On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:51:57 -0500, "Bob" wrote:

Some of these joints look more like puzzle maker challenges that functional
joints - as if the woodworker was trying to come up with cute way to join
things just to be creative. Of course, I have not studies these at all. In
your studies, did ascertain that some of these rather complicated looking
joints actually performed in a superior way or overcame some particular
problem that more conventional joinery could not?

A lot of traditional Chinese joinery was glue-less, because
traditional glues didn't always survive their climate. So joints
became more complex.

John