Dragon's Brain Perfume : : An Historical Geography of Camphor / / R. A. Donkin.

• Superior document: Brill's Indological Library ; v.14
• VerfasserIn: Donkin, R. A.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden : : BRILL,, 1999.
• Year of Publication: 1999
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Brill's Indological Library
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

In the Dragon's Brain Perfume (a Chinese description of Camphor) once more the existence and importance of world systems of exchange becomes clear. In the pre-industrial world aromatic substances have always counted among the most prominent items of long-distance trade. The finest camphor came from Malaya, Borneo and Sumatra, but long-distance trade took it to societies at the geographical poles of demand - China and the medieval West already in late Antiquity (ca. 6th century A.D.). In India it was in use at an even much earlier period. The present monograph opens with a survey of aromata generally - origins, time and place of demand - from the Ancient Civilizations to the Age of Discoveries. Chapter two concerns the natural history of camphor; subsequent chapters are organized by regions (India, Western Asia, the medieval West, South East Asia, China and Japan), with a postscript on Origins and Diffusion. Evidence is drawn from an extensive range of sources in natural and cultural history.The work includes 15 original maps, 28 illustrations, and an extensive bibliography.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- MAPS -- FIGURES -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Chapter 1: Aromata -- Nature and Use -- Sources of Supply -- Time and Place of Demand -- Ancient and Classical Civilizations -- Jews and Arabs and Early Christians -- The Medieval West and the Age of Discoveries -- Chapter 2: Camphor -- Nature -- Extraction, Purification, Adulteration -- False Camphors -- Minor Sources of Camphor -- Major Sources of Camphor -- Dryobalanops aromatica -- Scientific Nomenclature -- Territorial Distributions -- Description and Ecology -- Timber -- Cinnamomum camphora -- Scientific Nomenclature -- Territorial Distributions -- Description and Ecology -- Record and Legend in China and Japan before ca. 1300 -- Local Expansion and Regional Destruction -- Distant Introductions and Cultivation -- Timber -- Blumea balsamifera -- Scientific Nomenclature -- Description, Territorial Distribution, Ecology -- Folk Nomenclature -- Camphor of Dryobalanops sp. and Cinnamomum sp. -- Euro-Indonesian Zone -- Sino-Japanese Zone -- Camphor of Blumea balsamifera -- Chapter 3: India -- Malabar Camphor -- External Sources of Supply -- Uses of Camphor -- Medicinal -- Personal and Domestic -- Ceremonial -- Chapter 4: Western Asia -- Late Antiquity and the Pre-Islamic Near East -- Jewish International Merchants, the Rādhāniya -- The Arabo-Persian World under Islām -- Literary Sources -- Properties and Categories of Camphor -- Environment and the Mythology of Production -- Areas of Production -- India -- Malay Peninsula -- Sumatra -- Trade -- Uses of Camphor -- Pharmacy and Materia Medica -- Fumigants and Perfumes -- Chapter 5: The Medieval West -- Southern Bridgeheads -- Greeks and Jews -- Arabs and Jews -- Southern France -- Northern Italy -- North of the Alps and the Pyrenees -- Uses of Camphor.

Alchemy and Pyrotechnics -- Medicine -- Chapter 6: South East Asia -- Blumea sp. and Blumea camphor -- Dryobalanops camphor -- Collection -- Camphor Speech -- Other Rituals and Superstitions -- Uses of Camphor -- Medicinal and Funerary -- Betel -- Trade -- Traditional Trade -- Imperial Trade -- Chapter 7: China and Japan -- The Supply of Camphor -- Lung-nao-hsiang. Dragon's Brain Perfume -- Malay Peninsula -- North-western Borneo, P'o-ni -- Sumatra -- Tribute -- Ai (ngai): Blumea camphor, and chang-nao: Cinnamomum camphor -- Uses of Camphor -- Aromata -- Materia Medica -- Postscript: Origins and Modes of Diffusion -- Bibliography of Works Cited -- Indices -- Persons -- Places and Regions -- Biological Categories: Orders to Species -- Ethnics -- Titles of Works Quoted in the Text -- General.