Is there a difference between ebony and Daphne?
Scientific name: carbonized wood The so-called "ebony" in Sichuan refers to dark wood. Ebony is just a local nickname. The two are very different in concept and essence, and cannot be confused.
The version of Cihai 1979 explains that "wood buried in soil for a long time due to stratum changes is called' black wood', also known as' black wood sand'. Generally speaking, it is mostly Chinese fir, which is hard and durable. In the past, it was considered as a precious wood for making coffins. " It's cloudy in the north of the mountain and the south of the water. Generally, people born in Shanbei or autumn and winter are called shady trees. Shaded wood is obviously different from dark wood. Yin wood is born on the ground, and dark wood is buried underground. Black wood is the material used to make coffins in ancient times.
Blackwood has a long history. According to the available data, in ancient times, rare ancient trees in virgin forests suffered sudden and significant geographical and meteorological changes (such as earthquakes, flash floods, lightning strikes, typhoons, etc.). ), some are buried under the mud and sand of ancient river beds and rivers and lakes, and some are buried in the dark strata that have been deprived of oxygen for thousands or even thousands of years and washed by rapids. After thousands of years of natural abrasion, this dark wood has both the elegance of wood and the charm of stone. Its texture is solid and heavy, its color is black and luxurious, its cut surface is smooth and delicate, and its wood is oily, moisture-proof and fragrant, which will not rot for thousands of years and is not afraid of insects. Individual tree species recorded in ancient books also have medicinal value. Shaded wood is not only a kind of Chinese fir, but also a general term for many kinds of wood that have been buried underground for a long time and can be used as utensils. These Woods are characterized by moisture-proof, insect-proof, anti-corrosion, fragrance and heavy oil. There are many kinds, mainly cypress, Chinese fir, nanmu, Fraxinus mandshurica, wild litchi, bitter catalpa, runnan, iron pear and so on.
Blackwood is distributed all over the world, and it may be used in China. Earthquake-prone areas and Africa are the areas where blackwood is most concentrated. Because of the particularity of the formation of black wood and its low utilization value, most countries and nationalities have more taboos than feelings about it. China has black wood from north to south with different names. "Langmu" and "Sinking Jiangmu" all refer to dark wood. Sichuan calls dark wood "ebony" (the main dark wood is generally dark).
Two thousand years later, these gloomy trees will be unearthed in the dammed lake formed by the Sichuan earthquake with a magnitude of 5. 12. It sleeps underground with countless lives. China's geomantic omen thinks that the shade wood is full of shade. Its fragrance is elusive. It is also not suitable for personal belongings, and it is rarely used to make objects and move into rooms and luxury houses. Dark wood, but its fragrance will fade quickly at the sight of sunlight. Holding a dark wood block (preferably at night), there will be a faint fragrance overflowing from the palm of your hand, most of which are difficult to describe. But it doesn't smell right. Dark wood is unearthed, with high moisture content, which can't be seen under the light. It must be stored in a dark place for many years. Otherwise, it will crack and be unusable.
Modern scientific means can certainly solve this problem, but cracking and brittleness still cannot be used to make large objects. Ebony is not expensive, most of it is just hype, and its market value is probably 1/5 of ebony (mahogany).
This is an excellent way to make coffins from dark wood in ancient times. Dark wood is non-corrosive, slightly fragrant, deep and shiny, which provides excellent conditions for coffins. Most of the ancients were; People prepare coffins or coffins when they are alive, and dark wood must be stored for a long time before it can be used for production, which conforms to the inherent characteristics of dark wood. It seems that the wisdom of the people of China has profound attainments and a long history in making full use of sinking wood. It's just that there is no need to make coffins in society now, and it's certainly a good choice to make urns with heavy wood.
Xing Xing in 2008.
sandal wood
Xing Xing
Aquilaria sinensis is not completely a kind of wood, and Aquilaria sinensis is not equal to Aquilaria sinensis. Aquilaria sinensis is made of eight kinds of agarwood in the world: Indian agarwood, American agarwood, Malay agarwood, wild agarwood, Aquilaria sinensis and Aquilaria sinensis (Aquilaria sinensis). The formation of agarwood is that these trees are invaded and parasitized by fungi after their branches are broken by insects, wind, lightning and other reasons in nature. Under the action of enzymes in bacteria, starch stored in wood parenchyma cells is eroded and decayed, which produces a series of changes and forms balsam. Finally, after years or even thousands of years of deposition, solid condensate containing balsam and wood components is formed. This is recorded in ancient books; After nearly a thousand years of corrosion, the exudate produced by insect biting wood left fragrant wood segments without decay. Compendium of Materia Medica: "Old wood, rotten skin for many years, not bad heart branches, hard and dark, but also agarwood." That's what we really mean-agarwood.
Among them, there are three elements that form agarwood:
1, it must be thymelaeaceae.
2, eroded by agarwood fungi.
3. With the passage of time, the nature of wood has changed or partially changed.
The first factor determines that the longer the age of the agarwood tree, the longer the balsam deposition time and the better the quality of the agarwood.
The second factor is whether the quality and fragrance of agarwood are noble, which determines the quality and source of agarwood fungi. Different agarwood trees have different habitats, different geographical environments, different soils, different water sources, different swamps, different nature and different years. Thousands of different reasons. The fragrance of agarwood produced will be subtle and elusive.
