Origin: Southeast Asia (different from benzoin produced in the Middle East)
Xiangfang story:
Jin Xiangyan, a mysterious resin perfume, often exists in ancient books and fragrant cultural materials, but it is very rare today. Looking up and comparing the descriptions of the appearance characteristics of Jin and Xiang Yan in the import records of Song Dynasty, Jin Xiangyan conforms to the characteristics of benzoin.
Moreover, there is no record of benzoin in the import records of the Song Dynasty, which means that benzoin and Jinyanxiang did not appear at the same time. Benzoin is translated into Thai. Why? The pronunciation of the pronunciation device is the root word, which is basically the Chinese pronunciation of Jin.
Benzoin, produced in Southeast Asia, is the dry resin of Styrax, which is different from benzoin in West Asia and other places. Judging from the pronunciation, Jin may also be the antithesis of Malay. Today, many countries in Southeast Asia still call benzoin with similar pronunciation, so it is speculated that the two are very closely related.
There has always been a vague boundary between benzoin and Jin Yanxiang in history and literature. Jin Yanxiang has fragrance, and harmony can gather people's fragrance. Zhao's "Zhu Fanzhi" describes Jin Yanxiang: "It is the fat of wood, which is yellowish and black. It is better to spread white and have sand. Its strength lies in gathering fragrance. Today, it is used by wearers in Long Xianxiang. "
The fragrance of women described in Lu's Dream Order in Song Dynasty is mostly made of various spices. After drying in the shade, the prepared sweet cakes can be punched and tied to the chest, or they can be put in gold and silver hollow sachets and tied to the waist, which is both an ornament and a fragrant body. Slowly release as you walk, leaving fragrance everywhere.
Cookies can be printed in perfume molds, and cookies can be dyed in various colors. If you want to make a black Long Xianxiang cake, you can add a little cedar charcoal. This fragrance can also be processed into "soft fragrance", such as "Guangzhou Wujia soft fragrance", which is made of resin gold fragrance as the main body fragrance.
Jin is also used as a medicine in the Great Compassion: if the victim is poisoned by poison. Take the medicine to rob my brother. And the clumsy Luo Xiang. Divide equally. A liter of water came out of the well. Fried. Take one liter. In front of a thousand eyes. Say the spell 180 times.
The "clumsy Luo Xiang" here is benzoin. The rubber compounds of benzoin tree species in Thailand and Indonesia can't cure snake venom. However, in the Tang Dynasty, gold and Xiang Yan bought in the market were mixed with benzoin, which had the effect of treating snake venom. The literature on the treatment of snake venom in the Middle Ages also mentioned the use of "Jin Yanxiang" to treat snake bites.