The Origin Of The Chair

There is an image of two people sitting on chairs in the mural of Dunhuang Cave 285; there are women sitting on square stools and cross-legged benches in the murals of Cave 257; and there is a woman sitting on a round stool in the stone carvings of Longmen Lotus Cave. These images vividly reproduce the use of chairs and stools in official and aristocratic families during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Although the seats at that time already had the shape of chairs and stools, because there were no titles like chairs and stools at that time, people still used to call them "Hu Beds". In temples, they were often used for sitting meditation, so they were also called Zen Beds. After the Tang Dynasty, the use of chairs gradually increased, and the name chair was also widely used, and it was separated from the category of beds. Therefore, when talking about the origin of chairs and stools, we must start with the Hu beds introduced through India during the Han and Wei dynasties.
Before the Tang Dynasty, there was another explanation for the word "chair", which was "by the car", that is, the fence of the car. Its function is to provide people with something to rely on when riding in a car. Later chairs, in the form of a fence installed on a four-legged platform, were probably inspired by the fence next to the car, and the seat was called a "chair" after its name. Judging from the existing data, there were already quite exquisite chairs in the Tang Dynasty.
From the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty, tall seats became more popular than ever before, and there were more types of chairs, such as armchairs, armchairs, armchairs, etc. At the same time, the shape, material and function of the chair are also different according to the different levels of superiority and inferiority.
Furniture from the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty generally retained the legacy of the Tang Dynasty, but tall furniture became more popular than before.
The chair is very old and simple, although for many centuries it was in a state of common use. In the early dynasty, they used cloth or leather or wood carvings to cover the back and seat surface of the chair, but the coverage area was much smaller than that of the 21st century chairs, and the seat surface was sometimes only 25 centimeters off the ground. Chairs in the ancient Egyptian era seem to have been greatly enriched, with old-fashioned ebony, ivory carvings, gilded wood, etc. being used. They are covered with expensive materials, ornate patterns and carved figures of hunted beasts or captives. Generally speaking, the higher the status of an individual, the taller and more ornate his chair will be, which is a symbol of honor.