Towards a Cross-Cultural Hybridisation: An Exploration of Furniture Design and Advertising in Shanghai, China (1912-1949)

ABSTRACT

This paper uses furniture advertisements to explore interactions between Eastern and Western design forms in semi-colonial Shanghai during the Republic of China (1912–1949).¹ By analysing historical advertisements during this period, it identifies three distinct trends in furniture design that integrated Eastern and Western influences in an innovative manner, reflecting, to varying degrees, a “cross-cultural hybridization” of forms.² The first trend celebrated Western design, which was introduced to Shanghai during its colonisation in the late Qing Dynasty (1845–1912), rendering it in traditional Chinese materials and construction techniques. The second trend, which aligned with the anti-imperial sentiment of Shanghai society after the founding of the Republic of China, celebrated local craftsmanship either by referencing traditional Chinese furniture design, or highlighting local production. These two trends led to the creation of a truly integrative third trend, the “Modeng” style, which blended Eastern and Western design elements and became a hallmark of Shanghai design and culture after the 1930s. Overall, by tracing the evolving trends of Shanghai furniture design, this article enhances our comprehension of the intricate relationship between Western cultural influences and local adaptations and integrations, highlighting how furniture advertisements reflected Shanghai’s unique cultural context.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The period of study, 1912–1949, is a commonly used timeframe for research within the Chinese academic community, which refers to as the Republican era), prior to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. However, it is worth noting British colonialism in Shanghai was ended in 1945.

2. Earl Tai, “Decolonizing Shanghai: Design and Material Culture in the Photographs of Hu Yang,” Design Issues 25, no. 3 (2009), 30–43, 42.

3. Peng Zhang and Yijiao Yang, “Transplantation to Localisation: The Importation of Western Structural Technologies in Modern Shanghai Architecture Based on a Study of the Bund Buildings, 1843–1943,” Built Heritage 3, no. 1 (2019), 3–13. Jiang Wu, A History of Shanghai Architecture 1840–1949 (Shanghai bainian jianzhu shi 1840–1949), 2nd ed. (Shanghai: Tongji daxue chubanshe, 2008). Arif Dirlik, “Architectures of Global Modernity, Colonialism and Places,” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 17, no. 1 (2005).

4. The term furniture is called “jiaju” in Chinese, but it is also referred to as “muqi” in traditional Chinese language, which literally translated as “woodwork”

5. The number of furniture advertisements included in the Index of National News Papers and Journals database jumped from 327 between 1890 and 1899 to 1225 between 1900 and 1909. The number of advertisements peaked between 1940 and 1949 at 4505.

6. The database includes The News, The News Local Supplement, and Ta Kung Pao – three widespread and influential newspapers based in Shanghai.

7. Yushu Chen, “Study on the Styles of Chinese Furniture in the 20th Century” (20 Shiji Zhongguo Jiaju Yishu Fengge Jiedu) (dissertation, Nanjing Forestry University, 2008). Ming Chen, “Study on the Development of Processing Technology and Equipment of Chinese Furniture Industry in the 20th Century” (20 Shiji Zhongguo Jiaju Jiagong Jishu Yu Shebei Fazhan Yanjiu) (dissertation, Nanjing Forestry University, 2011). Zhouzhou Ouyang, “Fusion and Creation of Chinese Culture in Shanghai Style Furniture” (Zhongxifang Wenhua Zai Haipai Jiaju Zhong De Ronghe Yu Chuangxin) (dissertation, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, 2015). Note: The Chinese dissertations were double blind and peer-reviewed; they are deemed as reliable sources.

8. While previous research has examined a limited number of physical artefacts and technical drawings from the Republic of China era, scholars have paid little attention to the advertisements that were targeted towards manufacturers, dealers, clients, and the emerging middle class. The proposed research aims to address this gap in the literature by conducting a comprehensive analysis of historical advertisements of Shanghai furniture during the Republican period. See: Chen, “Study on the Styles of Chinese,” 110–111.

