Fragrance not only nourishes the nose, but also nourishes the body and mind, removes dirt and cures diseases, and nourishes the heart and health.
Man's love for incense is innate. Incense, arousing the spirituality of the soul in euphoria, can adjust the breath, dredge the nasal cavity, enlighten the mind, and reconcile the body and mind between the tangible and the intangible, which has endless magical uses.
Unique "perfume culture"
As early as the pre-Qin period, spices were widely used in life. From the literati to the ordinary people, they have the habit of wearing sachets and inserting herbs with them. In the Song Dynasty, when incense was at its peak, using incense became an indispensable part for ordinary people to pursue a better life. Fragrant fragrance can be seen everywhere in life. There are "fragrant shops" and "fragrant people" in the market, as well as businesses specializing in making "fragrant seals", and even "fragrant women" in restaurants offer incense to customers at any time. People purify their hearts, feel life and place their feelings in the cigarette smoke, which greatly develops the value of incense in daily life.
Wonderful fragrance: nourishing the heart and keeping in good health
Good fragrance is not only fragrant, but also makes people feel happy. It can also help people to achieve a calm and agile state and achieve calmness in a relaxed and happy way. In terms of disease prevention and health preservation, as early as the Han Dynasty, the famous doctor Hua Tuo made sachets of cloves, Stemona and other drugs and hung them indoors to prevent tuberculosis. Modern popular health care products, such as medicated pillows, are modern versions of this traditional aromatherapy. Li Shizhen, a physician in Ming Dynasty, used thread incense to "fumigate sores and tinea". In the medical archives of the Qing Palace, Cixi and Guangxu used fragrant hair prescription, soap prescription and fragrant bath prescription with rich contents. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, aromatherapy is the "odor therapy" in external therapy. All kinds of woody or herbal aromatic drugs, through the smell produced by burning, can play the role of immunity to ward off evil spirits, sterilization and disinfection, awakening the mind and improving intelligence, moistening the lungs and calming the nerves.
Good spices for fragrance selection mainly include agarwood, sandalwood, Long Xianxiang, musk and so on. Taste aroma is the most direct and reliable identification method. Because different fragrance types have different styles, there is no uniform identification method, but the fragrance types with better quality generally have the following characteristics: fresh and refreshing, and will not feel dizzy after long-term use; It is refreshing, but not impetuous; The fragrance is mellow, moderate in shade, and does not feel pungent after deep breathing; Even if the fragrance is rich, it will not feel greasy, and even if it is light, its fragrance is clearly discernible; The fragrance made of natural spices can often feel some slight astringency and medicinal taste.
Ancient use
1, medicinal
The origin of incense as medicine is very early, and there are records of Elaeagnus angustifolia as medicine in ancient books. At the beginning, devadatta persuaded King Ako to murder the Buddha and pushed a boulder from Lingjiu Mountain to kill the Buddha. Although their plan failed, the Buddha's foot was hit by gravel and bled. At that time, Yaowang went to Jia Bin to treat the Buddha, thinking that only Tauren sandalwood could be used as a prescription. However, this kind of incense is extremely precious and rare. Generally, people who own it dare to give it only when the king asks for it. At that time, a merchant selling incense heard that this kind of incense could cure the Buddha's injury, so he was willing to risk his life and offer it with joy. Therefore, it was awarded by the Buddha as a certificate to help the Buddha in the future, named "Betula alnoides".
In Shen Kuo's Meng Qian Bi Tan in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was recorded that Su Hexiang Pill could be used to treat diseases: "This medicine was originally forbidden and was given to the near minister in the auspicious symbol." North Korea once gave Wang Wenzheng Taiwei wine made of Su Hexiang pills, because this wine "can regulate the five internal organs, but its abdomen has various diseases. Every time I feel cold and excited, I will have a drink. " Song Zhenzong gave ministers several sticks of Suhexiang pills, which made Suhexiang pills very popular at that time. In addition, frankincense, musk and myrrh are all very important ingredients in China's prescription for treating injury, removing blood stasis and promoting pus. Today's extremely popular "aromatherapy" can be said to have originated in Egypt.
