The murals of Dunhuang 285 grottoes have two people sitting in a chair image, 257 grottoes mural in the women sitting stool and cross legged benches; These images vividly reproduce the use of chairs and stools in the official aristocratic families in the southern and Northern Dynasties. Although at that time the seats already had the chair, the stool shape, but because it did not have the chair, the stool appellation, people also used to call "the Hu Bed", in the temple, often uses in the meditation, therefore also called the Zen bed. After the Tang Dynasty, the use of chairs gradually increased, the name of the chair was also widely used to separate from the category of the bed. Therefore, the discussion of the origin of chairs and stools must be discussed from the Hu bed of Han and Wei dynasties.

Before the Tang Dynasty "chair" the word also has an explanation, makes "the car side" to speak, namely the car's fence. Its role is that people rely on riding. The later chair, in the form of a four-legged support platform, was fitted with a fence, which was inspired by a car-side fence and used its name to call the seats "chair". Judging from the extant information, the Tang Dynasty has already had the quite exquisite chair.

The Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty, the high type seats unprecedented popularization, the Chair form also many up, appears the backrest chair, the armchair, the chair and so on. At the same time, according to the difference between the pecking order, the shape, material and function of the chair are different.

The furniture of the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty was largely reserved for the Tang, but the high furniture was more popular than before.

The chair is called its ancient and simple, although for many centuries it is a common use state. The chair is present, because at least in the early dynasty period. They are covered with cloth or leather, wood carvings, are far below today's chairs, chair seats are sometimes only 25 centimeters high. The chairs in ancient Egypt seemed to have been enormously rich and splendid. Old-fashioned ebony and ivory-carved and gilded wood, they were covered with expensive materials, ornate patterns and legs of wild beasts or captive figures after the expression of support. Generally speaking, the higher the rank of individual, the higher, the more gorgeous is he sits on the chair, the greater honor. Pharaoh sits on the throne in important occasions in the country, often far from a stool in front of it.