养心殿镇物宝匣中木条的种属鉴定与历史考究

Identification and historical study of wood strips in the treasure box of the Hall of Mental Cultivation

养心殿研究性修缮过程中,位于正脊中央的镇物宝匣向世人展现了明清皇宫建筑中的镇物文化。镇物宝匣是皇宫内建筑的重要组成部分,匣内常放置多种镇物,其中有机质镇物变化较大。养心殿宝匣内装有金钱、元宝、宝石、丝织物及若干木条。其中木条已老化变黑,难以辨识。本研究通过传统微观结构观察法对其种类进行了鉴定。初步判断木条共5类,分别是白木香Aquilaria sinensis(Lour.)Spreng.、檀香Santalum album L.、交趾黄檀Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre.、阔叶黄檀Dalbergia latifolia Roxb.、大果紫檀Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz.。前两种属于香药,后三种属于红木类木材。三种红木的发现,也为嘉庆年间宫廷内使用此三种红木提供了直接证据。结合文献考证,可能是清宫廷内资源利用及官场的腐败等诸多因素,致使修缮官员以木材边角料代替了部分香药、谷物。养心殿镇物宝匣中木条种类的鉴定对揭示清中期宫廷镇物文化、木材的利用及社会背景具有重要意义。

During renovation of the Hall of Mental Cultivation(Yang Xin Dian),the treasure box located in the center of the ridge showed the culture of treasures in imperial buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Treasure boxes are an essential part of buildings in the palace.Often placed in the boxes were many kinds of items for suppressing evil,among which organic items have varied greatly.In the treasure box of the Hall of Mental Cultivation,there are coins,ingots,precious stones,silk fabrics and several wooden strips.The wood strips have aged and turned black and are difficult to identify.In our study,the species of wood were identified using traditional microscopic structure observation.According to the preliminary judgment,the strips are made of five types of wood:Aquilaria sinensis(Lour.)Spreng.,Santalum album L.,Dalbergia cochinchinensis Pierre.,Dalbergia latifolia Roxb.and Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz..The first two belong to fragrant herbs and the last three belong to rosewood.The discovery of the three kinds of rosewood also provides direct evidence for their use in the court of the Jiaqing period.In the light of literature research,the utilization of resources within the Qing court,the corruption of officialdom and other factors resulted in the replacement of some incense and herbs,grains with wood pin strips by officials in charge of restoration.The identification of wood strips in the treasure box of the Hall of Mental Cultivation is of great importance for understanding the culture of treasures and utilization of wood in the mid-Qing court as well as the social background of this period.