9. Tai, “Decolonizing Shanghai,” 42.

10. The photographs document portraits of Shanghai inhabitants in their homes, which were taken by Hu Yang from 2004 to 2005. Tai, “Decolonizing Shanghai”

11. Meltem O. Gurel, “Consumption of Modern Furniture as a Strategy of Distinction in Turkey,” Journal of Design History 22, no. 1 (2009), 47–67. Charlotte Benton, “From Tubular Steel to Bamboo: Charlotte Perriand, the Migrating Chaise-Longue and Japan,” Journal of Design History, 11, no. 1 (1998), 31–58. Johan Lagae, “Nomadic Furniture in the ‘Heart of Darkness,’” The Politics of Furniture: Identity, Diplomacy and Persuasion in Postwar Interiors, October 2017, 15–32.

12. Isabella Jackson, Shaping Modern Shanghai: Colonialism in China’s Global City (Cambridge University Press, 2019). See also: Cécile Armand, “Shaping Modern Shanghai: Colonialism in China’s Global City by Isabella Jackson,” Twentieth-Century China, 43: 3 (2018).

13. Leo Ou-fan Lee, Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930–1945 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 2001).

14. Tai, “Decolonizing Shanghai”

15. Chen, “Study on the Styles of Chinese,” 22.

16. Marie-Claire Bergere, Shanghai China’s Gateway to Modernity, trans. Janet Lloyd (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2010).

17. Tai, “Decolonizing Shanghai,” 42.

18. Shanghai’s population was above 3,808,000 in 1937. See: “Shanghai population: more than 3,808,000, an increase of 260,000 over the previous year (Shanghai Renkou: Sanbai Bashi Wan Baqian Yu, Jiao Shangnian Zengjia Ershiliu Wan). Panshi Magazine (Panshi Zazhi), February 1, 1937, 47.

19. The middle class in Shanghai had access to better educational resources and stable jobs, and they became the major consumers in the Republican society. They started to pursue higher levels of aesthetic tastes, which in turn influenced various types of industry. See: Yingying Zhao, “The Rise of Cinemas in Shanghai (1897–1934): A Study Focus on Film Exhibitors, the Middle Class, Petty Bourgeois and Females” (Shanghai Dianyingyuan De Xingqi 1897–1934: Yi Fangyingshang, Zhongchan Jieceng, Xiaoshimin He Nvxing Wei Zhongxin De Kaocha) (dissertation, East China Normal University, 2017), 37–38.

20. From the pictures, the descriptions, and the prices of the furniture shown in the advertisements, it is evident that the furniture is positioned for the middle class. For example, the image of a woman wearing a Qipao in the advertisement of Diaward Steel Furniture Co. shows an image of the Shanghai middle class. See: Diaward Steel Furniture Co, “Chrome furniture” (Keluomi Jiaju), The News, Jun 14, 1948, Index of National News Papers and Journals.

21. Advertisement reflects the societal values, aspirations, and desires that characterised this era, providing rich information that allow us to delve deeper into the evolving design trends and consumer culture of Shanghai during the Republic Era. Runian Wang, “Advertisements in the Declaration and the Consumerist Ideology of Shanghai Citizens: A Study of Advertisements in the Declaration in the 1920s and 1930s” (dissertation, Shanghai Normal University, 2004).

22. This research starts with a search for advertisements in the three newspapers using terms of “jiaju” and “muqi,” both means furniture. After being familiar with the sources and learning about how furniture is typically promoted, the codes are: Western, Western-style, foreign, British, American, Chinese, locally made products, old-fashioned, hongmu, Modeng, streamlined, artistic, latest, and uniqueness. Additionally, this research manually eliminates the advertisements that mention the term “furniture” without promoting furniture. For example, job posting advertisement for a furniture company will be eliminated.

23. The total number of advertisements that contain “furniture” from the database is 7720. The number of advertisements that contain at least one code relevant to the three trends is 1044. After manual screening process, the final number of the advertisements for analysing is 702. See: footnote 20.

