In traditional Chinese furniture, "cork" refers to a variety of locally grown woods that are used to make furniture. Generally speaking, the hardness and strength of these woods are not as good as tropical hardwoods such as rosewood, huanghuali, chicken wing wood, black soil, iron mahogany, rosewood, etc. This is different from the Western concept. When Westerners say "softwood", they refer to coniferous tree species such as cypress, cedar and cedar, while "hardwood" refers to deciduous tree species such as walnut, cherry and oak trees, but the latter are softwoods in China.

The most commonly used "softwood" in the production of Chinese classical furniture

Elm

Elm is the most commonly used wood for furniture in northern China. There are more than 20 varieties of elm. The tallest elm trees can grow to more than 30 meters and have a diameter of 1 meter. After the elm is cut open, its sapwood is yellowish brown, its core material is light brown, and its texture expands in layers like feathers. Elm wood does not dry out easily and is prone to cracking. Elm has medium strength, is resistant to decay, and is easy to process.

Beech

In China, beech mainly grows in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Beech trees can grow to more than 30 meters and have a diameter of up to 1.5 meters. The texture of beech is layered, which is richer than that of elm. Suzhou craftsmen call it "pagoda pattern". The wood of beech is also harder than ordinary wood, but it is not considered a hardwood. Among the furniture materials used in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, beech wood has an important position and has been valued since ancient times. Beech wood is a common material for making furniture in Suzhou. There is also a lot of beech wood furniture in the north, most of which have Ming-style shapes and workmanship similar to huanghuali. They have always been valued by craftsmen and collectors. Jiangsu craftsmen often divide beech wood into three categories: yellow beech, red beech and blood beech. The different ages of the trees cause differences in color and density. Those who are old and red are called "blood beech" and are the most prized.

Phoebe

Ming Dynasty literature often mentions that nanmu is a good material for making furniture. Nanmu is often used to make cabinets and bookshelves. It can also be used to decorate cabinet doors or make stationery. Phoebe grows slowly, with straight trunks. The tree height is between 10 and 40 meters, and its diameter is between 50 and 100 centimeters. More than 30 nanmu tree species are found south of the Yangtze River, especially in the southwest. The best nanmu comes from Hainan. Phoebe is extremely resistant to decay and is often used as building materials or shipbuilding. Phoebe is easy to dry, has stable wood properties, and is not easy to crack. Phoebe has a fine texture. After polishing, the surface will produce a charming luster. It is often called "golden nanmu" and is a very high-grade wood. Its color is light orange and slightly gray. The texture is elegant and quiet, the texture is warm and soft, non-shrinking, and has a delicate fragrance when it rains. All southern provinces produce it, but Sichuan produces the best. The Ming Dynasty court used it extensively. Nowadays, most of the Forbidden City in Beijing and the finest ancient buildings in the capital are constructed of nanmu. Nanmu is not rotten and has a delicate fragrance. The royal library, gold lacquer throne, interior decoration, etc. are mostly made of Nanmu. Important buildings such as Wenyuan Pavilion, Leshou Hall, Taihe Hall, Changling and other important buildings have nanmu decoration and furniture, and are often used in conjunction with red sandalwood. It's a pity that many people today don't know it. They often view it with a fetishistic mentality. They feel that the quality is not strong or heavy, and the color is not deep or bright, so they abandon it. Insiders regard its texture as the following names: golden nan, douban nan, fragrant nan, and gentian nan. In addition, among the people in Shanxi and other places, hardwoods such as mahogany, pineapple, and pear are often called "Nanmu", which originally means wood from the south. At first glance, it sounds very easy to be confused with this "nanmu", which is important to know.

Walnut wood

Walnut wood is easily confused with nanmu. However, its wood surface texture is coarser. Compared with the olive brown of nanmu, the color of walnut wood tends to be golden brown or reddish brown. There are several varieties of walnut wood in China that are suitable for high-quality furniture. "Eukaryotic peach trees" are generally planted in North China and Northwest China. This is a deciduous tree that can grow up to 20 meters tall and bears walnuts, which are edible. Its sapwood is light in color and its heartwood is reddish brown or chestnut brown, sometimes even purple. Walnut dries slowly but becomes stable thereafter. Since the "True Walnut Tree" is generally used for its fruit rather than for wood, the "Manchurian Walnut Tree" is often used instead. "Manchurian walnut" is found in North and Northeast China, and its color is lighter. There are also "wild walnut trees" in central and eastern China and Yunnan.