Egyptians pay great attention to hygiene. They invented a bathing method that can restore health and beauty, that is, massage with sesame oil after bathing to relieve muscle soreness and relax nerves. This used to be a technique for mummy preservation.
Many modern scientific researches also point out that fragrance contributes to human health. For example, a scholar at the Psychophysics Center of Yale University pointed out that the smell of apples can make anxious people lower their blood pressure and avoid panic. Lavender can promote metabolism and make people alert. University of Cincinnati related tests show that adding fragrance to the air can improve work efficiency. All these make aromatherapy such as essential oil become an extremely popular fitness method. In Song Dynasty, fragrant herbs were also mixed into the diet to make fragrant fruits and fragrant syrups, and borneol and musk were mixed into Huanglong Tea Garden. Mo Ding, which is expensive to produce, often uses borneol and musk. In the sixth volume of Old Wulin, there is also a record of drinking Shen perfume.
2. Sacrifice celebration
Egyptians who began to use incense in large quantities initially used incense in complex worship ceremonies. In the process of sacrifice, sometimes even tons of incense are burned, and even a large number of spices and ointments are needed for complicated burial and anti-corrosion methods at death. At the top of the pagoda-shaped building in the ancient Babieta, priests often lit piles of incense to sacrifice to the gods. They think burning incense on the tower will be closer to the gods. In China, there are many records of offering sacrifices and holding ceremonies with incense, such as offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, ancestors and farming ceremonies. During the reign of Renzong in the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the premature disaster in Kaifeng, Henan Province, Renzong burned incense and prayed for rain in the West Taiyi Palace, burning borneol 17 kg during the ceremony. In addition, for example, in the third year of Xichun in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 176), from ten days ago, the queen, crown prince, crown princess and officials at all levels, as well as palace officials, all paid tribute to celebrate their birthdays in turn.
Step 3 smoke
As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the custom of burning incense and smoking clothes was recorded, and this kind of incense clothes was also popular among literati in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties. In the Tang dynasty, fumigation became more popular because of a large number of imported incense.
According to the History of Song Dynasty, there was a man named Xun Mei in Song Dynasty. He must burn incense twice in the morning, incense his clothes, and then deliberately put on his sleeves to make the room fragrant. At that time, he was called "Xiang Mei". When Huizong was in the Northern Song Dynasty, Cai Jing entertained guests and burned dozens of ounces of incense. Xiangyun floated out of other rooms, and the clothes of visiting guests were stained with incense, which lasted for several days.
Step 4: banquet
In ancient times, incense was also an indispensable scene in banquets and celebrations. In Egypt, when upper-class people attend banquets, the metropolis wears a wax cream cone on their heads, lets it melt slowly, and drops fragrant syrup on their faces and shoulders. On the other hand, the ancient Romans often sprinkled fragrant roses at public ceremonies and banquets. It is very impolite not to have a lot of roses in a carnival program like Dionysus Festival. The ancient Romans even set up a program like "Rose Day". Sometimes, during the banquet, they will sprinkle fragrant rain filled with perfume and petals from the ceiling.
At the banquet of officials in the Southern Song Dynasty in China, incense is essential. Such as spring banquet, village meeting, civil and military officials examination, "same year banquet", birthday banquet, etc., the details are complicated, so the government has specially appointed the personnel of "four departments and six bureaus". There is a so-called "fragrant medicine bureau" in the "six innings" of Meng Lianglu, which is in charge of the affairs of "dragon saliva, brain marrow, harmony, blessing incense, incense stack, incense burner, incense ball" and "filling incense clusters with fine ash", and is in charge of the use of incense.
5. Burn incense in the examination room
In China's diverse culture of using incense, there is also a special occasion for burning incense, that is, setting up incense tables in the examination room. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, on the day when Gong Yuan did not try to be a scholar, a table sweetmeats was set up in front of the stage, and the main book and juren worshipped first, and then the examination began.