24. Zhuyu Wang, “Modern” (Modeng), China Pictorial (Zhonghua Huabao), June 9, 1931, 1. See also: Edward Denison, Architecture and the Landscape of Modernity in China before 1949 (London: Routledge, 2017).

25. Shangjun Cheng, “What Qualifies as Modern Furniture” (Zenyang Caipei Chengwei Modeng Jiaju), The Style of Art (Yi Feng), 1933, 54–55.

26. This sentence builds on Tai’s contention that Shanghai’s material culture is more complicated than “coloniser-colonised” narrative. Tai, “Decolonizing Shanghai,” 42.

27. Wu, A History of Shanghai Architecture. Bergere, Shanghai China’s Gateway to Modernity.

28. For example, the Family Lives of Rong Zongjing, Sheng Xuanhuai and Zhang Shiming, Eminent Persons in Modern China. Luxia Song and Nanchen Zhang, The Zhang Jiajing Family (Xishuo Zhangjingjiang Jiazu), (Shanghai, China: Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 2014), 8–9.

29. Chunyao Liu and Erin Cunningham, “Capturing the Haipai Spirit: Garden Villa Interiors and the Preservation of Prada Rong Zhai,” Journal of Interior Design, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1177/10717641231155084.

30. At that time, local furniture making in Shanghai was still in the form of handmade crafts in carpentry workshops. Dehui Yang, “Shanghai Business Featured Western-Style Wood Industry Wood Manufacturing,” Business Monthly 19, no. 10 (1939), 5–6.

31. The Chinese names are: Fu Long Kang Waiguo Muqi (Fook Hong Loong), Shanghai Renchang Yanghuo Muqi Hao (Shanghai House Furnishing Co.,) and Shentai Wujin Yanghuo Muqi Hao (Shen Tai.) “Foreign Woodware Companies” in Chinese is “Waiguo Muqi Hao” and “Western Goods Woodware Companies” is “Yanghuo Muqi Hao.” See: Shanghai Renchang Foreign Cargo Woodenware Company, “An Advertisement of Shanghai Renchang Foreign Cargo Woodenware Company” (Shanghai Renchang Yanghuo Muqihao Guanggao), The News, December 9, 1919, Index of National News Papers and Journals.

32. Based on manual calculations, these furniture dealers were among the top five in terms of the highest number of advertisements published in local newspapers.

33. Chun Tai & Son Furniture Company, “Chun Tai & Son Furniture Company” (Maoquantai Muqi Gongsi), The News, Jan 10, 1936, Index of National News Papers and Journals.

34. This image is a historical drawing whose signature is written in Chinese but hard to identify.

35. Design Galleries of Jinghua Woodcraft Manufacturing in 1947. See: Chen, “Study on the Styles of Chinese,” 93.

36. Bergere, Shanghai China’s Gateway to Modernity. See also: Leo Ou-fan Lee, “Shanghai Modern: Reflections on Urban Culture in China in the 1930s,” Public Culture 11, no. 1 (1999), 75–107, https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-11-1-75.

37. Zhenchu Mao, “Overview of the National Goods Movement” (Guohuo Yundong Gaishu), Social Monthly (Shehui Yuekan), March 1931, 1–7.

38. This exhibition was organised by the Shanghai Women’s Youth Association, with its board of directors primarily composed of the wives of prominent industrialists. For instance, Mrs. Mao Yunqin, the wife of Jin Longzhang, the chief engineer of the Yunnan Textile Factory at the time, was among its members. See: “Board of Directors” (Ben Dongshihui), Shanghai YWCA National Products Exhibition, 1911.

39. “Origin of Shanghai YWCA National Products Exhibition” (Shanghai Nvqingnianhui Guohuo Zhanlanhui Yuanqi), Shanghai YWCA National Products Exhibition, 1911, 4.

