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.

Due to different materials, there are differences in shape, workmanship, decoration techniques and making tools.

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 yellow-brown, the core material is light brown, and the 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 is mainly grown in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Beech trees can grow to more than 30 meters and have a diameter of 1.5 meters. The texture of beech is layered and 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.

Nanmu

It is often mentioned in Ming Dynasty literature 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"

It is a very high-grade wood. Its color is light orange-yellow and slightly gray, its texture is elegant and quiet, its texture is gentle and soft, and it has no shrinkage. It 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

Walnut 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.

Cedarwood

There are many types of cedar trees, which grow in most areas 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 health of the tree. 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 develop 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, pale white and yellowish, and the fiber has poor shear resistance and is easy to "break". 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 inlaid scabbards on the curved 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, and there is 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

Luliang 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.

Catalpa wood

Folks call the fruitless walnut wood Catalpa wood. The brown eyes of the catalpa wood are plain and dull, dark in color, soft and less lustrous, 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

Rosewood

Rosewood 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.

Rosewood is an evergreen sub-arbor, five to six feet high, with compound leaves, butterfly-shaped flowers, and winged fruits. The wood is very hard and red in color. It 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". It was called "red sandalwood, coming from Funan, with purple color, also called red sandalwood." By the Ming Dynasty, , this tree was valued by the royal family and large-scale logging began. Due to the scarcity of red sandalwood, domestic sandalwood was quickly harvested, and 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 the wood purchased is for current use, and a lot of it is stored for future use. This kind of procurement is predatory to a certain extent. Therefore, almost all the fine trees produced in the Nanyang Islands have been logged, especially rosewood. Anyone who could be turned into a utensil was bundled and carried away. According to the survey, the places where red sandalwood is produced in the world are mainly 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 stored in Guangzhou and Beijing. The red sandalwood wood used in the Qing Dynasty was mainly harvested in the Ming Dynasty. Although new materials were purchased from Nanyang in the Qing Dynasty, most of them were thick and rough, and the joints were not straight. This is because the rosewood grows slowly and it will take hundreds of years to become useful. Excessive logging in the Ming Dynasty, which had not been revived in the Qing Dynasty, and the source was exhausted. This is also an important reason why red sandalwood is cherished by the world.

People in Europe and the United States pay more attention to red sandalwood than in our country. The reason is that they have never seen red sandalwood as an aniseed material and believe that red sandalwood is not a big wood and can only be used to make small utensils. It is said that there is a five-inch long red sandalwood coffin model in front of Napoleon's tomb. Visitors are all surprised and envious, thinking it is rare. When Westerners came to Beijing and saw all kinds of red sandalwood wares, they realized that all the elites of red sandalwood were gathered in Beijing. So they bought it from many parties and shipped it back to the country. Red sandalwood utensils limited to the West are basically shipped from China. Due to the difficulty of transportation, the finished items are generally not purchased during the purchase. Only cabinet doors, box surfaces, etc. with patterns are purchased. After being transported back, wooden frames are assembled for display purposes.

Rosewood is divided into new and old types. The old one is purple in color and the new one is red in color, both have irregular crab claw lines. 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 red sandalwood bristles are fine and dense, and the wood is strong and heavy. How to identify old and new red sandalwood: new red sandalwood will lose color after being soaked in water, while old red sandalwood will not lose color when soaked in water; color will not come off when applied to new red sandalwood, but color will fall off when applied to old red sandalwood.

Similar to rosewood, sandalwood 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 tip of the leaf. The calyx is split into four pieces, and it is actually a drupe. The wood is hard and heavy, fragrant, and comes in two varieties: yellow and white. It is mostly used as spices, or made into small utensils such as fan bones and boxes. The wood is not as good as rosewood.

