What is agarwood? Is agarwood very heavy?

In the process of collecting antiques, I often hear many friends ask this question: Your agarwood is not heavy, how can it be called agarwood? In fact, this is due to the one-sided understanding of agarwood. Is agarwood very heavy? In fact, this is not the case. Agarwood is named after its heavy weight, but not all agarwood is heavy or sinks in water. Agarwood is also known as Gannan incense, Qinnan incense and other names among the people. The evergreen tree of the Thymeaceae family is produced in India, Thailand, Vietnam, Hainan and other places. It is said that it is also cultivated in Taiwan, my country and other places. The core of this tree is often filled with resin that is very fragrant. Agarwood is used as medicine by processing the roots and trunks containing brown-black resin into medicine. The traditional Chinese medicine agarwood is warm in nature and has the effect of relieving asthma and relieving qi.
How did agarwood get its name? According to the record in "The Biography of Yiqi of the Southern History", the native people cut off the agarwood and accumulated it over the years. It decayed and the heart knots remained alone. When placed in water, it sank, hence the name agarwood. This written record explains the formation process and name of agarwood. That is to say, agarwood is a tree cut by local ethnic minorities and buried in the soil. After a few years, the tree has rotted, but the resinous part of the heart of the tree remains. This kind of resin will sink when placed in water. This substance is called agarwood. . In this way, can we understand that the heart of this evergreen tree of the Thymeaceae family is full of fragrant resin. After the tree fell down, it was buried in the underground soil. After a few years, the tree rotted and the remaining resin formed what people often use. Said agarwood. This is indeed the case, so agarwood should refer to the agarwood part of the Daphne tree that is buried in the ground.
According to ancient books, this kind of condensed agarwood has two forms, which are sugar knots and golden threads. The sugar is as black as lacquer and as hard as jade. It is sawed and soaked in oil. Because it has been buried in the soil for a long time, there are many intrusions, many of which contain metal, so it is shiny, fragrant and gorgeous, and is very precious. At auction, a gold and silver agarwood bracelet was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The so-called gold threads are impurities that have invaded the fragrance body and are in the shape of gold threads, hence the name, which is also very rare.
Therefore, agarwood can be either buried in the ground and condensed into agarwood that sinks into the water; In layman's terms, the above-ground part is called flannel incense, and the underground part is called agarwood! The closer to the heart of the tree, the more intense and pure the fragrance is, and the better the quality. In the part close to the heart of the tree, the fibers become more fatty and finally form blocks, which is an excellent material for carving artworks. Therefore, the better the degree of fiber lipidation of the carved artwork, the higher the value.
I have a collection of the five of the twenty-four filial filial piety of a kind of Yongnan fragrant carving, "Lao Laizi Playing with Colors to Entertain Relatives". The picture shelf is in the shape of a longitudinal section of bamboo, with a bamboo shape on the back and a small farmhouse scene carved on the front. A farmhouse is placed in an environment of mountains, rocks, trees and flowing water with small bridges. Five large trees of different types are scattered in an orderly manner, with lush branches and leaves. The mud walls and tiles of the farmhouse are clearly visible, and the living utensils in the house are clearly visible. A bamboo fence surrounds the corner of the house to the river, forming a unique small courtyard. From the opening of the fence, you can see the vegetables in the vegetable garden, and the huge banana leaves extend from the fence to the corner of the small courtyard. A domestic dog was frightened and barked around the big tree on the other side of the river. In the middle of the yard, an old man fell to the ground half-lying, holding a rattle in his hand and shaking it, making a sound like a drum. Next to the gate of the farmhouse, two centenarians sat facing each other and facing the drummer, smiling and echoing each other, as if they were talking about the happy time in front of them, and they seemed to be appreciating the filial scene in front of them. The blend of scenes is touching. The carving technique is exquisite, the details are precise, and the figure's head is as big as a grain of rice. Although it is difficult to distinguish the facial features, the shape is lifelike, serious, and expressive, which is amazing.
The agarwood wood carvings that can be expressed in this way are inseparable from the material. The materials used for wood carvings must have fine fibers and are almost blocky as mentioned above. However, the material will be lost if it is too blocky. Characteristics of wood carving. Similar to stone carving or coal carving, it is not a style of wood carving. Therefore, how to master the characteristics of the block while fully retaining the characteristics of the material is the key to choosing wood carving materials.
The article is selected from the public account of Changchang Silver Art Appraisal Database, which aims to provide everyone with high-quality art collection and appraisal knowledge and is updated every day.