Agarwood in Korean History

Agarwood restricted by social rank

King Heungdeok issued decrees to curb luxury and reform customs. The “Treatises” (Japji, 雜志) of the Samguk Sagi, in the sections on clothing, carriages and housing, list in detail the items each rank was forbidden to use. Alongside red sandalwood (紫檀) from Southeast Asia, agarwood appears again and again.

The true-bone (jingol) aristocracy could not use agarwood on carriages or saddle frames, while those of head-rank six and five, and the commoners below them, could not use it on saddle frames, palanquins or the decoration of their houses. Put the other way, agarwood was so widely used among the nobility that it had to be restricted.

Source

Samguk Sagi, vol. 33, Treatises 2: Clothing, Carriages, Utensils and Housing

Muslim merchants and agarwood from Champa

The National Institute of Korean History’s History of Korea examines trade between Silla and Arab and Persian merchants through the foreign luxury goods mentioned in the Samguk Sagi. It notes that, along with hawksbill tortoiseshell (玳瑁), the Silla nobility favored red sandalwood and agarwood, and that the agarwood was produced mainly in Champa (占城國) and Sumatra.

Champa was a kingdom in what is now central Vietnam. Its northern border met present-day Ha Tinh Province.

Source

National Institute of Korean History, History of Korea, Ancient III-2, “Muslim Merchants and Silla Trade” Original (in Korean)

Agarwood in the Seokgatap reliquary

In 1966, while the Three-story Stone Pagoda (Seokgatap) of Bulguksa Temple was being dismantled for repairs, a sarira reliquary set, sutras and offering vessels were found inside. Among them were pieces of incense wood and agarwood. That agarwood was placed alongside the sacred relics shows how highly it was valued. The finds are designated a National Treasure as a single set of reliquary objects.

Artifact

Sarira reliquary set from the Three-story Stone Pagoda of Bulguksa · agarwood pieces

Discovered

1966

An agarwood case for the Buddha’s molar

The chapter “Relics Brought Over at Different Times” in the “Pagodas and Images” section of the Samguk Yusa tells how a lost case holding a molar of the Buddha was recovered. The case had five layers, and the innermost was a box made of agarwood.

Source

Samguk Yusa, vol. 3, Pagodas and Images 4, “Relics Brought Over at Different Times” (前後所將舍利)

Qiongzhou agarwood from the Song emperor

The Song emperor sent physicians and medicinal materials to Goryeo. At the head of the list was Qiongzhou agarwood (瓊州 沈香) from Hainan Island, followed by Guangzhou costus root, clove, dragon’s blood and others.

Source

Goryeosa, Hereditary Houses, vol. 9

A Gwaneum statue carved from agarwood

King Uijong ordered craftsmen to carve a statue of Gwaneum (Avalokiteshvara) from agarwood, enshrined it in the inner palace, and then offered a meal to the monks.

Source

Goryeosa, Hereditary Houses, vol. 17; Goryeosa Jeoryo

A secret edict and agarwood in gold and silver boxes

Xu Deying, a Song merchant captain (都綱), presented peacocks and rare objects and, in accordance with the emperor’s secret edict, offered two boxes, one of gold and one of silver, filled with agarwood.

Source

Goryeosa, Hereditary Houses, vol. 18; Ahn Jeong-bok, Dongsa Gangmok

Gifts from across the sea

A prince of Mabar (馬八國) in southern India sent agarwood together with a silver-thread hat and a gold-embroidered handkerchief. In the late Yuan period, Zhang Shicheng (張士誠) of Jiangzhe Province and Fang Guozhen (方國珍) of Mingzhou each sent agarwood, agarwood Buddha statues, jade incense burners and other gifts to Goryeo.

Source

Goryeosa, Hereditary Houses, vols. 33, 39 and 40; Goryeosa Jeoryo, vol. 22; Jeon Nok-saeng, Yaeun Ilgo

Agarwood smoke in verse

Goryeo men of letters often wrote agarwood smoke into their poems. Yi Gyu-bo used it to paint a banquet in a splendid mansion; Kim Geuk-gi, a quiet afternoon at Hwangnyongsa Temple.

Agarwood presented by Japanese envoys

The Sejong Sillok (Veritable Records of King Sejong) records dozens of occasions on which the lords of Tsushima and Kyushu presented agarwood along with sulfur, sappanwood and black pepper, and received cotton cloth as return gifts. Agarwood did not grow in Japan either; Japanese merchants obtained it in Southeast Asia and brought it to Joseon.

Source

Sejong Sillok, vol. 1 (8th month of the accession year), vols. 2, 12, 14, 19–23 and others

Digging up agarwood on Palheumdo

Gwon Geuk-hwa, a former magistrate of Naju, discovered an old stele on the island of Palheumdo. Its inscription recorded that more than 300 monks and members of an incense society (香徒) had once buried incense wood there to make chimsuhyang (沈水香). The court sent Gwon Geuk-hwa to dig up the agarwood. The record attests to the custom of burying incense wood (maehyang, 埋香) in tidal flats.

Source

Sejong Sillok, vol. 15, 4th year of King Sejong, 2nd month, 29th day

“Even at twice the price”

King Sejong observed that agarwood was hard to obtain even in China, and that because the price paid for agarwood brought by Japanese merchants had been cut too far, they no longer brought it. He had the Ministry of Rites discuss a remedy.

Source

Sejong Sillok, vol. 58, 14th year of King Sejong, 10th month, 20th day

Agarwood thefts from the royal pharmacy

A servant of the Royal Pharmacy (Naeyakbang) stole tribute medicines and agarwood, and years later a male slave was caught stealing and selling cinnabar and a piece of agarwood. King Sejong rebuked them severely and had them interrogated by the State Tribunal (Uigeumbu). The episodes show that agarwood was a precious item kept under strict control at court.

Source

Sejong Sillok, vols. 23 and 107