Xiang Cheng, Volume 04: Incense Categories Four · Borneol · Musk
Borneol · Musk — Original text (compiled and edited), with vernacular translation and annotations.
Volume 04 · Incense Categories Four · Borneol · Musk
Original Text (Compiled and Edited)
"Tang Bencao": Borneol incense and its paste, produced in the country of Poli, shaped like white pine resin, with the scent of fir wood; the clear and pure is the best. Also "Youyang Zazu": The borneol incense tree grows in the country of Poli, called Gubupoli. Musk comes from Zhongtai and Guanshan; it is the scent sac of the male musk deer, with a pungent fragrance that penetrates all orifices.
Vernacular Translation
Borneol incense is produced in Poli (present-day Sumatra), namely borneol flakes, with a fir-wood scent; the clear and pure is superior. Musk comes from the scent sac of the male musk deer, pungent and able to penetrate all orifices. Both are essential ingredients for "lifting" in incense blending, used in extremely small amounts.
Annotations
- Country of Poli: an ancient place name, present-day Sumatra
- Borneol flakes: the crystals of borneol
- Male musk deer: the male musk deer; its scent sac is musk
Editorial Notes · Editions and Compilation Notes
Edition basis:The transmitted text of Xiang Cheng (Xiang Cheng) traces its origin to the Ming Chongzhen-era printed edition; currently known are the Wenyuan Ge Siku Quanshu edition, the Siku Huiyao edition, and various Qing manuscript copies. This compilation uses the commonly circulated collated edition as its base text and cross-checks it against the Siku edition.
Collation for this volume:Continued discussion on distinguishing authentic from counterfeit borneol and musk; the division of musk into "fresh incense," "shed incense," and "navel incense" is seen in various materia medica records.
Photographic facsimile comparison:The "original text" on this page is a collated compilation (punctuated and paragraphed according to modern conventions), not a photographic facsimile of the original book; for character-by-character collation, please consult authoritative public-domain editions:Full text of Xiang Cheng (Xiang Cheng) in the Siku Quanshu edition on Wikisource (twenty-eight volumes)、Photographic scans of Xiang Cheng (Xiang Cheng) on Wikimedia Commons (PDFs of the National Library collection and other editions). This site does not fabricate ancient book layouts, so it substitutes authoritative public-domain facsimile external links.