What are the benefits and effects of agarwood? A detailed explanation

Agarwood comes in many varieties and is precious, and is the best sacred item for worshipping Buddha and spiritual practice. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that agarwood has strong antibacterial efficacy, its fragrance enters the spleen, clears the mind and regulates qi, tonifies the five viscera, relieves cough and resolves phlegm, warms the stomach and the spleen, unblocks qi and relieves pain, and can be used as medicine, making it a supreme grade of medicinal material. Its nature is slightly warm, and its taste is pungent and bitter. It promotes the movement of qi and relieves pain, warms the middle and stops vomiting, and helps the kidneys grasp qi and calm panting. It is used to treat conditions such as distension, tightness and pain in the chest and abdomen, vomiting and hiccups due to stomach cold, and rapid breathing due to kidney deficiency and reversed qi.

Medicinal benefits

Agarwood has a fragrant odor, a pungent nature, is slightly warm, and is non-toxic. It has effects such as promoting qi and relieving pain, warming the middle and stopping vomiting, and helping the kidneys grasp qi and calm panting. It is often used to treat symptoms such as reversed qi and fullness in the chest, rapid breathing and angina pectoris, accumulations and masses, vomiting due to stomach cold, cholera, cold sperm in men, and foul qi and malignant sores.

There are also many related records in traditional Chinese medicine classics. For example, "Essentials of Materia Medica" says it "can lower qi and drop phlegm and saliva, can both descend and ascend, and its fragrant qi enters the spleen, so it can regulate all qi and harmonize the middle; its color is black. Its body is yang, so it enters the right arm's mingmen, warms essence and assists yang, moves qi without damaging qi, and warms the middle without adding fire." "Daming Materia Medica" says it "harmonizes the middle and tonifies the five viscera, benefits essence and strengthens yang, warms the waist and knees, and stops cramps, vomiting, diarrhea and cold qi"; "Compendium of Materia Medica" says it can "treat upper heat and lower cold, reversed qi and rapid panting, deficiency constipation of the large intestine, qi strangury of urine, and cold sperm in men."

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, burning incense belongs to "aroma therapy" within external treatment methods. Pieces of agarwood do not produce an open flame. Burning slowly, they turn black and carbonize, and the curling white smoke released is full of fragrance. By using the odor produced by burning, it can immunize and ward off evil, sterilize and disinfect, refresh the mind and benefit intelligence, and support health preservation. It is said to also have effects such as repelling mosquitoes and preventing dampness, so it is highly favored by people. In the past, people commonly used burning agarwood to ward off evil, remove filth, and drive away ghosts; this is actually the reasoning behind it. Agarwood is also processed into traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces, such as agarwood powder, agarwood decoction pieces, and agarwood qu. Modern clinical trial research shows that agarwood is also a specific medicine for gastric cancer and a very good analgesic. At present, there are more than 160 kinds of Chinese patent medicines formulated with agarwood, such as Chenxiang Huazhi Wan, Chenxiang Yangwei Wan, Chenxiang Huaqi Wan, and Bawei Chenxiang Pian.

Collection value

After the agarwood tree begins to form agarwood due to disease, it undergoes a long growth period, requiring at least several years to more than ten years, but the formation of a piece of high-quality agarwood takes decades or even over a hundred years. Therefore, the output of agarwood is extremely small, while market demand is very large. It can be seen that agarwood is very precious and has high collection value.

In recent years, the transaction rate of agarwood auctions has been relatively high, and the transaction prices are often several times or even dozens of times the estimated price. The auction price of one gram of agarwood ranges from 1,000 yuan to over 10,000 yuan, and the highest price once exceeded 10,000 US dollars. It is reported that in Vietnam, which is rich in agarwood, the total output of high-quality agarwood last year was only 18 kilograms. In the auction market, international auction companies such as Sotheby's and Christie's have all offered agarwood, while domestic companies such as Hanhai, Guardian, and Guyitian have all successfully launched auctions of agarwood artworks and incense culture artworks. Among them, Beijing Guyitian International Auction Co., Ltd. has achieved a 100% transaction rate in multiple agarwood auctions since 2006.

Beauty benefits

In beauty products, agarwood occupies an important position. It is a fragrance fixative for various high-grade spices and beauty products. Agarwood can not only make the skin moist and comfortable, but can also remove stubborn spots. Just an extremely small amount of agarwood essence can make the scent of perfume and face powder last longer.

Environmental protection effects

The agarwood tree is a deep-rooted tree species and is the best soil and water conservationist. At the same time, the fragrant tree remains evergreen all year round and gives off a unique and elegant fragrance. Agarwood forests are quite beautiful, pleasant, and full of fragrance, making them suitable for recreation. The fragrant tree also has a magical characteristic: it repels insects without killing them, does not exclude other plant species, and can coexist and flourish with surrounding plants, thereby truly benefiting ecological maintenance, purifying the air, and beautifying the environment. It can be planted along city streets, around office buildings, in residential communities, in courtyard landscaping, and even in balcony pots.

Other uses

In addition to medicinal use, more and more agarwood health products and daily necessities are being developed, such as agarwood air freshener, agarwood sunscreen, agarwood toothpaste, soap, and shampoo. Sometimes it is even used to soak wine to increase the aroma of the wine. In addition, the wood, trunk heads, and roots of agarwood can all be used to make high-grade incense sticks for worship and incense burning. The bark of the fragrant tree is white in color and fine in texture, with tough fibers, and has been a raw material for making high-grade paper since ancient times. Paper made from the fragrant tree as a raw material is collectively called honey-fragrance paper or fragrant bark paper. The fruit of the fragrant tree can be supplied to factories for oil extraction and extraction of essence to make cosmetics or fragrant oil, while the leaves can be used to make tea.