Changes

*''Other Names'': 蘇木 ''(soboku)''

*''Other Names'': 蘇木 ''(soboku)''

*''Japanese'': 蘇芳、蘇方、蘇枋 ''(suou)''

*''Japanese'': 蘇芳、蘇方、蘇枋 ''(suou)''

Sappanwood is a tropical redwood which was a major luxury trade good imported from Southeast Asia into East Asia in the medieval and early modern periods. The wood has anti-coagulant and anti-bacterial properties which allowed it to be used for medicinal purposes, and was also used as a dye wood, to produce a variety of red and purple hues.<ref>Cesare Polenghi, ''Samurai of Ayutthaya: Yamada Nagamasa, Japanese warrior and merchant in early seventeenth-century Siam''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press (2009), 72n13.</ref>

Sappanwood is a tropical redwood which was a major luxury trade good imported from Southeast Asia into East Asia in the medieval and early modern periods. The wood has anti-coagulant and anti-bacterial properties which allowed it to be used for medicinal purposes, and was also used as a dye wood, to produce a variety of red and purple hues.<ref>Cesare Polenghi, ''Samurai of Ayutthaya: Yamada Nagamasa, Japanese warrior and merchant in early seventeenth-century Siam''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press (2009), 72n13.</ref> It was also used directly as wood for cabinetry and the like, and is valued for its ability to take a high polish.<ref>Nagazumi Yoko. "Ayutthaya and Japan: Embassies and Trade in the Seventeenth Century." in Kennon Breazeale (ed.). ''From Japan to Arabia: Ayutthaya's Maritime Relations with Asia''. Bangkok: The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Sciences and Humanities Textbook Project (1999), 103n5.</ref>

Sappanwood was imported from Southeast Asia by [[Goryeo]] Dynasty Korea as early as the 14th century, if not earlier, alongside other aromatic woods, and other tropical products.<ref>Geoffrey Gunn, ''History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000-1800'', Hong Kong University Press (2011), 217.</ref> In the [[Edo period]], sappanwood became one of a number of Southeast Asian products which was imported at [[Nagasaki]] and then shipped to [[Tsushima han|Tsushima]], to be presented to the [[Joseon|Korean]] court as [[tribute]] items.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 56-59.</ref> Korea then included sappanwood among the exotic goods it offered to the [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] Chinese court, as tribute.<ref>Angela Schottenhammer. "The East Asian maritime world, 1400-1800: Its fabrics of power and dynamics of exchanges - China and her neighbors." in Schottenhammer (ed.) ''The East Asian maritime world, 1400-1800: Its fabrics of power and dynamics of exchanges''. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007, 56.</ref> Sappanwood was also prominent among the tribute goods offered by the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]] to the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] court, and among the trade goods brought by Japanese merchant missions to Ming dynasty China, under the "[[kango boeki|tally trade]]" system of the 15th century.<ref>Tanaka Takeo, "Japan's Relations with Overseas Countries," in [[John Whitney Hall]] and Toyoda Takeshi (eds.) ''Japan in the Muromachi Age'', Cornell University East Asia Program (2001), 167.</ref>

Sappanwood was imported from Southeast Asia by [[Goryeo]] Dynasty Korea as early as the 14th century, if not earlier, alongside other aromatic woods, and other tropical products.<ref>Geoffrey Gunn, ''History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region, 1000-1800'', Hong Kong University Press (2011), 217.</ref> In the [[Edo period]], sappanwood became one of a number of Southeast Asian products which was imported at [[Nagasaki]] and then shipped to [[Tsushima han|Tsushima]], to be presented to the [[Joseon|Korean]] court as [[tribute]] items.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 56-59.</ref> Korea then included sappanwood among the exotic goods it offered to the [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] Chinese court, as tribute.<ref>Angela Schottenhammer. "The East Asian maritime world, 1400-1800: Its fabrics of power and dynamics of exchanges - China and her neighbors." in Schottenhammer (ed.) ''The East Asian maritime world, 1400-1800: Its fabrics of power and dynamics of exchanges''. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007, 56.</ref> Sappanwood was also prominent among the tribute goods offered by the [[Kingdom of Ryukyu|Kingdom of Ryûkyû]] to the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] court, and among the trade goods brought by Japanese merchant missions to Ming dynasty China, under the "[[kango boeki|tally trade]]" system of the 15th century.<ref>Tanaka Takeo, "Japan's Relations with Overseas Countries," in [[John Whitney Hall]] and Toyoda Takeshi (eds.) ''Japan in the Muromachi Age'', Cornell University East Asia Program (2001), 167.</ref>