Platinum sandalwood is regarded as a powerful aphrodisiac for women in Peruvian herbalism.

Ebony, a hard sword, is extremely thick, but don't expect it to help you much. It is not much different from ordinary wooden sticks in battle.

Sandalwood, according to the theory of Tibetan medicine, can prevent and treat the germs and viruses of epidemic diseases.

Golden sandalwood, which nourishes essence, strengthens kidney and strengthens body resistance, is produced in Nepal, the land of gods at the southern foot of Himalayas.

Rosewood has the magical effect of nourishing people. After contact for a long time, some of their yellow teeth became particularly white.

Precious wood such as rosewood, red sandalwood and green sandalwood are carefully carved into woodcarving ornaments by craftsmen.

White sandalwood wood wood carving character mirror branch

6 kinds of redwoods

There are many kinds of wood belonging to Pterocarya stenoptera, but there is only one Pterocarya stenoptera recognized in botany, "Pterocarya santali". Commonly known as "lobular sandalwood". Other kinds of sandalwood are classified as oxalic acid branches.

In recent ten years, with the warming of furniture collection, people's understanding of furniture materials is also deepening and improving. But at the same time, there are still some inaccurate and nonstandard pasting concepts. I have written articles about the materials used in Ming and Qing furniture before. After ten years, my understanding of the past is obviously insufficient in depth and breadth. Some specific problems are obviously wrong and biased now, so we need to re-understand the materials of ancient furniture.

The traditional furniture materials in China mainly include: rosewood, rosewood, rosewood, rosewood, ebony, wingwood, nanmu, camphor wood, shadow wood, boxwood, beech, elm and birch. In recent years, a large number of high-quality wood imported from abroad has a wide variety and confusing names. Consumers also lack understanding of all kinds of high-grade wood. Some mercenary people take advantage of people's appreciation of high-grade wood and shoddy it. All black wood, good or bad, is pretending to be rosewood. All yellow wood is usually called Huali or Huang Huali. Make huge profits from it and defraud ill-gotten gains. In order to standardize the wood market and improve consumers' understanding of wood, it is suggested to read more books on botany. A few years ago, Mr. Yang Jiaju, from the Wood Industry Research Institute of the State Forestry Administration, edited a book on wood standards, entitled "China Redwood". It is debatable to use the vague concept of "Sequoia" in the book. However, the scientific classification and concrete analysis of all kinds of wood in the book are of great reference value.

red sandalwood

Rosewood is one of the most precious tree species in the world. Because of its scarce number and few tourists, it is cherished by the world. According to historical records, rosewood is mainly produced in tropical areas of Nanyang Islands, followed by Southeast Asia. China's Guangdong and Guangxi also produce rosewood, but the quantity is not much. A lot of materials are mainly imported.

Red sandalwood is an evergreen sub-tree, five or six feet high, with compound leaves, Hua Hudie shape, samara and hard wood, which will sink when entering water. According to the introduction of China Tree Taxonomy, "There are about fifteen species of Pterocarya in Leguminosae, and two species in China, one is Pterocarya and the other is Rose". According to the understanding of modern botany, rosewood is actually a big fruit rosewood produced in India. It is very different from traditional rosewood, and people will not regard it as rosewood. 15 kinds of red sandalwood, except the sandalwood red sandalwood (commonly known as cow hair red sandalwood) produced in Mysore, southern India, the rest are called "Cao Huali". Red sandalwood is just one of the varieties of grass pear. No matter what kind of pear is planted, its color, texture and hardness are different from traditional rosewood. Although it belongs to Pterocarya, it can't be compared with rosewood. In Appreciation of Ming Furniture, Mr. Wang mentioned that "Schiffer of the United States made an investigation on rosewood and thought that rosewood imported from zhina, China was rosewood". This statement is obviously wrong.

