As traditional Chinese architecture relied heavily on woodwork, master carpenters were in great demand. The Treatise on Architectural Methods published by the imperial court of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) divided wood crafting and craftsmen into the categories of "large" and "small". "Large" carpenters were responsible for the fundamental framework, beams, rafters and columns; "small" carpenters for doors and gates, windows, stairways, screen walls, ceilings and roofs. It is these "small" details that distinguish the architectural features of various dynasties.

    In feudal China, the door – or to be more precise, the gateway to a courtyard house – signified the social status of a residence and its owner. Each dynasty specified the style of gateway appropriate to different ranks of officials. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), for example, stipulated that gateways to residences of officials of the sixth-to-ninth rank be single-bay with three doorframes and black-painted door panels with iron ring handles.

    The Hanging Flower Gate, also known as the second gate, separated the inner and outer courtyards. The outer courtyard was usually reserved for social functions, and the inner courtyard enclosed the more private living quarters. The Hanging Flower Gate is so named for the floral carvings that hang over the cross beam of the outer doorframe.

    Windows were an important aesthetical element of ancient architecture. In addition to letting in daylight they acted as a frame for vistas of natural scenery. Wooden window frames, painstakingly carved in patterns including auspicious figurines and complex geometric designs, were often more aesthetical than functional, and acted as the signature works of "small" carpenters.

    Screen walls functioned as partitions and windshields and were generally in the form of either removable panels that slotted into pedestals on the floor, or connecting foldaway panels. As wooden screen walls also had a decorative function, those of affluent households would be of high-quality timber with jade, emerald, enamel, silver and gold inlays.

    The caisson ceiling is a unique structural and ornamental feature of traditional Chinese architecture. It is a round, square or multi-angular sunken panel built into a central point of a wooden ceiling, decorated with cornices and carved and painted patterns. As the caisson ceiling is symbolic of sanctity and majesty it is generally seen in temples and imperial architecture, and is seldom a feature of civilian buildings. The sunken panel, which originally functioned as a skylight, gradually became a purely decorative element. Ancient carpenters, therefore, marshaled all their resources to turn this architectural art into a representative element of "small" carpentry.