Understanding Agarwood
The foundation for anyone new to the subject. What agarwood actually is, why it forms, why it is so often described as one of the most valuable natural materials in the world, and what it means across Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Chinese and Japanese tradition.
Three guides to read first
If you read nothing else in this hub, these cover what agarwood is, why it costs what it does, and its deepest religious connection.
How agarwood forms
The biology behind the resin, and how wild and cultivated agarwood differ.
Agarwood across traditions
How Buddhist, Chinese, Japanese and Hindu traditions have used and valued agarwood.
Agarwood in Buddhism
From the Shurangama and Lotus Sutras to Tibetan smoke offerings and everyday devotion.
Read →Agarwood in Chinese culture
Tang dynasty court ritual, the Famen Temple find, and literati incense culture.
Read →Agarwood in Japanese culture
Kodo, the way of incense, from the Nihon Shoki legend to the Shosoin's treasured Ranjatai.
Read →Agarwood in Hindu tradition
Aguru, Ayurvedic medicine, and India's modern agarwood industry centred in Assam.
Read →From ancient trade to CITES
How agarwood moved around the world, and how its trade is regulated today.
Agarwood in four facts
The essentials this hub builds on. Each links to the guide that covers it in full.
- What it is
- Resin infused heartwood that forms when certain trees are wounded or infected and produce a fragrant resin as a defence response. What is agarwood?
- Which trees
- Species of the genera Aquilaria and Gyrinops, in the plant family Thymelaeaceae, native to South and Southeast Asia, southern China and New Guinea. Aquilaria vs Gyrinops
- Other names
- Oud (Arabic), aloeswood, eaglewood, gaharu (Malay and Indonesian), chénxiāng (Chinese), jinkō (Japanese) and trầm hương (Vietnamese).
- Trade status
- All Aquilaria and Gyrinops species are listed in CITES Appendix II, so international trade is legal with the correct permits. CITES explained
