Ma Shu: The Literati’s Mind That Transcends (Wén Xīn Fēi Dù)

The main content of the book was divided into three parts: Reviewing the Old, Learning the New and Attainment of Heart. The part of Reviewing the Old stands for “the revision to ancient Chinese furniture” of Ma Shu, gaining new insights through reviewing old material; at the beginning of Learning the New, the author wrote, “Through bearing many excellent works in mind, I integrate the understanding towards ancient furniture with the new woodcrafts and techniques and keep learning and practicing. Immersing myself in the minds of literati acquaints me with the development sequence of the Chinese furniture. During producing, I intertwine the new comprehension with skills as a whole, leveraging the succinctness and void to convey profound connotations, which creates a subtle sense of poetry. The lofty but pure styles, rather than the luxurious and sumptuous ones, are preferred due to the persistent and painstaking efforts made beyond the furniture’s appearance for the supplement of humanistic deliberation. Then, by means of practicing, the novelties were brought out.” From Reviewing the Old to Learning the New, he initiates from the consideration and research of furniture and turns into its production. According to author Ma Shu, the furniture he made “originated from Dao and took on their forms as utensils”. “Relying on the feelings of the present, I recombined the anciently set components to present objects and poetic features with a quality of ‘beauty greater than use’. Inside beds or desks, shelves or chairs, this quality as well as the temperament and interest were deeply contained. With a relaxed mood, we savour a leisure and merry lifestyle of playing guqin (a Chinese stringed instrument) and reading classics. In terms of the Attainment of Heart part, the poems and calligraphy creations by Ma Shu serve as the media that enter into the “minds of literati”.

Contents

Reviewing the Old  07

Learning the New  49

Attainment of Heart  237

About Ma Shu（马书）

Ma Shu, born in Pingyu, Henan province, has been committed to the thinking on the aesthetics and dispositions of Chinese Renwen Furniture. He aims at presenting new spatial elements and a new life style based on the heritage of Chinese ancient woodcraft to our era. The furniture he made originated from Tao and took on their forms as utensils, with graceful bearing and artistic conceptions as their carriages. Ma Shu has published several monographs on antiquate furniture including: Made in Ming Qing (Míng Qīng Zhì Zào), The Imagery of Ming Qing (Míng Qīng Yì Xiàng), Sitting Insight (Zuò Guān); the collections of works: The Literati’s Mind That Transcends (Wén Xīn Fēi Dù). The forthcoming publications include a monograph on the aesthetic of Ge Shan (the partition doors and windows of the ancient Chinese architectures), called Crafting Doors and Windows (Kāi Xuān) with six volumes as well as a monograph on the aesthetic of Song furniture (from Song Dynasty of China): Seeing through the Nature’s Secrets and Standing Aloof from the World (Dòng Tiān Wàng Jī), etc..

Photo by Feng Zhiyin

Image and Text: the shop, ©Authors, the shop, 2019