Long Hunyu

The article outlines scientific methods and approaches to studying traditional Chinese cabinet-making, as this sphere of knowledge is definitely lacking in well-grounded ways of interpreting, classifying, and restoring the pieces of furniture being part of cultural. Furniture from the Southwest region of China is selected to be the material for this research. The studies of this aspect are limited by the typological characteristics of the period when the subject-spatial environment was formed by co-natural factors. At the early stages of history the cabinet-maker's attempts at forming the subject-spatial environment were predetermined by natural conditions. These conditions were imposed by the actual state of technology and the existing manual equipment. At the same time, the world picture concerning the cosmic universe organization functioned as another limitation.

The peculiarity of Chinese art and its scientific presentation is bound by a unique historical periodization system, which differs from the one used in Western Europe. The Chinese periodical scale is based on dynastic distribution. In addition, Chinese art theory is greatly influenced by ancestral authentic roots of the culture, as well as history, philosophy and religious provisions of Buddhism. In this regard, a well-organised approach is required to further investigate the ideological grounds of the Chinese artistic and cultural paradigm. More specifically, the principles underlying form design are to be revealed and described, which are bound by the environmental conditions and related householding, on the one hand, and the paradigms of "traditional art" and "folk art", on the other. It is important to evaluate the level of their identity.

The aforementioned criteria persist today due to the stable cultural and archetypal mentality, which is supposed to contribute to studying the subject-spatial environment.