風格的概念極為紛歧,使得人們常難以觀照風格的全面性意義,甚至易造成對風格做錯誤判別。本文主旨便從風格理論文獻中歸納風格的構面與內涵,並以明代靠背椅做為研究對象,來檢驗所歸納的構面與內涵是否確實能增進對明代靠背椅的認識,以及分析出它的普遍與獨有的風格。因此,本研究以歷史研究法和內容分析法,兼以質和量的分析來達成研究目的。研究結果顯示:1.風格的成因含有背景因素之時間和空間,以及構成因素的形式和內容等構面;2.有十三項典型的構件式樣可增進對明代靠背椅的普遍風格做認識,而聯幫棍和「S」型的靠背板可能是明代靠背椅所發展出的獨有風格。本研究建議:1.風格的研究取向,不只有普遍的和獨有的風格,還有特例的風格值得探究;2.明式家具的風格研究,還有很大的空間與議題值得深究。
There exists no common consensus on the concept of style. The complexity of its meaning often leads to misinterpretation. This study reviews the literature on the theory of style and identifies the structures and elements that influence style. Using side and arm chairs of the Ming Dynasty as examples, this study examines whether the structures and elements identified can help us gain a better understanding of their design and unique characteristics. Both historical research and content analysis approaches are applied for our qualitative and quantitative analyses. Our results reveal that (1) the elements of style include the space and time of background factors as well as the form and content of the structures, and (2) side and arm chairs of the Ming Dynasty shared a common style of 13 typical assembly parts, while the side posts and S-shaped back were their distinctive features. Future research on style should focus not only on universal or special characteristics, but also probe in unique cases with idiosyncratic features. There is much room for further exploration of Ming-style furniture.