The China Furniture Exhibition has learned that many court treasures and classical furniture in the Palace Museum collection were all made by the Zaobanchu (Imperial Workshop), the exclusive royal craft institution of the Qing Dynasty. As the core department overseeing the design, production, and repair of Qing court artifacts, the Zaobanchu gathered the nation's top craftsmen, creating the "Neiting Gongzao" (Respectfully Made for the Inner Court) style characterized by exquisite materials, superb craftsmanship, and elegant taste. It became the core cradle of Chinese court furniture and traditional craftsmanship, witnessing the ultimate pursuit of ancient royal craftsmanship and the inheritance and iteration of millennia-old artisan skills.

There are two records in historical materials regarding the establishment time of the Qing Dynasty Zaobanchu. The industry mainstream recognizes the 19th year of Kangxi's reign as the initial founding node. At that time, the Imperial Household Department, to meet the emperor's needs for scientific research and craft creation, established the Zaobanchu in bungalows around the Hall of Mental Cultivation (Yangxindian), specifically creating various imperial artifacts for the royal family. As court consumption needs continued to rise, the original site and scale could no longer adapt to production needs. In the 30th year of Kangxi's reign, the Zaobanchu was entirely relocated to the tea and food quarters south of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility (Cininggong), occupying 151 rooms with greatly expanded scale, while the institution name remained as the Yangxindian Zaobanchu. This institution was subordinate to the Imperial Household Department and directly controlled by the emperor, serving as a comprehensive imperial workshop exclusive to the royal family. At its peak, it had over 40 specialized workshops covering multiple categories such as gold and jade, enamel, clocks and watches, glass, furnace casting, and woodwork, recruiting top craftsmen from all over the country such as Suzhou carvers and northern furnace casters, forming a professional and refined court craft production system. Unlike ordinary manufacturing institutions, the Zaobanchu had dual functions of both design and production. From drawing finalization, craft debugging to finished product delivery, the entire process was personally reviewed and modified by the emperor, forging the unified, regular, and exquisitely crafted characteristics of court craftsmanship, forming a sharp distinction from folk crafts.

The institutional system and functional structure of the Qing Dynasty Zaobanchu deeply inherited the Ming Dynasty court craft system, and its predecessor was the Yuyongjian (Imperial Use Supervisor), one of the Twenty-Four Yamen of the Ming Dynasty. The early Ming Yuyongjian underwent multiple institutional adjustments and was finally finalized in the 28th year of Hongwu's reign, exclusively responsible for the production and supply of various imperial artifacts such as imperial folding screens, hardwood furniture, ivory, and mother-of-pearl inlay. At the same time, institutions such as the Neiguanjian (Internal Official Supervisor) and Sishejian (Ritual Implement Supervisor) assisted in undertaking the production of jewelry, ceremonial displays, and other items. Among them, the Yuyongjian was the core institution whose functions most closely matched the Qing Dynasty Zaobanchu. The Ming court always valued the exquisite production of artifacts. Emperor Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao, was particularly proficient in woodworking skills, personally designing and improving furniture structures, and creating portable and exquisite folding furniture. His superb craftsmanship impressed professional craftsmen, sufficiently proving the Ming court's ultimate pursuit of craft details and artifact quality, and also laying a solid foundation for the craft system of the Qing Dynasty Zaobanchu.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the pass (Shanhai Pass), it continued the Ming Dynasty's workshop division of labor and craftsman recruitment mechanism, continuing the folk craftsman management system of selecting excellent materials and graded service, while completing system innovation combined with the needs of imperial power control, achieving the optimization and upgrading of the craft system. Compared with the Ming Dynasty's model of decentralized production by multiple institutions, the Qing Dynasty centralized the production, repair, and display of various court artifacts under the unified management of the Zaobanchu, subordinate to the ministers of the Imperial Household Department, completely avoiding the hidden danger of eunuch interference in politics, with a more centralized and efficient management system. The three emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong participated in the Zaobanchu far more than Ming monarchs, deeply intervening in the entire process of product design, craft standards, and quality control acceptance, truly the "chief designers" of court craftsmanship. Emperor Yongzheng, due to vision problems, specifically issued decrees to customize imperial glasses adapted to different times of day, cumulatively customizing 35 pairs, distributed throughout the palace for immediate use. Emperor Qianlong was extremely strict about the craft standards of imperial artifacts, personally reviewing waist knife drawings, and severely punishing supervising craftsmen for substandard finished materials and craft defects, requiring rework. The extremely strict quality control standards forged the top quality of Qing palace artifacts. The strict material selection standards and craft requirements also earned the Zaobanchu the folk nickname "Zoubenchu" (Beating the Stupid Place), where only craftsmen with top skills and meticulous minds could serve, fully demonstrating the high threshold and high standard of royal craftsmanship.

From its founding during the Kangxi era to its closure in 1924 with the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Zaobanchu spanned over two hundred years, continuously creating various furniture, artifacts, and display treasures for the court, accumulating a profound heritage of Chinese court craftsmanship. Later Palace Museum archaeological research confirmed that the old site of the Zaobanchu is a historical relic of superimposed architecture from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, witnessing the continuation and innovation of court craftsmanship over centuries. From the Ming Dynasty Yuyongjian to the Qing Dynasty Zaobanchu, although the institutional structure underwent several changes, the royal artisan philosophy of exquisite creation and ultimate refinement was passed down in one continuous line. The China Furniture Exhibition comments that its surviving heirloom artifacts such as huanghuali (yellow rosewood), zitan (purple sandalwood), enamel, and wood carvings combine both literati elegance and court luxury, not only representing the highest level of ancient Chinese furniture and traditional craftsmanship, but also enabling the Chinese creation aesthetics of striving for excellence and pursuing the ultimate to be passed down from generation to generation.

Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7677410686544249394/?channel=&source=news