In the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu once wrote a seven-character poem "Do not try to read a scholar in imperial academy", describing this situation: "The purple case burns incense and blows lightly, and the court is at dawn, and Xi Qunying is brave without leaves, and the leaves will be eroded in the next spring. The sages in the village, the imperial court ranked the nobles as officials, and they felt ashamed and exhausted. They relied on a group of public experts to judge and get to the point. "
Ouyang Xiu wrote in another poem: "Burn incense for the scholars and wait for the curtain." It also shows the etiquette of burning incense when entering Jinshi.
6. Fragrant wood architecture
In addition to burning incense and incense, incense wood is also used in architecture. For example, Diana Temple in Foces, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was made of cedar as high as 60 feet, so when the temple was burned down in 356 BC, it was said that the scene was full of rich fragrance.
Ancient royal buildings often use cedar to build the whole palace, on the one hand, because it has the aromatic smell of cedar resin, on the other hand, because Chinese fir is a natural insect repellent material.
For example, in the eighth century BC, the palace gate of King Sargon II of Assyria always exudes a strong fragrance, and whenever tourists come in and out, they will pass by. Egyptian pharaohs' barges and coffins were also made of cedar.
The beams, columns and walls of China Manchu Royal Summer Palace in Chengde are all cedar wood, which is not deliberately painted, so that the fragrance of wood directly permeates the air.
Muslim mosque buildings are often mixed with rose dew and musk in mortar, when the sun shines at noon; When the temperature rises, the fragrance will be emitted.
This shows that human beings love and widely use incense.
Fragrance is the beauty of nature, and people's good fragrance is our nature. From the simple use of incense in the early days to the taste and chanting of incense with cultural flavor, it embodies the positive interest of human beings in loving nature and shows their comfortable and calm attitude towards life. Up to now, the development of fragrance is not only the idea of tasting and fighting fragrance, but also a fragrance culture with natural aromatic raw materials as the carrier, integrating natural science and humanities, feeling and beautifying natural life, realizing the harmony between man and nature, and creating the harmony and unity of human external beauty and spiritual beauty.
The significance of fragrance goes far beyond the fragrance product itself, but it is a culture that achieves self-cultivation, cultivates noble sentiments and pursues perfect human nature through the carrier of fragrance. Incense, in joy to mobilize the spirituality of the soul, but also purify the soul; Adjust the breath, dredge the nose, enlighten and reconcile the body and mind between the tangible and the intangible; Incense can not only relax the body and mind in the piano room of the study, but also develop the mind; You can also be ethereal in the temple altar and calm your mind; Not only can you watch silently in a quiet room, but you can also entertain yourself at a dinner party. It is the endless wonderful use of incense that makes it fully integrated into people's daily life. From the aroma, smoky, pleasant, comfortable, serene, excited and sad generated by smoking, smearing and spraying spices, with artistic incense props, arrangement of incense living environment, rich knowledge of incense, and elegant and beautiful methods of lighting and smelling incense, relevant literary, philosophical and artistic works are created through the above memories or associations.
In different historical periods, different cultural backgrounds and even different mental states, people use incense and taste it in different ways, and the effects are quite different. Although the fragrance is subtle, it can integrate the functions of religion, art, medical care, leisure and daily life. According to the sources, uses, usages and needs of different people and different occasions, the colorful incense culture-Xianglu is deduced. Now the simple classification is as follows:
Aromatics
1. According to the nature of spices used, spices can be divided into natural spices (and Chinese herbal medicines) and synthetic spices.
Natural spices: spices made from natural spices (animal and plant spices or their extracts) or Chinese herbal medicines. This fragrance is primitive, faint, seemingly absent and has a long aftertaste. In addition to the fragrant smell, it also has the effects of calming the nerves, preserving health and getting rid of diseases. Ancient incense used natural spices. In fact, it is a kind of "luxury" to taste and use incense. With the development of society, people's lifestyles and values have changed, and fragrant products have gradually become practical. The fragrant culture, which has been integrated into the study piano room and daily life, has also been favored, surpassing the connotation of calming the nerves, beautifying life and cultivating the soul.
