榫卯Chinese Joinery
中文
Joints

The joints

Every joint comes with a 3D model you can rotate and take apart, plus step-by-step diagrams. More are on the way.

抱肩榫

Baojian Joint

bàojiān sǔn

The hidden lock behind every waisted Ming table corner: a mitred shoulder, a triangular tenon and a tapered pin.

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粽角榫

Zongjiao Joint

zòngjiǎo sǔn

Three members, three 45° mitres, one perfect point: the corner joint of flush-sided tables and cabinets.

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长短榫

Long-and-Short Tenons

chángduǎn sǔn

Two tenons at right angles on the top of a leg: a long one for the long side, a short one for the end.

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格角榫

Mitred Frame Joint

géjiǎo sǔn

The 45° corner of every Chinese frame-and-panel top: a tenon through the end plus a little triangular tongue.

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夹头榫

Elongated Bridle Joint

jiātóu sǔn

The leg top is slotted to clamp the apron and its spandrel heads, then tenons into the top.

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插肩榫

Inserted-Shoulder Joint

chājiān sǔn

The leg is cut to a pointed shoulder that the grooved apron straddles, finishing flush; the heavier the top, the tighter it grips.

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霸王枨

Giant’s-Arm Brace

bàwáng chéng

An S-curved brace from the leg up to the underside of the top, hooked into the leg and locked with a wedge.

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楔钉榫

Wedged Scarf Joint

xiēdīng sǔn

Curved pieces lapped with hooked tips and locked by a tapered key through the middle: how a horseshoe chair arm is built.

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走马销

Sliding Locking Key

zǒumǎ xiāo

A dovetailed key planted in one part drops into the wide end of a slot and slides to the narrow end to lock.

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燕尾榫

Dovetail Joint

yànwěi sǔn

A tenon wider at the tip than at the root, so it can’t pull out: found in boxes, drawers, tables and temple beams.

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穿带

Sliding Dovetail Batten

chuāndài

A tapered dovetail batten driven across the back of a panel, its ends tenoned into the frame: the reason old tabletops stay flat.

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龙凤榫

Longfeng Board Joint

lóngfèng sǔn

A half-dovetail tongue on one board slides into a matching groove in the next, so the seam can neither step nor pull apart.

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银锭榫

Butterfly Key

yíndìng sǔn

A bow-tie key, two dovetails back to back, let in across a seam to lock thick boards together.

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格肩榫

Mitred-Shoulder Joint

géjiān sǔn

Where a rail meets a post, its outer face is cut to a point that fits a matching notch, so mouldings meet cleanly.

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裹腿枨

Wrap-Around Stretcher

guǒtuǐ chéng

Stretchers stand proud of a round leg and meet in a mitre at the corner, imitating bent bamboo.

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托角榫

Corner-Bracket Joint

tuōjiǎo sǔn

The small carved bracket under a table corner: tongued into a groove in the leg and pegged into the apron.

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大进小出榫

Big-In, Small-Out Tenon

dàjìn xiǎochū sǔn

Part blind, part through: a big tenon enters, a small one shows. It lets two stretchers share a leg without weakening it.

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拍抹头

Breadboard End

pāi mǒtóu

A cross-grain strip mitred and tenoned onto the end of a thick board: no end grain shows, and the board resists splitting.

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攒边打槽装板

Frame and Floating Panel

cuánbiān dǎcáo zhuāngbǎn

A mitred frame grooved on the inside, a thin panel with a tongued edge floating in the groove, and battens underneath.

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闷榫

Hidden Mitred Dovetail

mèn sǔn

Dovetails hidden inside a mitred corner: once closed, only a single seam line shows.

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透榫

Through Tenon

tòu sǔn

The tenon runs right through and its end grain shows on the far side: strong, but less neat than a blind tenon.

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半榫

Blind Tenon

bàn sǔn

The tenon stops inside the post, so nothing shows on the outside: neat, a little less strong than a through tenon.

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栽销

Loose Tenon

zāi xiāo

The tenon is a separate piece of wood planted into mortises in both parts, easy to replace if it wears.

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馒头榫

Column-Head Tenon

mántou sǔn

A short square tenon on the column head fits a socket under the beam, so the beam can’t slide off.

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管脚榫

Column-Foot Tenon

guǎnjiǎo sǔn

A short round tenon at the column foot drops into a socket in the stone base, so the column can’t shift.

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箍头榫

Clasping-Head Tenon

gūtóu sǔn

The beam drops into a slot across the column head and runs on past it; the head beyond “clasps” the column.

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挖烟袋锅榫

Pipe-Bowl Joint

wā yāndàiguō sǔn

The rail end turns down and is hollowed from below like a pipe bowl to sit on the post’s tenon: a rounded corner with no projecting end.

