2 minute read
Tangmu
The term ‘Tangmu’ pops up occasionally and merits explana9on.
The term "Tangmu" rarely appears in Chinese written work. It is a general term used by experts in Japan and timber scientists who study the history of ancient Chinese civilization. It refers to precious wood used for handicrafts originating in China.
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According to Japanese wood scientist Sudo Akira, Tang Mu is used in fine woodworking because the wood has a beautiful appreciation value and can be used in high-quality furniture, joinery and other crafts. The term can include rosewood, ebony, iron knife wood, etc., Including incense, Gala, Mei Tan and other incense wood. From this it is clear that the term ‘tangmu’ was not historically related to any particular wood or tree but was a generic term for a family of imported woods deemed to have quality and value.
The name of Tang Mu is due to the fact that timber was imported by the Chinese during the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD). From today's perspective, the so-called precious wood is a decorative material from the leguminous and persimmon families, such as the sandalwood rosewood of the Leguminosae (which is the rosewood used in Ming and Qing furniture) and the rosewood produced in South and Southeast Asia such as Barry Dalbergia, Dalbergia japonica, Cambodian Dalbergia, Knife-like Dalbergia, Broad-leaved Dalbergia (also known as Indian rosewood or Mumbai blackwood), Dalbergia japonica, Burma's O. dantea (also known as Dalbergia japonica, flowering branch) (Or rosewood) and Indian Dalbergia.
The wood of the genus Dalbergia is divided into red rosewood and black rosewood. In addition to the Tangmu category, some of the wood species in the persimmon family are known by the Japanese as ebony and are also classified as Tangmu.
If a single wood could be called ‘Tangmu’ today it would be Pometia Pinnata Forst. It has edible fruit similar to lychee. The wood was used to make precious woodworks and handicrafts so the term ‘Tangmu’ has found use in the antiques market for its association with that craft trade but today it is used for construction material, beams, flooring and the like.
The heartwood is basically brown or red and rarely with streaks. The color of sapwood is light red brown. Under the trade name ‘Taun’ it is appreciated because of its obvious growth ring, no special odour, cross grain, even structure, excellent shrinkage factor, resistance to rot and good hardness. I would not categorise it as ‘exo9c’.