There are two main types of natural fragrance: one is "single fragrance" and uses a single fragrance (or basically keeps the original state of fragrance, such as block, strip or powder; Or made into thread incense, coil incense and other shapes). Although its quality is better than chemical fragrance, the taste and health care function of * * * can not be fully exerted by using a single fragrance directly, and many spices such as sandalwood are not suitable for use alone. The ancients had a clear saying that "sandalwood is burned alone, and naked burning is easy to float in the air, which makes the gods uneasy for a long time." This kind of single incense is only the original method of using incense before the Han Dynasty. The second category is a combination of spices, mostly linear incense, coil incense and so on. However, the manufacture of traditional synthetic incense not only needs natural spices as raw materials, but also needs reasonable formula and strict processing methods and techniques. There are few natural spices on the market, and most of them only use natural spices as raw materials. They only pursue practicality and are flashy, but there are very few kinds of spices that are really made according to the ancient method.
Synthetic perfume: perfume made of chemical synthetic perfume, which pays attention to the aesthetic feeling of fragrance, the richness of fragrance type and the relative reduction of cost. /kloc-in the second half of the 0/9th century, synthetic spices (namely chemical spices) appeared in Europe. These chemical flavors can not only roughly simulate the taste of most spices, but also have easy access to raw materials (such as oil and coal tar) and extremely low cost, so it is easy to produce very rich fragrance. Therefore, it quickly replaced natural perfume and became the main perfuming agent in modern industrial production and perfume industry.
Compared with natural spices, chemical flavors have similar or even stronger fragrance, but they are not the same in terms of fragrance quality, calming the nerves and keeping healthy, enlightening the spirit and so on. Many natural spices are listed as top-grade medicinal materials, and as synthetic spices of chemical products, they look very fragrant at first glance, but if used too much, they will be harmful to health. Moreover, even in terms of smell alone, chemical flavors are only close to and far from natural flavors.
Chemical flavors and fragrances are popular because most pilgrims just burn incense as a ritual. Since we don't smell or taste incense, we just burn incense to see, naturally we ignore the material, formula and quality of incense, and only pay attention to the beauty or rich fragrance of incense. The extensive use of chemical essence and chemical processing technology has also fundamentally changed the modern fragrance-making technology. Although some traditional methods and techniques are still adopted, they are only kept in the form of periphery, while the core contents such as the selection, processing, compatibility and temperature of spices are partially abandoned. One of the consequences is the interruption of fragrance-making technology and the loss of fragrance spectrum formula, so that few people are really proficient in traditional fragrance-making technology, which has hindered the development of fragrance.
2. Distribute spices according to the formula used.
Some spices are made from various spices according to specific fragrance formulas, so many of them have their own unique names. Moreover, from the name alone, most people can't see the characteristics of the raw materials used to enhance the fragrance. Fragrant products made of different fragrance formulas have different characteristics and effects. Therefore, the fragrant prescription is also an important basis for tooth fragrance. Some common fixed formulas have corresponding names, and fragrant products made from them are often used; If it is based on a formula handed down from history, its historical name is generally used.
3. According to the appearance characteristics of incense, incense can be divided into original fragrance, thread fragrance, coil fragrance, tower fragrance, fragrant pill, fragrant powder, fragrant seal, fragrant paste, coated fragrance, fragrant soup, fragrant bag, fragrant pillow and so on. Original fragrance: the fragrance is made by simple processing such as cleaning, drying and cutting, and can retain some original appearance features of the fragrance, such as sandalwood slices and Daphne blocks. Linear incense: Common linear incense can be subdivided into vertical incense, horizontal incense and bamboo stick incense. Coil incense: also known as "ring incense", spiral wound incense can be hung or smoked with a bracket, and some small coil incense can also be used directly in the incense burner. Tower incense: Also known as "incense tower", the cone-shaped incense can be directly smoked and burned in the incense burner.
