The Chinese Furniture Museum () or China's Furniture Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

Taoyuan District Taoyuan District (), formerly known as Taoyuan City () prior to the establishment of the special municipality of Taoyuan in 2014, is a district of Taoyuan City in northwestern Taiwan. The municipal seat of Taoyuan City is situated within its bor ...

Taoyuan City Taoyuan () is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan) located in northwestern Taiwan, neighboring New Taipei City to the north-east, Yilan County, Taiwan, Yilan County to the south-e ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. The museum's purpose is to continue and promote the culture of traditional

Chinese furniture The forms of Chinese furniture evolved along three distinct lineages which dates back to 1000 BC, based on ''frame and panel'', ''yoke and rack'' (based on post and rail seen in architecture) and ''bamboo'' construction techniques. Chinese ...

and to coordinate with the forest resources of Taoyuan City and the quality traditional furniture craftsmanship of

Daxi District Daxi District (), formerly known as Daxi Township (), is a district in eastern Taoyuan City, Taiwan. In March 2012, it was named one of the ''Top 10 Small Tourist Towns'' by the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan. History The Daxi area was occupied ...

History

The idea for the museum was originally established by the suggestion of the Minister of

Council for Cultural Affairs The Ministry of Culture (MOC, ) is the ministry of the Republic of China (Taiwan) that promotes cultural and creative industries. The ministry also maintains thNational Repository of Cultural Heritage History Established in 1981 by Executive Y ...

Chen Chi-lu Chen Chi-lu (; 27 April 1923 – 6 October 2014) was a Taiwanese politician, historian and anthropologist. He was the first Minister of the Council for Cultural Affairs, taking office in 1981 and serving until 1988. Education and early career ...

after an inspection tour around Taiwan in 1984 to visit all of the cultural centers around the island. The construction of the museum started in September 1996 in three phases due to budget considerations. The phase one construction mainly focused on the special exhibitions of traditional Chinese furniture and furniture made in Daxi. The phase two construction focused on the furniture in early Taiwanese life and the traditional art furniture making. And the phase three construction focused on the peripheral facilities to the museum and space for research. All of the construction works were completed in December 1992.

Architecture

The museum is located on the basement level inside the Cultural Affairs Bureau of

Taoyuan City Government The Taoyuan City Government (TYCG; ) is the municipal government of Taoyuan, Taiwan. History Originally established as Taoyuan County, the county was upgraded to Taoyuan City on 25 December 2014. Organization * Department of Civil Affairs * De ...

occupying an area of 900 m².

Exhibitions

Exhibition Room I

Exhibition Room I houses the special exhibitions on traditional Chinese furniture and furniture made in Daxi. The exhibitions include the terminology, chronicle of the evolution of furniture, furniture in ancient paintings and buildings, revered master craftsmen, characteristics of traditional furniture, the making of furniture, types of traditional Chinese furniture, traditional Taiwanese furniture, special exhibition on traditional furniture from Daxi, prospects and market expansion.

Exhibition Room II

Exhibition Room II houses traditional Taiwanese furniture and traditional furniture production techniques. The room is divided into the ''Main Entrance and Courtyard'', the ''Kitchen and Dining Room'', the ''Study and Accounting Office'', the ''Ancestor Worship Room'', the ''Bedroom'', ''Furniture for Reference'' and ''Making of Traditional Furniture''. The peripheral of the museum includes the audio visual showing room, the library, the research area etc.

References