"Bowu Yaolan" and "Zhufanzhi" classify red sandalwood as sandalwood, and consider 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. The sandalwood grown in the Jianghuai River is of this kind, but it is not fragrant." It also said: "Sandalwood is not fragrant." The fragrance is found in Guangdong, Yunnan, Champa, Chenla, Java, Bodhi, Siam, Sri Lanka, and Huihui countries. It is also found in Lingnan and other places today. The leaves are like lychees, and the skin is green and smooth." Sandalwood with a yellow skin is called Dalbergia, a skin with a clean skin and a white color is called White Sandalwood, and a skin with purple skin is called Rosewood. It has a strong and fragrant aroma, and the White Sandalwood is particularly good. "Volume 2 of "Zhufanzhi" says: "It has a strong fragrance. The tree is like a Chinese lychee, and so are its leaves. The purple ones are called red sandalwood. "

According to the "Chinese Tree Taxonomy": "Petus sandalwood is a species in the Fabaceae family and is prolific. 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 China came from India. The rosewood imported from China is rosewood. "Judging from the existing rosewood utensils in China, at least some of them are rosewood. Whether other rosewood materials belong to the same tree species remains to be further identified by botanists.

Although there are many kinds of rosewood trees, they have many different characteristics, especially the color, which is purple-black. When making red sandalwood furniture, most of its natural characteristics are used and the light element technique is adopted.

Rosewood wood is hard, with slender and floating textures and endless changes, especially its deep color, which makes it appear stable, elegant and beautiful. If there are too many carvings, the texture and color of the wood itself will be covered up, which is unacceptable to the craftsmen.

Huanghuali

Rosewood has bright colors and clear and beautiful texture. This tree species exists in Guangdong and Guangxi in my country, but the quantity is not large. A large number of materials are mainly imported. According to the "Museum Guide" records: "Huali is a flowering palm tree in Guangzhou (Jiaozhi) stream (i.e. Guangdong and Guangxi). Its leaves are like pears but without solids. The wood is red and purple in color and has a delicate texture. It can be used as utensils, Tables, chairs, study utensils. ""Guangzhou Chronicles" says: "The flower palm is purple-red in color and has a slight fragrance. Its pattern is like a ghost face, which is also like a raccoon dog. It is also called 'flower raccoon'. The grains are straight, and the flowers are as round as money. "Qiongzhou Chronicles" says: "Rosewood is produced in Yazhou, Changhua, and Lingshui." Huang Province in the Ming Dynasty recorded in the "Western Tribute Code": "There are two kinds of rosewood. One is rosewood, an arbor tree, which is produced in various parts of southern my country. The other is Hainan sandalwood, which is a deciduous tree and is 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 harder and finer than palm wood and can be used for carving. According to Chapter 29 of the "Antique Guide": "Rowan pear is the general name for sorbet wood. All pear trees are derived from pear wood. The wood is extremely hard and red in color, but the silk grain is extremely thick."

my country has used rosewood to make utensils since the Tang Dynasty. The "Supplement to Materia Medica" written by Chen Zangqi of the Tang Dynasty records that "palm trees come from Annan and the South China Sea and are used as bed tables. They are like red sandalwood, red in color, and hard in nature." "Gegu Yaolun" of the Ming Dynasty mentioned: "The rosewood comes from Nanfan, Guangdong, purple-red, similar to Jiangzhenxiang, and also has a fragrance. The flowers have ghost faces and are cute, and the flowers are thick and light in color. Many people in Guangzhou regard it as Used as tea and wine cups. "Hou Kuanzhao's "Flora of Guangzhou" introduces a kind of sandalwood called "Hainan Sandalwood" in Hainan Island. Hainan sandalwood is a specialty product of Hainan Island. It is a forest plant and 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, suitable for carving and making furniture.

From the above records, it can be seen that there are more than two types of rosewood varieties, and huanghuali is the "Hainan Tan" introduced in the "Western Tribute Code" by Huang Shengzeng of the Ming Dynasty.

There is also a wood species similar to rosewood, called "musk wood". According to "Zhu Fan Zhi": "Muskey trees come out of Champa and Zhenla, and the old servants of the trees are submerged in the soil and rot. The ones that are ripe are the best. Its smell is vaguely like musk, so it is called musk. If you cut down the raw wood, you can get it. If the energy is bad, it is of low quality. People in Quan often think of it as utensils, such as rosewood."