40. “Introduction to Domestic Furniture Products” (Guochan Jiaju Yongpin Jieshao), Chinese National Goods Production and Sales Association Weekly Report (Zhonghua Guohuo Chanxiao Xiehui Meizhou Huibao), 2: 45, (1936), 1.

41. Kai Wang, “Opening of the National Exhibition: Shanghai Government Showroom Attached to the National Exhibition Site” (Guohuo Zhanlanhui Kaimu: Guozhan Huichang Nei Fushe Chenlieshi Zhi Neiwaiguan), The Young Companion (Liangyou), November 1928, 12.

42. “News of national goods: Shanghai national goods community planning to promote the production and marketing of national goods” (Guohuo Xiaoxi Guohuojie Chouhua Tuijin Guohuo Chanxiao), National Goods Annual (Guohuo Niankan), 1936, 56–58.

43. Various industrial and commercial sectors of Shanghai reached a consensus to save the national economy by promoting domestic products. Furniture merchants promoted domestically made products by using advertisement headlines like “One of the Disadvantages of Purchasing Western-style Furniture.” See: “Chinese Goods news: Shanghai Chinese Goods Sector Plans to Promote National Products” (Guohuo Xiaoxi: Hu Guohuojie Chouhua Tuijin Guohuo Chanxia), Yearbook of National Products (Guohuo Niankan), 1936, 56–58. See also: Sean You Zoo & Co., Ld., “One of the Disadvantages of Purchasing Western-style Furniture” (Gouyong Xishi Jiaju De Yige Quedian), The News, March 16, 1924, Index of National News Papers and Journals.

44. Shengnan Hao, “The Western Style and Wu-Yue Style in the Haipai Furniture” (Haipai Jiaju Zhong De Xifang Wenhua Yu Wuyue Fengyun) (dissertation, Nanjing Normal University, 2019), 35–45.

45. Binggen Wang and Xiaoxia Chen, “Study and Development of Ningbo-style Furniture” (Chuantong Ningbo Jiaju De Yanjiu Yu Fazhan), Furniture and interior design (Jiaju Yu Shinei Zhuangshi) 2, (2009), 24–25. Lihua Zhou, “Study on the Cultural Spirit of Su-style Furniture” (Suzuo Jiaju De Wenhua Jingshen), Furniture and interior design (Jiaju Yu Shinei Zhuangshi) 2, (2019), 22–23.

46. Li Zeng, “A Study on the Development of Wood Furniture in Modern Shanghai” (Jindai Shanghai Mujiaju Fazhan Yanjiu) (dissertation, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, 2004), 33.

47. “Comparison of Chinese and Western Furniture” (Zhongxi Jiaju Bijiao), Entertainment (Yule), 1936, 495.

48. It’s worth noting that the promotion of traditional Chinese furniture in Shanghai had a distinct essence compared to the increasing fascination with oriental furniture in a Western context during the same era. The Western sale of Eastern goods, as seen in British stores like Liberty, Whiteley’s, and Debenham and Freebody, was often linked to Western economic and cultural dominance or perceived superiority. In contrast, in Shanghai, the promotion of traditional Chinese furniture were driven by a desire to deviate from Western-centric imperialism and colonisation. See: Sarah Cheang, “Selling China: Class, Gender and Orientalism at the Department Store,” Journal of Design History, 20: 1 (2007): 1–16.

49. “The New Voice of National Goods Modern to be Nationalised,” Enquirer’s Monthly Magazine, 12 (1931): 1.

50. Diaward Steel Furniture Co, “How to Save Our Country!” The News, October 7, 1931, Index of National News Papers and Journals.

51. Chunyan Zhang, “Diaward Steel Furniture Co. and the ‘Anonymous’ Bauhaus” (Dahua Tiechang Yu Niming De Baohaosi), New Arts (Xin Meishu), 40: 11 (2019): 54–60.

52. Diaward Steel Furniture Company” (Dahua Tiechang), Weekly Report of the China National Products Production and Marketing Association (Zhonghua Chanxiao Xiehui Meizhou Huibao), 1936.

