The earliest folding beds appeared in the late Warring States period. Their structure generally consisted of three parts: the bed frame, the bed rails, and the bed drawers. Each half of the bed frame was composed of bed rails, bed beams, and connecting braces. Such beds could be folded, and the length and width of the bed frame would decrease significantly after folding. Folding beds were generally made of relatively hard wood.
Among the emperors of Chinese dynasties, there were two particularly unique carpenter emperors who reached the pinnacle of their craft, bordering on obsession. One was the obese Yuan Shundi, who could design his own giant dragon boat, and was eventually driven out of the Central Plains by Zhu Yuanzhang; the other was Zhu Yuanzhang's own descendant, the "genius carpenter" Zhu Youxiao, the Ming Xizong Emperor, who was the inventor and manufacturer of the first folding bed in history.