024