Rosewood can also be divided into new and old. Laohuali, also known as Huanghuali, has a color ranging from light yellow to purple-red, with delicious color, clear texture and fragrance. Most of the more elegant furniture in the Ming Dynasty was made of old rosewood. 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, the whole body is made of plain light without carving, which highlights the natural beauty of the texture of the wood itself and gives people a sense of tranquility. , soft feeling.

Chicken Wing Wood

Chicken Wing Wood is also called "Qiji Wood". Its wooden texture resembles chicken wings, 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 cultural wood". Among them, some are white with black seals, some are yellow and purple in color, and the grain of the diagonally sawn wood is like a fine cloud of flowers. The seeds are red beans, which can be used as jewelry, so they are also called "Acacia wood", and some people call them "Red Bean wood" because of their "solidity". This is what the poet of the Tang Dynasty said: "Red beans grow in the south, and when spring comes they sprout a few branches." According to the "Gegu Essentials" introduction: "The chicken wing wood comes from the west fan. Half of the wood is purple-brown with crab claw patterns inside, and the other half is pure black, like ebony. Those with gaps are more expensive, and the west fan is made of camel nose twist. It is not stained or greasy. It is common to use it as a knife target, but it is not as big as it is. "But from the actual situation, this is not the case. The Palace Museum has a collection of chicken wing wooden tables and armchairs. If it is said that chicken wing wood is more scarce than red sandalwood and rosewood, it is a fact. If it is said that chicken wing wood does not have aniseed, it is not the case. It is obvious that the author of "Gegu Yaolun" has not seen chicken wing wood aniseed before making such a conclusion. .

According to Chen Rong's "Chinese Tree Taxonomy": "Wenge wood belongs to the genus Anthocyanus, and there are about forty species, and there are twenty-six species growing in my country." It can be seen that the henge wood furniture that has been preserved today is also Not the same tree species.

There are also old and new wenge wood. How to distinguish them? According to the experience of old craftsmen in the Beijing furniture industry, the new wood is rough, purple and black, the texture is turbid, stiff and stiff, and the wood fibers are prone to cracking and stubble. The old man's texture is delicate, with purple-brown and light crab claw lines, which look like chicken wings if you look closely. Especially in the longitudinal section, the wood grain is slender and floating, with endless changes, naturally forming various landscape and landscape patterns. Because the texture of chicken wing wood is different from that of rosewood, rosewood and other woods, craftsmen need to repeatedly measure each piece of wood when making furniture, and try to use the parts with clean texture and beautiful color on the surface. The beautiful shape and the colorful wood grain can add a strong artistic charm to the furniture.

Tieli mahogany

"Tieli mahogany" is written as "Tieli wood" in "Gegu Essentials". "Guangxi Tongzhi" calls ironwood, also known as "rock salt" and "ireng", produced in Guangdong, my country. The wood is hard and heavy, with a black-purple color. "Nan Yue Notes" records: "The texture of ironwood is very hard, and the quality is yellow at first, but becomes black when used. People in Lishan paid for it, and when they came to Wu and Chu, they bought it at a high price." Because of its large material, it was used to make it. There are more large pieces of furniture.

The common upturned desks of the Ming Dynasty are usually about 3 to 4 meters long, 60 or 70 centimeters wide, and 14 to 15 centimeters thick. They are actually made of one piece. In order to reduce the weight of the utensils, a 4 to 5 cm deep trench was dug on the inside of the case. Iron pear wood is hard and heavy, and its color and texture are almost the same as those of wenge wood. It is difficult to distinguish without looking carefully. Some individual components of wenge wood furniture are made of iron pear wood. All kinds of furniture made of iron pear wood are extremely durable.

Redwood

Produced in Guangdong, Yunnan and Nanyang Islands in my country. The leaves are long, oval and pointed, and the flowers are five-petaled, white and slightly ocher in color. The growth ring patterns are straight filaments, the bristles are larger than red sandalwood, and the color is similar to maroon. Chapter 29 of the "Antique Guide" introduces mahogany and says: "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." In hardwood, Among them, 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 red sandalwood. Due to the large output of mahogany, the most exquisite parts of mahogany utensils are used, and those with inferior defects will never be used. Therefore, furniture made of mahogany is still considered high-quality furniture.

To learn more, please refer to the reference materials.