Chao's Chinese Antiques

It's true that many pieces have a similar look about them, but the trained eye looks beyond that in judging the worth of a piece - Chinese antique furniture should be judged by the workmanship involved in its origin creation, and its design. Carpenters were constrained by the rules and convention dictated in the lu ban jin (the classic manual for carpentry, as well as architecture) Their challenge was to build a piece using the manual, but yet distinguishable by his own individual trademarks using styles of the times.