Xiang Cheng, Volume 01: Incense Categories I · Agarwood from Various Countries
The first volume of Xiang Cheng is devoted to agarwood, the cornerstone of its twenty-eight-volume system of incense materials.
Volume 01 · Incense Categories I · Agarwood from Various Countries
Original Text (compiled and collated)
Agarwood is sinking agarwood. It comes from India, Jiaozhi, Champa, Chenla, Hainan, and other countries. The heartwood and nodes of the tree sink when placed in water, hence the name sinking agarwood. Its grades differ as sheng jie, shu jie, huang shu, zhan xiang, and chong lou: sheng jie forms when the tree is cut down with axes and the resinous veins coalesce; shu jie forms when a withered trunk rots naturally and the resinous fluid congeals.
Plain-Language Translation and Annotation
The first volume of Xiang Cheng is devoted to agarwood. Agarwood is the product of the resin secreted by an injured agarwood tree of the Thymelaeaceae family combining with the wood; because it is rich in resin and sinks immediately in water, it is called sinking agarwood. By the manner of formation: sheng jie is resin formed on a living tree after being wounded by axes, with a clear, uplifting aroma; shu jie is resin formed through natural decay after the trunk dies, with a mellow, full character; huang shu, zhan xiang, and chong lou differ according to the part where the incense forms and insect damage. This volume establishes the system of the entire Xiang Cheng: first know the incense materials, then discuss incense matters.
Annotations
- Sheng jie: incense formed immediately after a living tree is wounded, with a clear and uplifting qi.
- Shu jie: incense condensed during the natural decay of a dead tree, mellow and thick in flavor.
- Zhan xiang: incense formed at the edges of branches and trunks that is half-sinking in water.
- Insect-bored: agarwood formed when ants and insects bore into the tree trunk and the aromatic resin congeals along the boreholes.
Editorial Notes · On Editions and Compilation
Basis of the edition:The Xiang Cheng has been transmitted with the Ming Chongzhen-era printed edition as its ancestor; extant today are the Wenyuan Ge Siku Quanshu edition, the Siku Huiyao edition, and various Qing manuscript copies. This compilation takes the commonly circulated collated edition as its base text, with the Siku edition consulted for collation.
Collation for this volume:This volume compiles the producing regions of agarwood (Hainan, Champa, Chenla, Jiaozhi, etc.) and methods of authentication, frequently citing the Nanfang Caomu Zhuang, Lingwai Daida, Zhufan Zhi, and others; textual variants appear mostly in the transliteration of place names (e.g., "Champa" sometimes written "Champa"), and here the original citations in the Xiang Cheng are followed.
Facsimile cross-reference:The "original text" on this page is a collated transcription (punctuated and paragraphed according to modern conventions), not a facsimile of the original book; for character-by-character comparison, please consult authoritative public-domain editions:Full text of the Xiang Cheng in the Siku Quanshu edition (twenty-eight volumes) at Wikisource、Facsimile scans of the Xiang Cheng (PDFs including the National Library holdings) at Wikimedia Commons. This site does not fabricate ancient book layouts, and so substitutes links to authoritative public-domain facsimiles.