The Characteristics of the Four Famous Woods in Ancient China and Their Historical and Cultural Origins

Yellow rosewood and rosewood, chicken wing wood, and iron wood are also known as the four famous ancient Chinese wood.

First, the fragrant rosewood

Dalbergia, endangered species, Hainan specialty, evergreen trees of the family Leguminosae. Its wood is called "Huanghua Pear", commonly known as "Buckwood", "Compendium of Materia Medica" is called scent, its woody water can lower blood pressure, blood lipids, its wood is hard wood, beautiful texture, is the production of classical hardwood furniture Superior materials. Although the fragrant rosewood is easy to survive, it is extremely difficult to become a material. The real material needs hundreds of thousands of years of growth, so as early as the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Hainan huanghuali wood species was on the verge of extinction.

The heartwood of Dalbergia sinensis is the most valuable, and the heartwood is formed 7 to 8 years after planting. The heartwood is reddish-brown, the material is dense and hard, the texture is fine and beautiful, naturally forming a natural pattern (commonly known as "ghost face"), corrosion-resistant and wear-resistant, not cracking and curling, and emitting fragrance, long-lasting, is the production of high-grade mahogany furniture, crafts Musical instruments and fine materials for carving, inlays, and art decoration. The scented oil obtained by distilling the wood can be used as a flavoring agent on the perfume. The heartwood and the heartwood of the root can be used for medicinal purposes and are good analgesics.

Second, red sandalwood

Sandalwood rosewood, is a butterfly-shaped flower family, subtropical evergreen trees, high five or six feet, the leaves are compound leaves, the fruit has wings, the wood is very strong, the color is red, and the rosewood is sinking into the water. Red sandalwood is a kind of tree species that is particularly hard and heavy in the leguminous rosewood. It is the most advanced material in redwood. It is a dark wood with dark purple color. Ideal for making furniture and carving art. The utensils made of red sandalwood are waxed and polished without the need for paint oil, and the surface has a satin-like luster. Therefore, some people say that anything made with red sandalwood is cherished by people.

There are many kinds of wood with red sandalwood, but there is only one kind of rosewood in the true sense, that is, the lobular rosewood with the name of sandalwood rosewood. The earliest record for red sandalwood is Jin Cuibao’s "Ancient and Modern Note". It is called "red sandalwood, out of the south, color purple, also known as red sandalwood." "The red sandalwood can not be made into a material for a thousand years, and it is often said that "the ten sandal nine air", the largest rosewood diameter is only about 20 centimeters, its preciousness can be imagined. In all kinds of hardwood, the rosewood wood is the finest, the weight of the wood The heaviest, the water is sinking. The small leaf sandalwood grain is not obvious, the color is orange-red at first, and the dark purple is lacquer for a long time, and the annual ring pattern is hardly seen. The vascular pattern is extremely thin and has a skein-like shape like a cow's hair.

"Purple" means Xiangrui, and with the excellent woodiness and rarity of the red sandalwood, the rosewood is cherished by the royal family in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The emperors of the two dynasties did not hesitate to pay a lot of money, and gathered the world's skilled craftsmen to create a variety of rosewood furniture and ornaments. These things were the best at the time, not to mention the facts passed down to the present. Adding to this, it seems to have added a more mysterious color to the rosewood.

The lobular rosewood is still a rare traditional Chinese medicine. It is recorded in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" that red sandalwood can stop bleeding, relieve pain and regulate blood. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the rosewood is "inch-inch gold".

Third, chicken wing wood

The wenge is distributed in the subtropical regions of the world. The main producing areas are Southeast Asia and South America. It is named after the texture similar to “chicken wings”. The texture is staggered, clear, and the color is abrupt. It is a relatively beautiful wood in the mahogany, with a slight aroma, and the growth rings are not obvious.

Chicken wing wood is a kind of mahogany with chicken wings ("v" shape) on the string cut surface of wood heartwood. Chicken wing wood is famous for its remarkable and unique texture. It has always been loved by scholars and consumers. In the old furniture market, the chicken wing wood has new and old points. Mr. Wang Shizhen divided it into: the old chicken wing wood "dense texture, purple-brown depth and phase between the lines, especially the longitudinal and slightly oblique profile, slender floating, giving the feathers a feeling of shining." New chicken wing wood "rough wood, Purple and black, the texture is often turbid, the stiffness is not rotating, and the wood is sometimes easy to smash."

Fourth, iron wood (non-redwood)

Telimu is the hardest tree in wood. It is a precious and broad-leaved tree species unique to Yunnan and a national second-class protected plant. It belongs to the genus Hypericaceae, evergreen tree, 30 meters high, straight trunk, crown-shaped tower, produced in Jinghong, Mengla, Bohai, Hummer, Ruili, Daixi and other counties below 1300 meters above sea level The slopes of river valleys, which are hot and humid, are the favorite timber species of the local people. They can be used for military, shipbuilding, construction, special machine parts and musical instruments, arts and crafts. Teli wood seeds have an oil content of 74% and can be used to make soap.

Tieliki subdivision can be divided into two types: thick wire iron wood and fine wire iron wood. The thick wire is the main material of the furniture, the color is dark brown, and sometimes it will appear black after use. The thick iron wood often cracks, but the cracks are generally shallow and the length will not exceed 20 cm. The brown eye is different from the direction of the truncation of the wood, and sometimes it is skein-like, and the distribution is uneven. The overall look of iron wood, wood grain is smooth, often showing a flowing water-like texture, and even the decoration is beautiful near the chicken wing wood, but it is essentially different from the chicken wing wood, that is, chicken wing wood light, iron wood weight; chicken wing wood brown eye Smooth and unobstructed, the iron wood brown eye silk into the meat. Knowing this, it should be said that identifying iron wood is not a problem.

In the furniture of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, we can find examples of iron-wood furniture. There are many styles in Ming Dynasty. There is no doubt that the Ming Dynasty has made a lot of iron-wood furniture. Typical Ming style furniture abounds, and the most simple, interesting and ancient.

After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the excellent ironwood furniture was drastically reduced, and the quality of the ironwood furniture was not favored by the impetuous society under the impact of the commercial. The rosewood huanghuali furniture interprets the luxury of the court, the nobility, and the literati, representing the highest level that historical ancestors have achieved in this field; and this highest realm is made up of pieces like iron wood furniture. The foundation stone is piled up, and it is impossible to reach the highest peak without any reason. From this point of view, the ancient iron wood furniture is like an elder, telling the ancients a long and true story.

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