The Research Of Design In The Jiangnan Regions In The Late Ming Dynasty

Manufacturing Design in the Ming dynasty was the epitome of the history of Chinese design,during which south of Yangtze River in the late Ming dynasty was the prime.The spatial scope this article discussed radiates from Suzhou,Shanghai,Changzhou,Jiaxing and Huzhou to Hangzhou,Zhenjiang and Nanjing and spans 72 years of four reigns in the late Ming dynasty.The manufacturing design discussed here consists of the following categories: 1)daily supplies;2)artworks and crafts;3)architecture and gardens;4)engineering machinery product(tool and agricultural implement).By systemizing the influences of ideology,economy,society and culture of Jiangnan(regions south of the Yangtze River)on manufacturing design,this article analyzed the historical background of the formation of Jiangnan-style manufacturing design.In the historical context of manufacturing design evolution,characteristics of the manufacturing design in the late Ming dynasty were summarized and the 3D landscape of manufacturing design was reproduced by combining three dimensions-concept,method and category.Moreover,by focusing on artifacts ranks,manufacturing design activities conducted by all social strata,price of design and other aspects,this article tried to elucidate the history of Jiangnan-style manufacturing design in the late Ming dynasty,thus revealing the evolutionary path of manufacturing design.Three research methods were used in this article: one is documentary method,namely analyzing and studying existing documents and selected documents fromdesign as well as historiography and literary local records with due attention to common documents like the superfluous things and the quotation of neglected documents;the second is comparion method.Through the analysis of the Late Ming Dynasty's South China and other regions and regions of the country,this paper compares the design of the creation,summarizes the differences and similarities between the design of the creation,the nature,characteristics,functions and forms of the design of the creation in the Jiangnan regions;the third is mutual proof method.This paper attempts to restore the overall and vivid features of the design of the south of the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty by using a variety of historical materials and mutual evidence of the official history.The originality innovation of this paper was listed as follow:First,three factors-favorable opportunity,geographical and human conditions contributed to Jiangnan area in the late Ming dynasty in becoming the heyday of the history of Chinese design.Policies facilitating circulation like the of paying silver for freedom from corvee and One Lash Method were implemented on a large scale in the late Ming dynasty.Jiangnan had a pleasant climate,which was not only suitable for growing grains and economic crops but also met temperature conditions required by techniques like weaving.Besides,Jiangnan area had a constellation of literati and gathered numerous skilled craftsmen and interactive communication between the craftsmen and literati was frequent.In terms of Sino-foreign exchange,Jiangnan in the late Ming dynasty was not the area where western missionaries first arrived but was the first place to actively accept and study western knowledge,technology andculture.Second,Jiangnan area in the late Ming dynasty was the most active period and area in China in terms of manufacturing design innovation.From the perspective of craftsmen,with policy reform,their personal freedom was liberated to some extent and their motivation to create upsurged.As domestic and foreign markets had a huge demand,Jiangnan area timely made adjustments and updated in response to the demand,leading the fad of cultural consumption nationwide.“Voguish items”emerged one after another and exquisite items came out in an unending flow with the craftsmanship of keeping on improving;from the angle of gentries,they provided design with a theoretical support while continuing traditional etiquettes.Third,People from all walks of life were plunged into cultural consumption with varying degrees of participation.In the late Ming dynasty,craftsmen had diversified identities,for example,“Confucian craftsman”.It was because there was an extensive involvement of all social strata and a developed network of collection,circulation and consumption of folk cultural relics and implements,market demand accelerated the development of manufacturing design,manufacturing design responded to demands,and collecting and buying behaviors of citizens provided feedback to the manufacturing design market.The manufacturing design of Jiangnan region in late Ming dynasty was the golden age of China since modern times.