Sandalwood, also known as Dalbergia, is an evergreen tree of Santalaceae, which is native to India, Australia and Africa. You want to know what it is? Let me give you a detailed introduction. Let's get to know it together!

What is this?

Sandalwood is a mysterious, precious and rare tree species, native to India and Indonesia. Sandalwood has a long history in China. From ancient times to modern times, people have a special love for sandalwood. Because it represents a kind of nobility and a kind of quality, it is the first choice of the people's health treasure here. Since it is a treasure of health preservation, the efficacy and function of sandalwood are definitely unparalleled. It is said that sandalwood beads have the effect of calming the nerves and helping Zen, which shows that sandalwood has a reassuring effect. Let's take a look at the efficacy and function of sandalwood with me.

Sandalwood originated in India and is widely used in Buddhism. It's called Buddha Tree. Among several popular geomantic omen, sandalwood has the function of attracting wealth and avoiding evil spirits, and is known as the "tree of attracting wealth" and the treasure tree of money. Historically, it was called "the tree of the royal family" because it symbolized power and status, nobility and power; Investing in planting sandalwood seedlings has the advantages of low investment, high income and high return. It is known as the "Huang Jinshu" of modern economic market and has high investment value. It is an ideal feng shui tree suitable for villa garden planting. Sandalwood has been widely used and used in human history because of its unique fragrance and medicinal value.

Sandalwood trees are produced in Southeast Asia, mainly in India and Indonesia. This kind of tree grows slowly, and its core material exudes elegant fragrance, hence the name sandalwood. According to ancient medical records, sandalwood is an important Chinese herbal medicine, which has always been valued by doctors and is called "Xin Wen; Spleen, stomach, heart and lung meridians; Warming the heart, appetizing and relieving pain. " External use can diminish inflammation, reduce swelling and moisturize skin; Fumigation and incineration can sterilize, drive away epidemics and prevent epidemics. Because of its preciousness, sandalwood was generally made into small ornaments such as beads and sandalwood fans in ancient times. Moreover, because of its unique fragrance, auxiliary function and great help to meditation, its sandalwood powder is also used in large-scale religious ceremonies. India and Indonesia have strictly controlled the export of sandalwood, and the only remaining sandalwood in the market is pitiful. The thick and large sandalwood that can be used as furniture is rare, so it is even more precious.

Sandalwood beads also have the functions of eliminating evil, drying, sterilizing and refreshing. The efficacy and function of sandalwood seems to be beyond words alone. Sandalwood can only be planted in Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi and Fujian in China.

How to identify sandalwood?

Sandalwood is the core material of sandalwood, excluding sapwood of sandalwood. It has no fragrance and is white. Sandalwood is a semi-parasitic small tree, with a height of 8 to15m, a DBH of 20 to 30cm and a small one of 3 to 5cm. Its source is the Indian Goda varia Valley, south to Mysore and Indonesia, east and west Nusa Tengga provinces and East Timor. In addition, sandalwood is also produced in South Pacific island countries such as Australia and Fiji, as well as Hawaii in the United States. China also has a history of nearly a hundred years of introduction.

The history of sandalwood utilization in China should be about 1500 years. Sandalwood is generally used for carving Buddha statues and making other handicrafts, for medicine or extracting sandalwood oil. When collecting or appreciating sandalwood and sandalwood carving works of art, we should grasp the following basic characteristics:

First, sandalwood is generally yellowish brown or dark brown. After a long time, the color is slightly darker and the luster is good. The patina is not as obvious as rosewood or Huang Huali. The texture is hard, delicate, smooth and feels good. The air-dried density is 0.87 ~ 0.97g/cm3, the texture is flat or slightly wavy, and the growth rings are obvious or not.

Second, the aroma is mellow and lasting, but it is not obvious for a long time. However, it is still rich when scraped with a blade, which is slightly light and natural compared with the pungent aroma of camphor and nanmu. Some people pretend to be sandalwood by soaking or spraying wood with artificial essence. The fragrance generally has obvious medicinal taste and is not lasting.

Third, wood pretends to be sandalwood. Sandalwood has wood that cannot be compared with sandalwood produced in India and Indonesia. The best quality sandalwood is produced in India, followed by Indonesia. Sandalwood is generally used as sandalwood in the international market, or other wood belonging to different families and genera, but with similar appearance and fragrant smell. Some manufacturers in our country mostly use white basswood, cypress, cotinus coggygria, birch and pine as raw materials, and after decoloring, dyeing, soaking and spraying artificial essence as sandalwood, they make sculptures such as fans, Buddha statues and beads.

Matters needing attention in collecting sandalwood:

Sandalwood has been used in China for a long time, which should be around 1500 years. Sandalwood is generally used for carving Buddha statues and making other handicrafts, for medicine or extracting sandalwood oil. When collecting or appreciating sandalwood and sandalwood carving works of art, we should grasp the following characteristics:

First, sandalwood is hard, delicate, smooth and feels good. Its color is generally yellowish brown or dark brown. After a long time, the color is slightly darker and the luster is good, but the patina is slightly inferior to rosewood or Huang Huali.

Second, sandalwood has a mellow aroma and lasts for a long time. The fragrance of sandalwood is not obvious for a long time. Sandalwood refers to the core material of sandalwood, excluding sapwood of sandalwood. * * * No fragrance, mostly white. Most of the newly cut sandalwood has pungent smell and special fishy smell, and has been stored for decades or even hundreds of years. At this time, the fragrance of sandalwood has been very moist and mellow, which can be described as the best sandalwood.

Third, we should be extra vigilant against the wood that pretends to be sandalwood in the market. In the international market, there are many kinds of sandalwood or other similar-looking wood belonging to different families, or they pretend to be sandalwood with fragrant wood. In China, it has been found that some manufacturers use basswood, cypress, rue, birch and pine. After decoloring, dyeing, soaking and spraying artificial essence as sandalwood, a large number of sculptures such as fans, Buddha statues and beads were made. However, the quality of other wood of sandalwood cannot be compared with that of sandalwood produced in India and Indonesia.