Gharu Wood

Chon-hiang comes from different places.

• The best is from Cambodia (Chon-la)
• The second quality is from South Vietnam (Champa)
• The poorest qualities are those of Sumatra and Java.

It is customary to distinguish between:

• Upper Coast countries: Cambodia and South Vietnam
• Lower Coast countries: Arabia, Sumatra, and Java

This incense is:

• superior if it comes from a living tree.
• inferior if it comes from a decayed one.

Its shape varies widely, leading to several varieties.

One looks like a rhinoceros horn (si-kio) and is called si-kio-chon “rhinoceros horn gharu-wood»)

Another which resembles the beak of a swallow (yen-k’ou), is called yen-kou-chohn. Anothher kind resembling aconite roots (fu-tsi) is called fu-tzi-chon.

Anothehr kind resembles a shuttle (so) and is called so-chon.

If the graining is well-marked and the veins are close togethehr, then it is called hong-ko-chon.

But, on the whole, when judging of the. quality, more importance is attached to fragrance than to appearance. Most people think it comes from Borneo, which is wrong.

Some authorities assert that shong-kie-chon or fresh gharu is pruned off the tree with a knife while still growing, whereas shou-chon, or ripe gharu drops from the tree of itself.

The produce of the Lower Coast is called fan-chhon «foreign gharu-wood».

Its smell catches the breath. Its taste is bitter and pungent.

It is used for curing chills. It is also called yau-chon medicinal gharu-wood.

Hainan also prodnces gharu-wood, called pong-lai-hiang, of a pure and lasting fragrance.

11. TSIEN-HIANG GHARU-AVOOD

Tsien-Mang is an inferior quality of gharu-wood, being similar to (ch’on-hiang) in fragrance and taste. But it is fibrous and not very solid, making it inferior to the chon-hiang, but better than the «ripe su variety.

11b. SU AND CHAN GHARU-WOOD

Shong (fresh) su comes from Cambodia and South Vietnam. But shou (or ripe)-si has various sources.

• The Cambodian kind is the best
• The second class is the one from South Vietnam
• The lowest is that of Java.

Shong-su is that kind obtained from the wood cut for it.

Shou-su is the incense remaining in the rotten wood of a tree which has fallen down.

The fragrance and taste of shong-su are lasting. Those of shou-su are apt to have a singed smell. This is why shong is superior to shou.

Chan is a more inferior kind. It has the samme origin as the shou-su, but it consists partly of wood. It is partly shong, partly shou.

Traders slice the wood with a knife, in order to obtain the incense, of which the better pieces are selected to be mixed with shou-su to be sold, so that purchasers cannot distinguish it from the genuine shou-su-hiang.

11c. HUANG-SHOU-HIANG GHARU-W^OOD

Huang-shdii-hiang comes from several countries, but the Cambodian variety is the best. It is so called because it is yellow (huang) and ripe (shou).

It is called hua-ng-shou-tung if its surface is hard while its inside is decayed, and if it is barrel-shaped.

When it contains tsien-hiang and is black throughout, and when its aroma is particularly good, it is called kia-tsien-huang-shou, the best quality of this kind of gharu.

11d. SHONG-HIANG GHARU-WOOD

Shong-hiang comes from South Vietnam and Cambodia. It is also found throughout Hai-nan.

It is cheaper than black kio-chon.

The incense is procured from the lopped-off young branches.

fresh is in the wood, off

an inch) thick, it is eh’on-Mang (JJg ^)^. is chan-Mang called (^ tsien-Mang If the called shdng-Mang. it is bark (over the gharu) has grown three-tenths If the thickness, (the gharu) also found is cheaper than that of black Mo^cJi’dn (,^ Its price is is it #). (^ ^); ^); when a (of an inch) in if it is five-tenths (of full inch thick, then it is lo Notes. 1) A character or two are missing in the text after the word «black)) be no doubt that this blank should be by the characters {tmi); but there can kind of gharu called «black» is the hio-ch’on variety. Supra, p. 158, our author says that shdng-Mang 15 was a product of the islands lying to the east of P’o-ni, presumably the Celebes; he was misinformed. 2) filled Jcio-ch’on, as the only In other words the quality of the gharu improves with the thickness of the bark over the gharu — ch’on-hiang, the best quality, being found in the heart of the wood.