Xiangwan: A fragrant pill the size of a bean. Powder: also known as "the last fragrance", powdery fragrance. Seal: Also known as "Seal", "Seal" and "Hundred Carved Incense", the powder is pressed into a specific ("Lian Bi") pattern or character by a mold, which can be burned out in turn after being ignited. Paste fragrance: also known as "balsam", ground into paste fragrance. Apply incense: also known as "apply incense", powder, paste, etc. Apply to the body or clothes. Fragrant soup: also known as "perfume", soaked in water or boiled with spices. Sachet: Also called "sachet", it is a silk bag filled with spices, and a silk thread that can be hung under the neck is called "Pei Xiang". Fragrant pillow: a pillow filled with spices, which can soothe the nerves and preserve health.
4. According to the characteristics of fragrance (or the main perfume used), we can classify fragrance products: sandalwood, musk and so on. The classification of "according to the characteristics of fragrance" and "according to the main spices used" is generally similar, but there are also differences: the names of fragrance products using natural spices are consistent with the raw materials used, and "musk" is both its fragrance and the raw materials used; The perfume made of artificial perfume mainly emphasizes "fragrance characteristics", such as "musk", and emphasizes "musk fragrance", which is not made of natural musk.
5. Fragrant products are divided into natural fragrance, smoked fragrance, soaked fragrance, bath fragrance and so on according to the use method. Perfume with natural fragrance: the fragrance of perfume can be directly emitted as long as it is applied or smeared. Such as essential oil, perfume coating (also known as perfume coating, powder and ointment coated on the body or clothes, etc. ), sachets, incense sticks (sachets hung under the neck), clothes (put in clothes and pockets), pillows, curtains and so on. Incense and incense burning: incense used directly, which was called "incense burning" and "incense burning" in ancient times; Or not directly lit, but smoked with charcoal fire to emit fragrant incense (called "incense" in ancient times). Boiled incense: boiled in water, giving off fragrance (this is how the ancients smoked clothes with blue paste).
6. According to the characteristics of cigarettes, the fragrant products are classified as: gathering cigarettes: cigarettes can gather but not disperse; Slight smoke: the smoke is very light; Smoke-free incense: no smoke can be seen.
7. According to the amount of spices: single fragrance: made of a single fragrance (the most typical is the original fragrance, such as sandalwood tablets, agarwood powder and so on. ). Compound fragrance: it is made by mixing and matching more than two spices.
device
1. censer
Incense burner is the most common incense burner with various shapes, including Boshan, Huoshe, Jinshan Temple, Zu, Ding, Ding and so on. Most materials are ceramics, stone or copper. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, bronze incense burners have been popular, not afraid of heat, and have various shapes. For incense burners made of other materials, timely and equal heat insulation sand should be placed at the bottom of the furnace to avoid overheating and cracking of the furnace wall.
2. Hand stove
Hand stove is a small smoking stove that can be held in your hand or carried around (with lifting beam), similar to a heater. Most of them are round, square, hexagonal and petal-shaped; The surface is hollowed out and carved into patterns, auspicious patterns, landscape figures and other patterns; Materials are mostly brass or white copper.
3. fragrant beans
Also known as the long-handled hand stove, it is a small incense burner with a long handle, which is mostly used for offering Buddha. Lotus flowers or auspicious animals are often carved on the handle. Sweet beans were very popular in the Tang Dynasty. Most of the burnt incense is granular or pill-shaped.
4. Incense cone
Incense cone is a kind of vertical incense device, also known as "incense cage" (to distinguish it from a small cone for inserting incense). Most of them are long and straight cylinders, with a flat top and a flat seat below. Various patterns are hollowed out on the outer wall, and a small cannula is arranged in the cylinder, which is convenient for inserting incense. Its materials are mostly bamboo, jade or ivory.
