Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are the three countries in the union of Indochinese, that border each other. The border areas between the three countries are mainly forests, where there is luxuriant vegetation of the evergreen tropical, including Aquilaria Crassna, the species that create the best type of Oud – Kynam.
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia - the union of Indochina, where Aquilaria crassna grows vigorously in large quantities.
Vietnamese Oud, from more than a thousand years ago was exploited and put into use, before the neighbors Laos and Cambodia (López-Sampson (2020), “History of Use and Trade of Agarwood”. Econ Bot 72, 107–129, 2020).
In Vietnam, for thousands of years, Oud has always been considered the quintessential, sacred item of Mother Earth. A long time ago, Oud is a rare wood, often used for offering to kings and royals. However, not everyone knows the legend about this special treasure.
"Seeking for Oud" – an arduous journey full of blood and tears
Oud is hidden deep in dangerous forests & it takes decades or millenniums to appear. People who have their jobs seeking Oud may have to exchange their lives to find this worth-a-fortune wood. Among a thousand Aquilaria trees, there may be only one tree creating Oud; among a thousand Oud trees, there may be only one tree creating Kynam.
Kynam is the first-class Oud, divided into four types (Nguyễn Thị Hiền (2009): Nghiên cứu bổ sung kỹ thuật nhân giống vô tính để phục vụ công tác cải thiện giống theo hướng tinh dầu. Báo cáo chuyên đề thuộc đề tài “Nghiên cứu đánh giá thực trạng và phát triển bền vững cây Dó trầm Aquilaria spp.” Hà nội, 2009) with four different colors:
- White Kynam (Bạch Kỳ): ivory white, light gray, extremely rare, the most expensive.
- Green-blue Kynam (Thanh Kỳ): blue-gray, greenish color, very rare and expensive after the white one.
- Yellow-brown Kynam (Huỳnh Kỳ): brown-yellow, golden brown, rare and expensive after the green-blue.
- Black Kynam (Hắc Kỳ): indigo black, tar, precious and expensive after the yellow-brown.
The thousands of-year-old White Kynam is considered the most unique and extremely rare aroma. “White the best, Green-blue the second, Yellow-brown the third, Black the fourth.” is an ancient statement that proves that color is not the only factor determining Oud’s quality. (Yang-yang Liu, Zhi-hui Gao (2017), “A Review of Quality Assessment and Grading for Agarwood”, Chinese Herbal Medicines, Volume 9, Issue 1, 2017).
Oud quality is determined by a combination of the tree species, color, and scent. (Barden, A., N. A. Anak, T. Mulliken, and M. Song. 2000. Heart of the matter: agarwood use and trade in CITES implementation for Aquilaria malaccensis.)
In ancient times, Oud was only used as a Fengshui, offering items was tributed to kings or only the nobility can use it, or a Fengshui item to bring in luck & fortune to owners.
0 comments:
Post a Comment