The third factor affects the actual value of agarwood. Most agarwood only corrodes wood locally or in a punctate, filiform and radial way, forming a structure containing agarwood oil, which permeates wood and interweaves with the remaining wood fibers. This is in a broad sense-agarwood.
Usually, according to whether the internal structure of wood has been completely transformed or decomposed, the proportion of fat that forms the fragrance of agarwood is the first priority to determine the value of agarwood. There is also agarwood found in nature, which is not fragrant but smelly. This also shows that agarwood causes differences in quality and fragrance. Relationship with value. The classification and naming of Aquilaria sinensis is very complicated, which is difficult to unify at all times, at home and abroad, but we can conclude that the practical significance and types of Aquilaria sinensis can be viewed from two important aspects:
1, the origin of agarwood is quite critical. We know that natural wild agarwood has disappeared in China. At present, more than 70% of the natural and wild agarwood in the world is produced in Indonesia, and 90% of the wild agarwood in Indonesia is produced in three areas of Ilan Province, Indonesia. The industry calls it Hiran agarwood, just to prove that it is a natural agarwood.
2. Familiarity with the so-called "Ceylon Aquilaria Resinatum" means that it is naturally formed. Although there are advantages and disadvantages, the title of "Hiran agarwood" also has its price positioning. The fragrance of agarwood is different and natural. In today's highly developed science, it is one of the few natural incense that cannot be synthesized and reproduced by artificial methods. Its preciousness and mystery are also evident. The ancients had different names for different kinds and grades of agarwood. For example, Zhou Qufei of Song Dynasty divided Hainan Aquilaria into Penglai fragrance, partridge spot fragrance and paper fragrance. For example, in Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen classified agarwood into three categories according to its medicinal properties: agarwood, incense and yellow ripe. It is also said that in the late Qing Dynasty, agarwood was divided into 15 species according to its quality and use.
Aquilaria sinensis is produced in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Hainan Island in China. Modern agarwood can be divided into several categories according to the causes of formation: ripe knot, raw knot, shedding, insect leakage and so on. A piece of agarwood, whose balsam is decomposed and condensed in complete nature, is called cooked knot; Because the agarwood tree was cut by a knife and axe, the paste and oil that flowed out condensed into a knot; The rotten and condensed agarwood of wood itself is called shedding; Insect leakage is caused by the condensation of ointment and fat caused by insect food.
Taiwan Province agarwood manufacturers divide agarwood into six kinds according to the different scents: Daphne, which is still immortal after lodging in the wind and rain due to age and natural factors, is "upside down"; Daphne odora was buried in the soil and decomposed by microorganisms, leaving the uncorrupted part as "soil sinking"; Those who are buried in the swamp after lodging and fished out of the swamp after biological decomposition are "latent"; Living trees are cut down artificially, eaten by termites after landing, and the rest is "ant sinking"; Those who directly obtain agarwood by cutting down living trees are "live weight"; In less than ten years, it is "white wood" that has a little aroma. The fragrance of the above six kinds of agarwood is different. It tastes strong in the soil, mellow upside down, warm in the water, uplifting ants, lively and sonorous, and fragrant white wood. Aquilaria sinensis is a precious Chinese herbal medicine; Pungent in nature, warm in nature and non-toxic, and has the functions of promoting qi circulation, relieving pain, lowering middle warmer, calming the liver, warming the kidney and absorbing qi. Compendium of Materia Medica contains the efficacy of Aquilaria Resinatum in treating fengshui toxic swelling, cholera, clearing away the heart, calming the nerves, nourishing the five internal organs and warming the waist and knees. Aquilaria sinensis can refresh the mind, enlighten the mind and breed wisdom. The ancients' understanding of the use value of incense was originally used as medicine to treat diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine calls the secretion of Daphne odora, which is mainly produced in tropical areas "agarwood". After processing, it is used as medicine, which is mainly used to treat cold coagulation vomiting, breath reversal, constipation of large intestine, urinary stranguria and other diseases. Du Bao's "Memorabilia" says: "Sui Zen master's medical skills are wonderful, and he drinks five spices to help people. Aquilaria sinensis, Sandalwood, Lilac, Eupatorium adenophorum and Gan Song are all based on incense, and more are different drugs to quench their thirst and benefit the people. " Compendium of Materia Medica
/kloc-For 0/000 years, with the prosperity of Taoism, Buddhism, Islam and other churches, people have also given Aquilaria sinensis more mysterious colors. Burning incense in the mansion of noble literati in the palace can not only be used to burn incense, pray for blessings and sacrifice, but also improve the mood, calm the mind and bring pleasure to people. It also means that it is rich. Later, it was used for carving and processing to make Buddha statues, rosary beads, hand beads, playthings and other evil spirits to wear with you. Because natural agarwood is extremely rare, it has actually disappeared in most producing areas of the world. Nowadays, artificial cultivation of agarwood is mostly used. Some "wounds" are often cut out on the trunk of mature fragrant trees, and then inoculated with fungi. After several years, agarwood will be produced near the wound. The longer the year, the better the quality of incense. But even if it is cultivated artificially, it usually takes more than 10 years to make incense. Good artificial agarwood needs more than 30 years of agarwood, and the output of artificial agarwood is limited, which is in short supply and still expensive.
The above two articles, Dark Wood and Aquilaria Resinatum, were published by myself in my early years, hoping to help you.