Sunmao is mortise-and-tenon joinery: wooden pieces are cut so that a projecting tenon fits into a mortise slot, which locks them together without nails or glue. It is a classic technique in Chinese furniture and architecture, and it supports puzzle-lock designs. In The Legend of Zang Hai, the hero earns his apprenticeship as a boy by opening a sunmao lock with a verse his father taught him from the Book of Changes.
Dramas
Where it comes up
Silk & Schemes
The Legend of Zang Hai: A Revenge Drama Built Like a Puzzle
A guide to Xiao Zhan's 2025 court revenge drama from the director of Empresses in the Palace: its slow-burn plot, the fan puzzle-solving and the criticism it drew, its hand-built invented world, and an ending viewers still argue over.