Sugarwood

There are many kinds of cedar trees, which grow in most parts of China. Cedar trees generally grow above an altitude of 2,000 meters. Cedar wood is often used as building materials. However, some varieties with stronger hardness, denser density and more uniform texture are also used to make furniture. The wood is light brown in color, has a straight grain, is relatively easy to dry, and has good strength, but it is not resistant to moisture or insects.

Galls

Galls are abnormal protrusions on tree trunks or branches.

The cause of gall trees is unknown, but their warty growth does not appear to be detrimental to the tree's health. The causes of galls vary; some believe they are the result of logging, fires or forest disasters, including bacterial erosion and even gnawing by woodpeckers. Certain tree species, such as camphor, elm, nan, cypress and willow, are more likely to develop galls. The texture of gall wood often has fine rotating patterns, and it is often difficult to identify what kind of tree they are. However, the same color, texture and texture usually come from the same parent tree. Due to the change in the growth direction of tree fibers, the branches of the trunk and the roots of the tree grow into a gall-like texture, such as the gall wood of nanmu. Among the gall trees that can produce large slabs, nanmu is the most preferred. Birch trees, which are ubiquitous throughout China, are also prone to growing gall trees.

Birch

Produced in Northeast China and North China, the wood is fine, white and slightly yellow, and the fibers have poor shear resistance and are prone to "stubble breakage". There are many patterns on its roots and nodes. The ancients often used it to make door cores and other decorations. Its bark is pliable and beautiful. Pu people are very sentimental about this and often inlay scabbards on the bowed back and other places. However, its wood is juicy and often deforms after it is matured, so it is rare to see tables and chairs made entirely of birch wood.

Poplar

The wood commonly used in northern my country is fine, soft, stable, cheap and easy to obtain. It is often used as an accessory for elm furniture and as a fetal bone for lacquer furniture on ancient furniture. This poplar is also called "small-leaf poplar". It often has a joke-like luster, so it is also called "satin poplar". It is not the kind of Soviet poplar, big-leaf poplar, poplar euphratica, etc. that were introduced in the middle of this century. Poplar often has a "smell" and is lighter and softer than birch. Birch has a slight fragrance and often has very fine brown-black water-soaked lines. This is the difference between the two.

Dumu

Also known as "Duli wood", it is earthy gray in color. The wood is delicate and unpretentious, with little difference in horizontal and vertical textures, making it suitable for carving. In the old days, this wood was often used to carve wooden boards and seals. I have seen miniature carvings of trademarks used by Shanxi merchants. The figures, boats and carriages, mountains, rivers, houses, etc. are extremely exquisite within a square inch, and there are hundreds of tiny characters on them, which is breathtaking. This version is carved from Du Mu.

Cypress

Cypress has a fragrance that can be used as medicine, and cypress seeds can soothe the mind and replenish the mind. Whenever people step into the lush Berlin, look at its nine-curved branches, inhale the fragrance that fills the heart and spleen, and think of the cold-resistant and evergreen character of these thousand-year-old trees, it is easy to purify people's souls. From this we can see the situation when the ancients used cypress wood to make furniture. Cypress wood is yellow in color, fine in texture, fragrant in flavor, resistant to water, and has many knots, so it is often used as "cypress rice cake" among the people. The best coffins are also made of cypress wood, which is more resistant to corrosion. The famous "Huang Chang Ti Cou" in the tombs of ancient kings unearthed at Dabaotai in Beijing is a barrier made of thousands of cypress logs stacked neatly. It can be used for aroma and antisepsis. It can be seen that its level among wood plants is high.

Camphor wood

is found in all provinces south of the Yangtze River in my country, and is abundant in Fujian, Taiwan. The tree diameter is larger, the wood is wider, the pattern is beautiful, and especially it has a strong fragrance, which can keep insects away. Our country's camphor wood boxes are famous both at home and abroad, including suitcases, lying boxes (court clothes boxes), top boxes and other varieties. Only tables and chairs are mostly in the Beijing category. In the old wood industry, camphor wood is divided into several types according to its shape, such as red camphor, tiger bark camphor, sassafras, rosewood camphor, watercress camphor, white camphor, ship board camphor, etc.

Walnut wood

Lüliang and Taihang Mountains in Shanxi are rich in walnuts. Walnut wood is the best wood for Jin furniture. The wood is polished and waxed. It will have a luster like hardwood, its texture is delicate and non-toxic, easy to carve, and its color is gray and soft. Its products were produced in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and most of them were of excellent quality. Available and hidden. Its woody features are only fine, needle-like brown eyes and light yellow filament-like growth rings. Weight and elm etc.