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勾挂榫

Hook-and-Wedge Tenon

gōuguà sǔn

A right-trapezoid tenon enters low in a taller mortise, is pushed up so the sloping faces hook, and a wedge fills the gap below.

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飘肩

Flying Shoulder

piāo jiān

Round stretcher flush with a round leg: tenon on the inner half, the outer half a shoulder that “floats” over the curve.

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赶枨

Staggered Stretchers

gǎn chéng

Stretchers from the front and side meet a leg at different heights, so their mortises never weaken it at one spot.

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十字枨

Cross-Halving Joint

shízì chéng

Two members cross, each cut away by half its depth, and drop together flush.

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袖肩燕尾榫

Dovetail with Sleeve Shoulder

xiùjiān yànwěi sǔn

A beam end with a dovetail and a short sleeve shoulder drops into a socket in the column head and can’t be pulled out.

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企口榫

Shiplap Joint

qǐkǒu sǔn

Each board edge keeps half its thickness as a lip; the lips overlap, so the seam never opens straight through.

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套顶榫

Through-Base Tenon

tàodǐng sǔn

A long square tenon at the column foot passes through a hole in the base stone into the foundation below.

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巴掌榫

Palm Splice

bāzhang sǔn

Old column and new foot are each cut to a half-thickness “palm”; the palms overlap, short tenons lock their ends, and iron hoops bind it.

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暗销

Hidden Dowel

àn xiāo

Two lengths meet end to end and a square pin hidden inside the joint keeps them in line: nothing shows outside.

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瓜柱双半榫

Twin Stub Tenons of a Short Post

guāzhù shuāng bàn sǔn

A short post stands on the back of a beam on two blind tenons, its shoulders shaped to the curve of the beam.

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破头楔

Wedged Through Tenon

pòtóu xiē

A kerf is sawn into the end of a through tenon; once the tenon is in, a wedge is driven in and spreads it tight.

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挤楔

Tightening Wedge

jǐ xiē

The tenon is made slightly smaller than the mortise, and a thin tapered wedge is driven into the gap to squeeze the joint tight.

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栽榫拼板

Loose-Tenon Board Joint

zāisǔn pīnbǎn

Thick boards are joined edge to edge with separate straight tenons planted into mortises in both edges.

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矮老

Short Struts

ǎilǎo

Short vertical struts between a stretcher and the member above, tenoned at both ends.

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平口胶合

Plain Glued Edge Joint

píngkǒu jiāohé

Two thick boards with edges planed dead straight on a very long plane, glued face to face: no tenons, no battens.

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明榫角接合

Open Straight-Tenon Corner

míngsǔn jiǎo jiēhé

Straight tenons cut open on the board ends, interlocking at the corner and showing on both faces.

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半隐燕尾榫

Half-Blind Dovetail

bànyǐn yànwěi sǔn

Dovetails on the side board fit sockets that stop short of the front face, so the joint shows on one face only.

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抄手榫

Opposed Tapered Battens

chāoshǒu sǔn

Tapered dovetail battens are driven in from opposite sides, one big end on each side, pulling the board seams tight.

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桁檩燕尾榫

Purlin Dovetail

héng lǐn yànwěi

Where two purlins meet over a beam head, one carries a dovetail half its diameter high that drops into a socket in the other.

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插接榫

Cross Insert Splice

chājiē sǔn

One column length ends in a cross-shaped tenon that plugs into a cross-shaped mortise in the other; iron hoops bind the joint.

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透销

Through Pin

tòu xiāo

A planted pin made long enough to pass right through a heavy apron and into the frame above it.

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柜子底枨两枨互让

Interlocking Cabinet Stretchers

guìzi dǐchéng hùràng

Front and side bottom stretchers meet the leg at the same height: one keeps the lower half of its tenon through, the other the upper half.

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齐肩膀

Square Shoulder

qí jiānbǎng

A T-joint with a shoulder cut straight across, no mitre: used where rail and leg are not flush.

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腿足与托泥

Leg and Base Frame

tuǐzú yǔ tuōní

The base frame is mitred at each corner; at the seam a socket wide at the bottom takes a matching tenon on the foot, and the frame is assembled around it.

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四面平结构

Flush-Sided Corner

sìmiàn píng

No waist: the leg is mitred right under its long-and-short tenons, and a half-dovetail pin on each face hooks the apron, so leg, apron and top all lie flush.

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方材闷榫角接合

Hidden Mitre With a Loose Block

fāngcái mènsǔn jiǎo jiēhé

Both members are cut to 45°, a socket is cut in each mitre face, and a rectangular block is glued into both: only a mitre line shows.

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螳螂头榫

Mantis-Head Splice

tángláng tóu sǔn

One member ends in a narrow neck and a wide “mantis head”, cut through its full depth; it drops from above into a matching socket in the next member, so the two cannot be pulled apart.

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