Upon his accession to the throne, Chu Yuan-chang, or Emperor Taitsu of the Ming Dynasty, instructed his Confucian officials to refer to the ancient orthodoxies and re-establish rites when the officials dictated comprehensive and stringent systems and regulations governing the respective clothing, housing and utensils, they made distinction between the prestige of the monarchy and different social classes. Starting from the middle Ming Dynasty, however, the residence of the gentry and merchant classes gradually breached the regulations stipulated in the early Ming laws due to they lived in growing prosperity. Magnificent, splendid buildings with a beautiful garden, forest and pavilions began to emerge in negligence of the rites and regulations. Some insightful intellectuals were concerned about the danger that the extravagant trend might pose to the nation. They constantly called for modesty and mocked those impressive and complicated constructions as "wooden monster". This circumstance resulted in struggles and conflicts between two streams-one pursued luxury whereas the other advocated simplicity-inlate Ming. Consequently, a unigue style of living culture of the Ming took shape.