Natural History and Zhu Fanzhi classified rosewood as sandalwood, and thought rosewood was a kind of sandalwood. "Natural History" contains: "There are several kinds of sandalwood, including yellow, white and purple, which are used by people today. Jianghuai and Shuosheng are similar, but not fragrant. " He also said: "Sandalwood comes from Guangdong, Yunnan, Zhancheng, Zhenla, Java, Bonai, Siam, Sanyuan, Uighur and other countries. Today, it was also found in Lingnan and other places. The leaves are all like lychees, and the skin is green and smooth. " "Sandalwood skin yellow is Dalbergia odorifera, white skin is Dalbergia odorifera, and Pixia purple is rosewood. And the fragrance is rich, and the white sandalwood is excellent. " In the next volume, Zhu Fanzhi said, "Its tree is like litchi in China, and its leaves are like that, and the purple one is called red sandalwood.". It seems that the rosewood introduced in these two books is not the rosewood used in Ming and Qing furniture. But specifically sandalwood in spices. Judging from his confusion about rosewood, Dalbergia odorifera and Dalbergia odorifera, his understanding of rosewood is not profound. In fact, rosewood, rosewood, rosewood branches, flowers and leaves are very different, and they are not the same family and genus at all.

In the spoken language of some people in Beijing, there are also sayings of new and old rosewood. People think that old people are purple and new people are red. According to actual observation, the new rosewood they refer to is mostly black rosewood. Old rosewood refers to the traditional ox hair rosewood. This kind of cow hair rosewood has different characteristics due to different ecological environments, some of which are Venus-shaped and some are chicken blood red, from which the names of Venus rosewood and chicken blood rosewood are derived. In fact, they belong to the same tree species. The characteristics of rosewood are mainly manifested in the role of rhinoceros, which will turn purple-black when exposed to the air for a long time. (Editor's Note: The lobular rosewood is dark yellow when it first opens, and it will become rich red after two or three days, and finally become luxurious purple-black with the accumulation of years. ) The annual rings of rosewood are mostly twisted. Some people call it crab claw pattern or cow hair pattern. Although there are straight threads, there are always twisted threads when you look closely. Rosewood bristles are thin and the wood is hard and heavy. When making rosewood furniture, we should make use of its natural characteristics and adopt the light element method without carving. Rosewood is hard, delicate and fluttering, especially its dark color, which is both solemn and beautiful.

In the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368- 1644), rosewood was valued by the royal family. The development of maritime traffic and Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Seas communicated with Southeast Asian countries in trade and cultural exchanges. Countries often have a certain amount of precious wood, including rosewood, in their regular and irregular trade with China. However, this was far from meeting the needs of the ruling clique in China, so the Ming government sent officials to Nanyang for procurement. Subsequently, private vendors came into being. By the end of the Ming dynasty, the high-quality timber in Nanyang had been basically cut down. Rosewood, in particular, is almost completely tied. By the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, the vast majority of rosewood produced in the world at that time gathered in China. The rosewood used in the Qing Dynasty was collected in the Ming Dynasty and recorded in history. In the Qing Dynasty, people were sent to Nanyang to collect rosewood, but most of them were rough and not straight. It doesn't work at all. This is because rosewood grows slowly and can't be used up for hundreds of years. It was completely cut down in Ming dynasty, but it was not resurrected in Qing dynasty, and its source was exhausted. This is also an important reason why rosewood is cherished by the world.

Westerners such as Europe and America attach more importance to rosewood than China, because they have never seen rosewood and think it can only be made into small utensils. It is said that there is a five-inch long rosewood coffin model in front of Napoleon's tomb, which all visitors are amazed and think is rare. It was not until the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties that western missionaries came to China and saw many rosewood products that they realized that the elite of rosewood was all in China. So many parties bought it and shipped it back to China. At present, rosewood utensils circulating in Europe and America are basically shipped from China. Because of transportation difficulties, they generally don't buy the whole utensils, but only the patterned ones such as cupboard doors and box faces. After being shipped back, install a wooden frame for decoration.

In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, due to the shortage of rosewood, the royal family also bought rosewood from private businessmen at high prices from time to time. There are records of purchasing rosewood almost every year in the work files of the Qing Palace. During this period, an unwritten rule gradually formed, that is, no matter what level of officials, as long as they see rosewood, they will never let it go, buy it in full and hand it over to the royal family or local weaving institutions. After the mid-Qing dynasty, all the timber hoarded by private businessmen around the country was acquired. Among these Woods, a large number are used to decorate the Yuanmingyuan and the Forbidden City. After Tongzhi, Guangxu wedding, and Cixi's 60th birthday, there were few left. By the time Yuan Shikai arrived, all the remaining rosewood had been used up.