Calpa wood

The folk call the fruitless walnut wood Catalpa wood. The brown eyes of the catalpa tree are plain and dull, the color is dark, soft and less glossy, but its shrinkage is small, so it can be used as a door core. For desktop core etc. Often used in conjunction with Korean wood and walnut wood. Catalpa wood is lighter in weight than walnut wood, has a darker color, is pine in texture, and has large and scattered brown eyes, which are the main points of difference.

The most commonly used "hardwood" in the production of Chinese classical furniture

Red sandalwood

Rose sandalwood is one of the most precious woods in the world, mainly produced in the Nanyang Islands. Tropical region, followed by Cochin. Guangdong and Guangxi in my country also produce rosewood, but the quantity is not large.

Red sandalwood is an evergreen sub-arbor, five to six feet high, with compound leaves, butterfly-shaped flowers, winged fruits, very hard wood, red color, and sinks when it enters the water.

The understanding and use of red sandalwood in ancient my country began at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was recorded in Cui Bao of Jin Dynasty's "Ancient and Modern Notes" that it was called "red sandalwood. It came out of Funan and was purple in color. It was also called red sandalwood."

"In the Ming Dynasty, this wood was valued by the royal family and began to be harvested on a large scale. Due to the scarcity of red sandalwood, domestic sandalwood was quickly exhausted, and then officials were sent to Southeast Asia to purchase it. This became a regular practice and lasted until the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Not all of the wood purchased is for current use, and much of it is stored for future use. This kind of purchase is predatory to a certain extent. Therefore, almost all the fine wood produced in the Nanyang Islands has been harvested, especially rosewood. Those who could be turned into utensils were all bundled and shipped away. The main places where red sandalwood was produced in the world were the Nanyang Islands. Therefore, by the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, most of the red sandalwood produced in the world had been brought to China and distributed. It was stored in Guangzhou and Beijing. The rosewood used in the Qing Dynasty was mainly collected in the Ming Dynasty. Although new materials were also purchased from Nanyang in the Qing Dynasty, most of them were not thick enough to hold and the joints were not straight. This was due to the slow growth of rosewood. It cannot be harvested for hundreds of years. It was over-harvested in the Ming Dynasty and was not revived in the Qing Dynasty, so the source was exhausted. This is also an important reason why red sandalwood is cherished by the world.

This is why Europeans and Americans pay more attention to red sandalwood than our country. However, they had never seen red sandalwood as an aniseed material and believed that red sandalwood was not a large wood and could only be used to make small objects. It is said that there was a five-inch long red sandalwood coffin model in front of Napoleon's tomb. Visitors were all surprised and envious, thinking that it was rare when Westerners came to Beijing. After seeing all kinds of red sandalwood wares, I realized that the elites of red sandalwood were gathered in Beijing. So they bought them from many sources and shipped them back to China. Due to transportation difficulties, the red sandalwood wares were generally not purchased in finished form. , only those with patterns on cabinet doors and box surfaces are purchased, and after being shipped back, they are assembled into wooden frames for display.

There are two types of rosewood, old and purple. , all have irregular crab claw patterns. The main characteristics of rosewood are that its color is rhinoceros-shaped, and its annual ring patterns are mostly in the shape of twisted wires. Although there are also straight wires, if you look closely, there are always twisted wire patterns. . The bristles of red sandalwood are fine and the wood is strong. The way to identify new and old red sandalwood is that the new red sandalwood will lose its color after being soaked in water, while the old red sandalwood will not lose its color after being soaked in water. p>

The wood similar to rosewood is sandalwood, which is an evergreen shrub produced in Guangdong, Yunnan and other places in my country. Its leaves are long and crescent-shaped, with no petals at the leaf tip and a calyx split into four pieces. Stone fruit. The wood is strong and fragrant, and comes in two varieties: yellow and white. It is often used as a spice, or made into small utensils such as fan bones and boxes.

