榫卯
An atlas of Chinese joinery
Wood held by geometry, not nails.
Sunmao (榫卯) is the mortise-and-tenon tradition behind Ming furniture. Here each joint is explained from published sources, with structural 3D illustrations and the evidence behind every claim.
Explore the Baojian sunOpen the AtlasKang table, 1600s–1700s. Cleveland Museum of Art, 1964.228 (CC0)
01
Take it apart
Structural 3D illustrations: explode the joint, slice through it, and see which way each part goes in.
02
Understand the sequence
Making sequences derived from the documented structure, with each step tied to its sources.
03
Read the sources
Every fact is cited: Wang Shixiang, the classical texts, and the museum collections.