Chau Ju-Kua - University of Oregon Libraries

II,ll''-ll° STJ AXD CHAN GHAKU-ATOOD, ^ HUAXG-Sn^U-HWKG GHARTJ-WOOD. 207
lib.
SU AND CHAN GHARU-WOOD (jg ^ ^).
Shong (or fresli)-SM (^ ^g) comes from Chon-la and Chan-cli'ong, but
shou (or ripe)-si« (ft jg) has various sources. The Chon-la kind is the best;
5 the second class is the one from Chan-ch'ong, and the lowest that of Sho-p'o.'
We call shong-su that kind which is obtained from the wood of the tree cut
down for the express purpose (of getting it), and sJiou-su the incense remain-
ing 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
10 smell; for this reason the shong kind is superior to the shou.
A still inferior incense is called chan (§). Its source of origin is the
same as that of shou-su; but we call the incense which has fallen off the
tree from its own accord shou-su, and that which consists partly of wood
chan; it is partly shong, partly shou. Traders slice the wood with a knife,
15 in order to obtain the incense, of which the better pieces are selected to be
20
mixed with shou-su, in which state it reaches the market; nor can purchas-
ers distinguish it from the genuine article (i. e., shou-su-hiang).
11'=.
HUANG-SHOU-HIANG GHARU-W^OOD
Huang-shdii-hiang comes from several countries, but the Chon-la variety
is the best. It is so called because it is yellow (huang) and ripe (shou). It is
called hua-ng-shou-Pung (^ ^ ^^)
if its surface is hard, while the inside
is decayed, and if it is barrel (rtOT^)-shaped. When it contains tsien-hiang
25 and is black throughout, and when its aroma is particularly good, it is called
kia-tsien-huang-shou (^ ^ ^ ^);
of gharu^
Note.
this is the best quality of this variety
1) Nan-yiie-pi-ki, 14,3 says, speaking of Hainan liuang-shou-Mang, that it is divided into
30 Tcio-cKon ('^ JJ^) and Imang-ch'on (^w |5tl)'
t^iere is furthermore a kind of soft huangch'on
called la-ch'6n (4^ ^Jr£ «wax-gharu»). Kia-tsien-huang-sMu means literally nyellow-ripe-
containing-teieM-gharu».