In short, there are many kinds of wood belonging to Pterocarya stenoptera, but there is only one Pterocarya stenoptera recognized by botany, "Pterocarya santali". Commonly known as "lobular sandalwood". The real origin is southern India, mainly in Mysore, and other kinds of sandalwood are classified as oxalic acid branches.

red sandalwood

Rosewood has bright color and clear and beautiful texture. According to "A Survey of Natural History", "Huali pear tree is a famous palm tree, which flows widely (that is, crossing toes, now Vietnam) (that is, Guangdong and Guangxi). The leaves are pear-shaped, the wood color is red and purple, and the texture is delicate. It can be used as tables, chairs, utensils and study. " Materia Medica: "Palm trees grow in Annan and Nanhai and are used as beds, like red sandalwood. Because pillows are a headache. Li Ming's Compendium of Materia Medica said: "Palm trees are hard, purplish red and have patterns, which are called flower palm trees." Can be used as utensils, bones and other things, popular as pears. Wrong. "Guangzhou annals": "Flower palm is purple, slightly fragrant, and its lines are like ghost faces and raccoon spots, also known as flower raccoons. The old man tattooed his fist, while the young man straightened it. Its savings are like money, and it is better if the size is wrong. "Records of Qiongzhou" says: "rosewood leaves the Lingshui of Changhua, Cliff State". In the Ming Dynasty, Huang Province wrote in the Tribute to the Western Regions: "There are two kinds of rosewood, one is rosewood and arbor, which are produced in all parts of southern China; One is Dalbergia hainanensis, a deciduous tree, which is produced in the South China Sea. Both can be used as high-grade furniture. The book also points out that Hainan sandalwood is harder and thinner than flower palm wood and can be used for carving. The Ming Dynasty's "Gegu Yaolun" said: "Red sandalwood is produced in Nanfan and Guangdong, and it is purplish red, similar to Dezhen Xiang, but it also has fragrance. Its flowers are as lovely as ghost faces, and the flowers are thick and light. Many people make tea and wine. " Hou Kuanzhao introduced a kind of sandalwood "Dalbergia hainanensis" called rosewood in Hainan Island in Flora of Guangzhou. Dalbergia hainanensis is a special product of Hainan Island, a forest plant and a humid place in the valley. The wood is good, the sapwood is light in color, slightly loose in texture, and the heartwood is reddish brown and hard. Fine and beautiful texture, suitable for carving and making furniture.

Modern botanical research has proved that rosewood is not the same tree species. As mentioned earlier, rosewood belongs to Pterocarya stenoptera. Palm belongs to the genus Rhododendron of Papilionidae. Traditionally, huanghuali belongs to Dalbergia of Pteristidae. All kinds of flowering pears of Pterocarya stenoptera are mainly produced in Southeast Asia and Guangdong and Guangxi in China. Red beans are mainly produced in southern China. Dalbergia Dalbergia is Dalbergia odorifera (i.e. Huanghuali) only produced in Hainan Island, China, namely Dalbergia hainanensis introduced by Hou Kuanzhao in Flora of Guangzhou. Dalbergia hainanensis, also known as Dalbergia hainanensis, or Dalbergia odorifera, is a specialty of Hainan Island. It is obviously unscientific to call three kinds of wood with different families and different Woods red sandalwood. They should be distinguished.

There is also a kind of wood similar to rosewood, called "musk wood". Zhu Fanzhi said, "Musk occupies the city, but it is really wax, and the old servant of the tree is buried in the ground and rotted. It is best to be mature and detached. Its gas is vaguely like musk, so it is called musk. If you cut logs and take them, you will be angry and evil, which is inferior. Spring people think it is used, such as rosewood. "

There are also old and new rosewood handed down from generation to generation. Huanghua pear is an old rosewood in traditional understanding. Its color varies from light yellow to purple, with delicious color, clear texture and rich fragrance. Most of the elegant furniture in Ming Dynasty was made of old rosewood. Li Xinhua generally refers to all kinds of grass pears, the wood color is red and yellow, and the texture color is much worse than that of old pears. Huang Huali belongs to Rayna Sue, and the flowers belong to Pterocarya stenoptera. It is obviously inappropriate to confuse the two.