Lying in the stove
The transverse furnace is used to light incense horizontally, also called transverse incense. Similar to incense sticks, but in different directions.
Smoke ball
Smoked meatballs, also called fragrant meatballs, are spherical and have long chains. The ball was hollowed out and divided into upper and lower halves, and the two hemispheres were connected by tenons. There is a small cup in the ball, which is suspended in the center by a bearing shaft. No matter how the smoked ball rotates, the small cup can always remain horizontal and the fragrance in the cup will not pour out. Because of this ingenious design, even if the smoked ball is put in the quilt, it will not fall over and go out, so it is also called "incense burner", and its principle is the same as that of modern gyroscope.
7.incense sticks
The incense plug is a base with a jack for inserting incense. There are many styles of base height, jack size and jack number, which are suitable for different specifications of thread incense.
8. incense tray
Incense table, also known as incense table, is a flat tray for burning incense, mostly made of wood or metal.
9. Incense box
Incense box is a container for placing incense products, also known as incense box, incense box, incense letter and so on. Mostly flat or square, mostly wood, with different sizes. The incense box is not only used as a container, but also an article for decorating incense tables and rooms.
10. Fragrant clip
Fragrant clips are used to hold fragrant products.
1 1. Xiangzi
Chopsticks are mostly made of copper.
12. incense shovel
Scrapers are usually used to treat ashes, mostly made of copper.
13. incense spoon
The incense spoon is used to hold powder or pill incense.
14. sachet
Sacks are used to hold fragrant powder, dried flowers and other fragrant products, which can be carried with you or hung. Most of them are embroidered silk bags, which are often put into hollow boxes such as stones, jade, gold and silver. What can be hung under the neck with silk thread is also called "Pei Xiang".
15. incense broom: clean the dust on the incense burner to show respect;
16. Incense seal: the end of the incense is an image, which is lit in sequence. The seal pattern is auspicious, and the incense cloud fills the air, which means wishing and praying. The ancients also used it to time. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Hunan and India were popular in Hangzhou.
17. Incense candle: used for placing ashes to make them flat or smooth. It is often used in fireproof incense to decorate and shape incense ashes. Materials are generally copper and silver.
18. Incense knife: used to cut off incense wood and facilitate smoking and burning.
19. Fragrant cutting board: used for cutting incense or appreciating incense.
20. Lighter: Due to the limitations of various incense burners, lighters with flexible heads are generally used for incense lighters; In the fire-proof incense, the lighter used for burning charcoal is often a fire-breathing lighter, which is convenient for burning charcoal at the initial speed.
Health preserving operation
The method of fragrant health care depends on the specific needs, and its ultimate goal is "health care". As long as this main goal is not hindered and the effect of incense is not affected, the specific operation form can vary from person to person. Of course, if we have enough time, it will be more cultural to adopt the traditional way of tasting incense. If it is too troublesome, you can also choose thread incense and coil incense, which is more convenient and fast.
This paper mainly introduces a traditional incense method-the steps of burning incense:
1. Put the odorless incense ashes into the incense burner. For friends who often smoke incense, incense ashes are usually kept in the incense burner, which is the so-called ash burner.
2. Tamp the ashes in the incense burner, and then dig a carbon hole in the middle. Its size depends on the size of incense carbon, which can be completely buried.
3. Light the incense charcoal to keep it completely red, but it is best not to have an open flame. Then put the burning incense carbon into the carbon hole and cover it with incense ash.
4. Pile the surrounding incense ashes on top of the incense charcoal and pat them tightly to form a volcanic shape with a flat top.
5. Make a vent hole at the top of incense ash to prevent the incense carbon from being extinguished, and at the same time control the burning speed.
6. Place the incense tray on the top plane.
7. Put small pieces of fragrant materials or powder on the fragrant tray. Keep the incense in a smoke-free state. If there is smoke, the temperature is too high, and continue to thicken the incense ash above the incense carbon.
