Cultural history hands-on through study of Qing-era bed

In fall of 2022, Zhao Ma presented his students with a rare, hands-on experience to study cultural history up close, from furniture assembly to 3D modeling, through his acquisition of an elaborately crafted 19th-century Chinese bed. Ma, associate professor of modern Chinese history and culture in Arts & Sciences, and his students assembled the Qing-era bed in Brookings Quadrangle on Washington University’s campus. 

Despite being destined for one of the most private spaces of the home, a marriage bed constructed during the Qing era (1644-1911) served an important public function as a display of wealth and status. Beds told an important story about a family’s religious, social, and economic role in society.

In a museum, you only can see what the curator wants you to see, right in front of the glass panel that separates you from the display. But here, students see the bed from different angles, curating their own perspective. Getting close to an object like that reveals the secrets of the craftsmanship and design process.

Zhao Ma, associate professor of modern Chinese history and culture in Arts & Sciences

Xinyue Gao, a doctoral student in Chinese language and literature and a member of Ma’s research team, says that observing and touching the bed let students move past the textual evidence, such as historical records, that they normally use in cultural history classrooms.

In addition to giving current students an opportunity for hands-on construction and up-close analysis, Ma received a grant from the Humanities Digital Workshop to work with the Caleres Fabrication Studio in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts to create a 3D model of the bed for future classroom use. Students can scan each component, creating a model that others will be able to manipulate in future iterations of Ma’s Chinese civilization course.

Eventually, Ma would like to donate the bed to a museum for permanent display. For now, the bed will remain a highly valued teaching tool that captivates and inspires students in new and exciting ways. 

We combine various digital tools (e.g. Python and HTML parsing, photogrammetry, digital storytelling and digital cartography) with more “conventional” humanistic research methods such as textual analysis and archival research to facilitate a cultural history dedicated to topics such as craftsmanship, intimacy and interior design, dowery and nuptials, and trade and cultural exchanges between China and America. 

Zhao Ma, associate professor of modern Chinese history and culture in Arts & Sciences