Laying tradition to rest

Zheijiang native Lu Xiao'e, 82, was faced with a dilemma. Should she sell her most cherished possession that had been her faithful companion for more than half a century - ever since she got married? Or should she forgo the money that could help her daughter build a new house?

The possession in question was her wedding bed, made in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and handed down from her great grandfather-in-law.

A piece of exquisite workmanship, it featured delicate wooden carvings painted in red lacquer and gold.

An antique businessman Zhao Yonggan had been targeting it for several months and with the help of Lu's daughter, finally managed to snap it up last August for 20,000 yuan ($2,600). It is now with his customer in the United States.

In the past in China, social status was said to be partly reflected in the shape of one's bed and its craftsmanship.

As the largest and heaviest item of furniture in the house, the bed required years of effort to create. Nowadays, these ancient beds marked by distinctive designs and craftsmanship have become collectors' items.

Lu's bed, for example, was of a style that can only be found to the south of the Yangtze River, including Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.

According to local tradition, wealthy families would commission the best craftsmen in town to make a bed when a boy was born. Sometimes, the bed would not be completed until the day he got married.

The beds were usually made of pine, Chinese fir, camphor or wood from the gingko tree. Some of these materials were considered to have antiseptic properties, which meant the beds could be preserved for ages, even in the humid south.

Beds in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) had little decoration but they commanded an elegance seldom seen in other periods, as many learned scholars were interested in the designing of furniture during this time.

However, Qing Dynasty rulers, especially emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, wielded a considerable influence over ancient Chinese art. Complicated designs of unprecedented scale were applied widely.

Delicate wooden carvings and paintings flourished. The technical skills reached a high degree of perfection in the late Qing Dynasty.

China has a unique and rich tradition of using symbolic patterns in almost every aspect of daily life. The carvings on the wooden beds often featured characters from classical novels, patterns of plants, flowers, rare birds and animals. All of them were meant to entertain and bless the users.

For instance, the depiction of a magpie (xique in Chinese) singing on a plum tree (mei) illustrates the idiom "xi shang mei shao" - which describes the expression of a person who is smiling because of good fortune.

The ornately carved beds featured a series of adjacent cabinets, each of which was intended for a specific function. In some of the big ones, there was even a mahjong table.

One such bed at the Yangtze River Ancient Bed Museum in Zhejiang has four cabinets, covering more than 6 square meters in all.

Different parts of the bed offered people places to change and store clothes. There is even a cabinet serving as a toilet. The actual sleeping space has a "do-not-disturb" sign to let servants know when to keep away.

Unfortunately, many such beds were destroyed in chaotic times of war and the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). It was also considered inauspicious to keep a bed on which an elderly person of the family passed away. Also, the big bed simply took up too much room.

Due to the rarity of such beds, experts estimate the value of a genuine one to be more than 1 million yuan ($125,000).

Zhao Yonggan began to collect broken pieces of ancient wedding beds in 1970. Though poorly educated, the Zhejiang native is smart with antiques business.

Zhao picked up pieces of old beds in the remote countryside, paying several yuan for each and sold them at more than double the prices to antique shops and collectors in big cities.

The 55-year-old runs the Zhejiang Yonggan Antique Company in Cixi, about two hours' drive from Ningbo, a harbor city in Zhejiang Province.

According to Zhao, ancient wedding beds have gained popularity in the past few years. Besides high-end hotels and tea houses, there is growing demand from many film studios.

Last June, a props manager from Hollywood approached Zhao for a film project in the United States. After searching hard, he heard that Lu Xiao'e had such a bed. But Lu said she would never sell the bed, no matter how much money he offered.

Zhao asked her to consider it again, and even paid several thousand yuan as a deposit. But Lu barely glanced at the table.

Several days later, Lu's elder daughter Lu Guizhen called Zhao, saying she was confident she could persuade her mother.

"It was too big and old-fashioned for the new house we would move into. I thought if it could make a good fortune, it was time to get rid of it and buy a new one," the daughter recalls.

Because of her daughter's persistent effort, Lu eventually agreed to sell. But when Zhao and his porters began to move the bed, the old lady changed her mind.

She leaned silently on the bed, as though her very life was slipping away. Touched by her sadness, Zhao decided to put the sale on hold.

"I was embarrassed by what happened that day. It required more time to persuade my mother," Lu says.

Zhao finally got to cart it off last August. After repairing two damp panels, he delivered it to the United States, while Lu Guizhen moved into her new house with her mother.

As promised, she bought her a new bed. But the old woman remains unhappy.

"She misses her bed more than ever, especially at night. Hearing her sighing, I regret persuading her to sell the bed. I wish I could buy it back and make her happy once again," Lu says wistfully.

(China Daily 07/26/2007 page20)