"Bo Wu Yao Lan" and "Zhu Fan Zhi". "" classified red sandalwood into the sandalwood category, and considered red sandalwood to be a kind of sandalwood. "Museum Summary" records: "There are several kinds of sandalwood, including yellow, white, and purple. People today use it, and it is popular in the Jianghuai River. Raw sandalwood is of this type, but it doesn't smell fragrant. "Also said: "Sandalwood comes from Guangdong, Yunnan, Champa, Chenla, Java, Bo Ni, Siam, Sanfoqi, Huihui countries, and is also found in Lingnan and other places today. The leaves are all like lychees, and the skin is green and smooth." "Sandalwood has yellow skin and yellow color, which is Dalbergia, white sandalwood has clean skin and white color, red sandalwood has purple skin, and is strong and fragrant, and white sandalwood is particularly good. . "The second volume of "Zhufanzhi" says: "The tree is like the Chinese lychee, and the leaves are also the same. The purple ones are called red sandalwood. "

According to "Chinese Tree Taxonomy": "Pterocarpus is a member of the Leguminosae family. There are about fifteen species, mostly found in the tropics. Two of them are produced in my country, one is red sandalwood and the other is rosewood. "Mr. Wang Shixiang's "Appreciation of Ming-style Furniture" said: "American Shi Hesifu once conducted a survey on red sandalwood and believed that the rosewood imported by China from Indochina was rose wood. "Judging from the existing red sandalwood utensils in China, at least some of them are rosewood. Whether other red sandalwood materials belong to the same tree species remains to be further identified by botanists.

Although there are many species of red sandalwood, they are There are many unique characteristics, especially the color, which is purple-black. The natural characteristics of rosewood furniture are mostly used, and the light element technique is used. The wood of rosewood is hard, the texture is fine and floating, and it is endlessly varied, especially its deep tone. Steady, elegant and beautiful. If too many carvings cover up the texture and color of the wood, it is not suitable for craftsmen.

Huanghuali

The color of rosewood is clear and beautiful. This tree species exists in Guangdong and Guangxi in my country, but the quantity is not large, and a large amount of materials are mainly imported. According to the "Museum Guide" records: "The rosewood is produced in Guangzhou (ie Guangdong and Guangxi) streams, and there is a flower palm tree. , the leaves are like pear but no solid, the wood is red-purple in color and the texture is fine, it can be used as utensils, tables, chairs, and study utensils. "Guangzhou Chronicles" says: "The flower palm is purple-red in color and slightly fragrant. Its pattern looks like a ghost face, also similar to civet spots, so it is also called 'flower civet'." The veins of the old are curved, while those of the young are straight. The knots and flowers are as round as money, and the ones with different sizes are better.

"Qiongzhou Chronicle" says: "Rosewood is produced in Yazhou, Changhua and Lingshui." "Huang Sheng of the Ming Dynasty once recorded in the "Western Tribute Code": "There are two kinds of rosewood, one is the rosewood, an arbor tree, which is produced in various parts of southern my country. One is Hainan sandalwood, a deciduous tree produced in various places in the South China Sea. Both can be used for high-end furniture. "The book also points out that Hainan sandalwood is stronger and finer than rosewood and can be used for carving. According to Chapter 29 of the "Antique Guide": "Rowanwood is the general name for sorbet wood, and everything that is different is the original pear wood. The wood is extremely hard and red in color, but the silk texture is extremely thick. ”

Our country has used rosewood to make utensils since the Tang Dynasty. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" written by Chen Zangqi of the Tang Dynasty states that "palm wood comes from Annan and the South China Sea and is used as a bed table. It is like red sandalwood but red in color. It is recorded in the Ming Dynasty's "Ge Gu Yao Lun": "Rosewood comes from Nanfan, Guangdong, purple-red, similar to Jiangzhenxiang, and also has fragrance. The flowers with ghost faces are cute, while the flowers with thick and light colors are low-profile. Most people in Guangzhou use it as tea and wine cups. "Hou Kuanzhao's "Flora of Guangzhou" introduces a kind of sandalwood called "Hainan Sandalwood" called rosewood in Hainan Island. Hainan Sandalwood is a specialty of Hainan Island, a forest plant that likes to grow in damp places in valleys. The wood is quite good , the sapwood is light in color and slightly loose, and the heartwood is reddish-brown and hard. The texture is exquisite and beautiful, and it is suitable for carving and making furniture.

It can be seen from the above records that there are more than two varieties of rosewood. , and huanghuali is the "Hainan sandalwood" introduced in the "Western Tribute Code" of Huang Province in the Ming Dynasty.

There is also a wood species similar to rosewood, named "musk wood". "Zhufanzhi" records: "Musk trees came out of Champa and Zhenla, and the old servants of the trees were submerged in the soil and rotted. The one who is mature enough is the best. Its smell is vaguely like that of musk, so it is called musk. If you cut down the raw wood to get it, the energy will be bad and it will be of inferior quality. Most spring people think it is used for utensils, such as rosewood and the like. ”

Rosewood can also be divided into new and old. Old rosewood, also known as huanghuali, has a color ranging from light yellow to purple red, with bright colors, clear texture and fragrance. Most of the more elegant furniture in the Ming Dynasty was old rosewood. Made. The color of new rosewood is reddish-yellow, and the texture color is slightly worse than that of old rosewood.

