Tenon and Mortise: The Joints of Eastern and Western Timber Civilizations

Mortise and tenon joints present different solutions in different cultural contexts and when facing different task challenges. Comparing mortise and tenon structures in Europe, Japan, and China, European joints emphasize structure while East Asian joints emphasize construction: European mortise and tenon joints, with basic elements and simple combinations, satisfy diverse structural relationships and angular connections; East Asian mortise and tenon joints, within a predominantly horizontal and vertical structural system, have explored extremely rich and even complex compositional combinations. Thus, mortise and tenon joints reflect a fundamental difference between Eastern and Western civilizations: in terms of thinking logic, Europe solves problems through "analysis" while East Asia emphasizes "homomorphic" integrated solutions; in terms of aesthetic pursuit, Europe is flamboyant and outwardly expressive while East Asia is subtle and restrained. This book uses mortise and tenon joints as "joints" to connect the meridians of Eastern and Western timber-frame civilizations. As the author says, "I want to use some stars to signify a universe."