53. Tai, “Decolonizing Shanghai”

54. Note: “Modeng was never used in conjunction with zhuyi to imply modernism.” See: Edward Denison, Architecture and the Landscape of Modernity in China before 1949 (London: Routledge, 2017), 50. Another saying is that “modeng” was first used in 1928 by Tian Han, who was the chief editor for central daily newspaper. See: Denison, Architecture and the Landscape of Modernity in China, 65.

55. Desheng Ding, “Talk about Modernity” (Xianhua Modeng), New Voice Journal (Xinsheng Huikan), 1911, 6.

56. “The new voice of national goods Modern to be nationalized” (Guohuo Xinsheng: Modeng Yao Guohuohua), Enquirer’s Monthly Magazine (Tongwen Yuekan), 1931.

57. Fazhang Lv, “Modern: The Relationship between Education and Human Growth,” Special Issue of Central Daily News, 1 (1928): 23–24.

58. He Ruo, “About Modern Girl” (Lun Modeng Nvlang), Times Youth (Shidai Qingnian), 1930, 2.

59. Shangjun Cheng, “What Qualifies as Modern Furniture” (Zenyang Caipei Chengwei Modeng Jiaju), The Style of Art (Yi Feng), 1933, 54–55.

60. Yuxi Zhou, “A Neglected Pioneer of Modern Chinese Design: The Textual Research on Zhong Huang and Studio d’Art” (Bei Maimo De Zhongguo Xiandai Sheji Xianqu: Zhonghuang Jiqi Jianzhu Zhuangshi Gongsi Kao), Art & Design (Zhuangshi), 318 (October 2019): 80–83.

61. Shui Ming Chang Furniture Company. The News, September 19, 1935, Index of National News Papers and Journals.

62. Modeng furniture might include traditional Chinese imageries such as peony flowers, plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and pomegranate, which were commonly found in Jiangnan furniture to add auspicious meaning. Hao, “The Western Style and Wu-Yue Style in the Haipai Furniture,” 40.

63. “Daifan” is not a common term that is used currently - it means “dai,” - literally translated as dull, and “fan” - a negative way of saying complicated. See: Shennanchang Furniture Company, “All Mahogany Furniture Modern Room Appliances Chic and Innovative Big Sale for One Month” (Quanbu Hongmu Jiaju Modeng Fangjian Qiju Shiyang Biezhi Xinying Dajianjia Yiyue), The News Local Supplement, April 27, 1936, Index of National News Papers and Journals.

64. The Chinese terms are “liti” (geometric,) “meishu” (artistic,) and “liuxian” (streamlined.) See: King Shun Hing Company, “The new furniture bed of the artful” (Meishuhua De Xinjiaju), The News, January 22, 1939. See also: Shennanchang Furniture Company, “All Mahogany Furniture.”

65. Shengnan Hao, “The Western Style and Wu-Yue Style in the Haipai Furniture,” 45.

66. The diagonal or chevron patterns might be pulled from Zigzag Moderne, which some scholars viewed as one of the three major decorative sub-styles of Art Deco. The three sub-styles are Zigzag Moderne, Classical Moderne, and Streamline Moderne. See: Roberta Katheryn Allwright, “Special Interest: Art Deco: Its History and Influence on Architecture” (dissertation, California State University Dominguez Hills, 1997).

67. Yuxi Zhou, “A Neglected Pioneer of Modern Chinese Design: The Textual Research on Zhong Huang and Studio d’Art” (Bei Maimo De Zhongguo Xiandai Sheji Xianqu: Zhonghuang Jiqi Jianzhu Zhuangshi Gongsi Kao), Art & Design (Zhuangshi), 318 (October 2019): 80–83.

68. Tai, “Decolonizing Shanghai,” 43.

69. Leo Ou-fan Lee, Shanghai Modern: The Flowering of a New Urban Culture in China, 1930–1945 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 2001).

70. Leo Ou-fan Lee, Shanghai Modern, 327–328.