These characteristics of rosewood are often used and brought into play by craftsmen when making utensils, generally using full-body light elements. , without carving, thus highlighting the natural beauty of the wood texture itself, giving people a quiet and soft feeling.

Wenge wood

Wenge wood is also called "Qiji wood". Its wood texture resembles the wings of a chicken, hence the name. This kind of wood is produced in Guangdong and Hainan Island in my country. Qu Dajun's "Guangdong News" calls chicken wing wood "Hainan Wenmu". Some are white and some are black. It is divided into yellow and purple, and the wood grain is like fine flower clouds. The seeds are red beans, which can be used as jewelry. Therefore, it is also called "Acacia wood", and some poets called it "Red Bean Wood" because of its "solid". The sentence "Red beans grow in the south, and a few branches will grow when spring comes" refers to this. According to the "Essential Theory of Gegu": "The chicken wing wood comes from the western flower. Half of the wood is purple-brown, with crab claw patterns inside, and the other half is pure black, like ebony. . Those with a gap are more expensive, and the Spanish banana is like a camel's nose, so it won't be stained with fat. It is common to see people making sword targets, but they are not big enough. "But judging from the actual situation, this is not the case. The Palace Museum has a collection of all chicken-wing wood tables and armchairs in the hall. If we say that chicken-wing wood is more rare than rosewood and rosewood, it is a fact. If we say that chicken-wing wood is not as valuable as Materials, this is not the case. It is obvious that the author of "Gegu Yaolun" has never seen chicken wing wood aniseed material, so he made this conclusion.

According to Chen Rong's "Chinese Tree Taxonomy": "Wenge wood." It belongs to the genus Orzhizoma, with about forty species in total, of which twenty-six species grow in my country. "It can be seen that the henge wood furniture preserved today is not the same tree species. Wenge wood is also divided into old and new. How to distinguish it? According to the experience of old masters in the Beijing furniture industry, the new wood is rough, purple and black, and the texture is turbid. It is stiff and dull, and the wood fibers are prone to cracking and stubble. The texture of the old one is delicate, with purple and brown shades of crab claw patterns, which look like chicken wings when viewed closely, especially in the longitudinal section. Pattern. Because the texture of chicken wing wood is different from that of rosewood and rosewood, craftsmen need to repeatedly measure each piece of wood when making furniture, and try to use the parts with clean texture and beautiful colors on the surface to add beautiful shapes. The ancient and beautiful wood grain can add a strong artistic charm to the furniture.

Tieli mahogany

"Guangxi Tongzhi" is written as "Tieli wood". The ironwood is known as "rock salt" and "iron". It is produced in Guangdong, my country. The wood is hard and heavy, with a dark purple color. "Nanyue Notes" states: "The ironwood is very hard and has the first quality. Yellow, use it to make it black. The people in Lishan thought of it as salary, but when they came to Wu and Chu, they bought it at a high price.

"Because the material is large, it is often used to make large pieces of furniture.

The common upturned desks in the Ming Dynasty are usually about 3 to 4 meters long, about 60 to 70 centimeters wide, and about 14 to 14 meters thick. 15 cm, it is actually made of one piece of material. In order to reduce the weight of the object, a 4 to 5 cm deep groove is dug on the inside of the case. The iron pear wood is strong and heavy, and the color and texture are almost the same as those of chicken wing wood. It's hard to tell. Some individual components of chicken wing wood furniture are made of iron pear wood. All kinds of furniture made of iron pear wood are extremely durable.

Mahogany

Produced in Guangdong, my country. , Yunnan and Nanyang Islands. The leaves are long, oval and pointed, and the flowers are white and slightly ocher. The annual ring patterns are all straight filaments, and the bristles are larger than red sandalwood, and the color is similar to maroon. Chapter 9 introduces mahogany: “Any wood that is red can be called mahogany. However, the so-called mahogany in the world is a kind of wood, and the proper term does not refer to red wood. "Among the hardwoods, the wood of mahogany is second only to red sandalwood, but mahogany production is large and easy to obtain, so the world regards mahogany as less valuable than rosewood. Because mahogany production is large, the most exquisite parts of mahogany utensils are used. Those with defects will never be used. Therefore, furniture made of mahogany is still considered to be high-quality furniture.