Bawang Cheng (霸王枨): The Giant’s-Arm Brace of Ming Tables
Bawang cheng · Hook-and-wedge brace
A table needs bracing, but stretchers between the legs get in the way of knees and spoil a slender outline. Ming makers had an answer: tuck the bracing up out of sight.
The bawang cheng, the giant’s-arm brace, curves from the inside of each leg up to the underside of the top. Its name pictures a strong arm raised to hold up the sky.
- Chinese
- 霸王枨 · bàwáng chéng
- Joins
- Leg to the batten under the top
- Found in
- Square tables, stools, long tables
- Signature parts
- S-curved brace · hooked dovetail tenon · wedge · pin
- Replaces
- Stretchers between the legs
How it works
An S-shaped arm
The brace starts on the inside corner of the leg, roughly where a stretcher would go, and sweeps up in an S curve to a batten (穿带) under the top. There it is fixed with a wooden pin.
The hook
The lower end carries a tenon shaped like half a dovetail, hooking upward. The mortise in the leg is wide below and narrow above. The tenon goes in through the wide lower part and is pushed up, so it hooks behind the narrow upper part.
The wedge
That leaves a gap underneath. A wooden wedge driven into it stops the tenon dropping back, and the brace can’t be pulled out.
How it's made
Step 1Shape the brace
Cut the brace to an S curve.
Step 2Cut the hooked tenon
Form the lower tenon as half a dovetail, hooking upward.
Step 3Mortise the leg
Cut a mortise in the inner corner of the leg, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.
Step 4Hook it in and wedge it
Insert the tenon through the wide part, push it up to hook, and drive a wedge into the gap below.
Step 5Pin the top end
Fix the top of the brace to the batten under the top with a wooden pin.
Step 6Clear legroom
The table is braced with nothing between the legs.
Variations
Square tables and stools
The classic use: four braces, one per leg.
Long tables
Also found on long tables with slender legs.
Related joints
Long-and-Short Tenons (长短榫)
Two tenons at right angles on the top of a leg: a long one for the long side, a short one for the end.
Baojian Joint (抱肩榫)
The hidden lock behind every waisted Ming table corner: a mitred shoulder, a triangular tenon and a tapered pin.
Sliding Locking Key (走马销)
A dovetailed key planted in one part drops into the wide end of a slot and slides to the narrow end to lock.
Questions
What is a giant’s-arm brace?
An S-curved brace on Ming tables that runs from the inside of each leg to a batten under the top, replacing stretchers between the legs.
How is the lower end fixed?
With a hooked tenon: a half-dovetail pushed up into a mortise that is wide below and narrow above, then locked with a wedge.
Why is it called bawang?
Bawang means an overlord or strongman. The brace looks like a powerful arm raised to hold up the top.