Literature Review
"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."
- C. S. Lewis
Books Introduction
Jicheng, Chen, Z., Yang, C. and Liu, Y., 2015. Yuan ye zhu shi. Beijing: Zhong guo jian zhu gong ye chu ban she.
He, P. (2009). 浅谈中国近代室内设计的发展 - 百度文库. Retrieved 11 May 2021, from https://wenku.baidu.com/view/f667368802d8ce2f0066f5335a8102d277a26129
Pile, J., & Gura, J. (2013). A history of interior design. London.
Laozi., Chen, Y. and Zhang, X., 2017. Dao de jing quan ji. Chengdou: Tian di chu ban she.
Wang, S., 2013. Jin hui dui. Beijing: Sheng huo·Du shu·Xin zhi san lian shu dian.
Yang, D., 2007. Zhongguo jin xian dai shi nei she ji shi. Beijing Shi: Zhongguo shui li shui dian chu ban she.
From 1900-2020, Chinese interior design has experienced three forms, according to Chinese interior designer He Peng’s research journal, the first form was traditional Chinese interior style, the traditional Chinese nationality interior design was spatial form mainly based on wooden structure, over thousands of years of development, Chinese traditional Chinese interior design had “unique national form” (Wang Xu 2009). The second form was under the influence of complex historical background. When western culture and western elements have been introduced to China, lots of Chinese interior designers have abandoned traditional wooden structure and traditional Chinese interior decoration, they have used steel structure and reinforced concrete to build high-rise building (Pile, J., & Gura, J. 2013), besides, decoration became much simpler, designers pay more attention on practicability. The third form was a combination of tradition and modernity, and we called it “new Chinese style” (Yang Dong Jiang ,2007). “New Chinese style” is based on western spatial form, and then place Chinese traditional furniture into the space, but unfortunately, “new Chinese style” (Yang Dong Jiang, 2007) is unsuccessful, the gap between two different culture makes Chinese people hard to accept this new interior style. (Huang Jing 2009)
In Ji Cheng ‘s “Yuan Ye”, this academic book clearly shows both advantage and disadvantage of Chinese interior design. There was no concept of both interior design and interior designer in ancient china, the people who directed workers to build house was called “Zao Yuan”, Zao Yuan” was also considered as a craftsman rather than a designer. (Liu Yan Chun 2015, p. 02; Ji cheng ,1634) Like Ji Cheng has said in” Yuan Ye “: The quality of a house, 30% depends on “Zao Yuan” and workers, 70% depends on house owner. “Zao Yuan” was the link between workers and the house owner, he needed to draw blueprints based on the owner’s preferences. Although “Zao Yuan” worked as both a designer and an architect. the quality of the final outcome depended on house owner’s aesthetic. On the other hand, ancient Chinese people believed passionately in “the universe combines with human being” (Cheng Yang, 2017; Lao Zi B.C.485), they liked to place natural landscape in their house. Especially rich people, they liked to place lots of stones in their houses or gardens, some large stones form sceneries of their own, while small ones were put together to form artificial hills. Beside these stones, house owner usually built a small artificial lake. This kind of landscape combination was like a Chinese traditional landscape painting, it showed the Chinese people’s longing for the spiritual world. (Liu Yan Chun 2015, p. 25; Ji cheng ,1634) As every coin has two sides, because house owners usually weren’t professional interior designers, in order to pursue artistic, the practicality of interior space was always neglected. (Wang Shi Xiang ,2013) And interior landscape also represented the owner’s taste, it caused compare between different house owners.