8. When the incense tray is heated, the fragrance of spices will be emitted. At this time, you can lift the incense burner to your chest to taste incense.
Four-spice medicine
Aquilaria Resinatum: Among all the spices in the world, [1] Aquilaria Resinatum is the most magical, the first of all, and it is a kind of loose food and lust. Known as the diamond in plants; In terms of quality, it is the first in history. Aquilaria sinensis is a kind of solid condensate mixed with gum, resin, volatile oil, wood and other ingredients, with different sizes and shapes. Aquilaria sinensis is a kind of perfume which is based on the tree species contained in Daphne family and accumulated for many years under certain conditions (damage). Mainly distributed in China, Hainan, Guangdong, Yunnan and Guangxi, as well as Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Brunei and Papua. Natural agarwood is extremely rare and precious, which belongs to the top grade fragrance in Xiangdao culture.
Sandalwood: (scientific name: sandalwood) is the heartwood of sandalwood. Small evergreen trees, 6 ~ 9 meters high, with parasitic roots. India, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia. China and Taiwan Province provinces are also cultivated. It can be recovered all year round. Cut it into small pieces and remove sapwood (the remaining broken wood can also be used in making sandalwood utensils). Medicinal materials are divided into Dalbergia odorifera and Dalbergia odorifera. Most of them are cylindrical or slightly flat; Straight, a few slightly curved, often sawed into short and unequal sections, generally 50 ~ 100 cm long and 10 ~ 20 cm in diameter. The surface is yellowish brown, but it will be darker if it is left for a long time. The appearance is smooth and detailed, and slender longitudinal cracks can be seen. Both ends are flat and tidy, with a round or slightly oblate cross section, and the cracks are slender and arranged radially, and saw marks can be seen. Dense and solid, extremely difficult to break, and the broken fragments are spiny. It has a special fragrance, which is stronger when burning and has a slight taste. Dalbergia odorifera is darker in color and stronger in taste, while Dalbergia odorifera is more compact and slightly lighter in color. The remaining pieces of wood, called sandalwood blocks, are irregular in size and shape, smooth or slightly rough in surface, dark in color, and sometimes you can see the annual rings, which are corrugated. After longitudinal crack, the cross-section texture is neat, vertical and fine, especially yellow, dense and oily. Location: India, Indonesia and other places. Soak in water, mash or chop, and then dry.
Long Xianxiang: Also known as gray amber in the west, it is a solid waxy combustible substance with a dark gray or black appearance, which is produced by intestinal obstruction in the digestive system of whales. Long Xianxiang has its unique sweet earth fragrance (similar to isopropanol); Although most of them have been replaced by chemical compounds, Long Xianxiang and 3-methylindole are mainly used as fixative in history, which is of great value. 20 12 August, an English boy discovered a rare Long Xianxiang worth up to 40,000 pounds.
Musk deer (shè) is the secretion of glandular sac between navel and genitals of male musk deer. After drying, it is granular or blocky, with special fragrance and bitter taste. It can be made into perfume or used as medicine. It is a stimulant for the central nervous system and can relieve pain and swelling for external use. "Musk deer" for short.
In xiangdao, fragrant wood is classified according to its origin and taste.
"Six countries" refers to the origin of fragrant wood, namely Galo (Vietnam), Luoguo (Thailand, Laos), Jinnaha (Malacca), Jinnaman (Xima), Kunmendoro (Indonesia) and Zuoshanluo (East India, Myanmar). Five flavors refer to the five smells of fragrant wood, namely sweet, sour, pungent, bitter and salty.
Galo is the top grade of agarwood, and its origin is only Vietnam. Unlike Dalbergia odorifera, agarwood is not a kind of wood. Aquilaria log grows in the impenetrable virgin forest and forms resin after trauma. After accumulation, the logs withered and fell to the ground, buried in the soil for hundreds of years, and matured to form a fragrance. The output of agarwood is very small and more expensive than gold. Now even Vietnam, the country of origin, is gone, and Japan has accumulated the most for historical reasons.