"Tens of thousands of yuan per pound"? Can you really get rich by digging up the dark wood?

In November 2022, a Chongqing citizen discovered a 10-meter-long sunken wood on the bank of the Jialing River and subsequently reported it to the local management department. This incident became a hot news for a while.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

The behavior of this enthusiastic citizen is certainly worthy of encouragement. However, the discovery of the sunken wood itself does not have a particularly high news value, because sunken wood is not uncommon and is not as valuable as rumored .

01

What exactly is sunken wood?

The so-called dark wood refers to a special wood formed by trees in a humid, oxygen-deficient, weakly acidic environment . It is not a certain tree species, but a state of trees preserved in a special environment, so it is called the " mummy of the plant world ."

Generally speaking, large trees enter a humid, oxygen-deficient, weakly acidic environment because they are buried by geological phenomena such as earthquakes, floods, mudslides, and glacial movement. After thousands to tens of thousands of years, these buried trees may see the light of day again due to accidental opportunities such as farming, construction, or water level changes, just like a "time capsule" that brings us information about the past.

Generally speaking, sunken wood has scientific research value because it can provide some information on paleoclimatology, paleogeology or paleoecology .

In China, the dark wood is mainly produced in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Jinsha River Basin, precisely because these places have many mountains and trees, and are prone to geological disasters. There are many tree species that are prone to forming dark wood, basically trees with dense wood or containing aromatic oils , which can resist the first wave of decomposition by microorganisms when they are just buried by mud and sand, giving themselves a chance to become dark wood.

The dark wood in the ruins hall of the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu. Copyright image, no permission to reprint

According to the theoretical classification of modern wood science, dark wood is a kind of semi-carbonized wood . Its density is generally higher than that of ordinary wood of the same type. The main components, hemicellulose and α-cellulose, have been decomposed a lot. This feature makes termites, who are happy to eat wood and good at degrading cellulose, dislike dark wood. Termites don't eat it, let alone other borers. Therefore, dark wood is increasingly unpopular with decomposers, and has the characteristics of insect resistance and moth resistance.

As the dark wood is insect-proof and moth-proof, the ancients regarded it as a superior material for making coffins. The wood used in the No. 1 coffin chamber of the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, Hunan, is analyzed to be dark fir . The owner of the Mawangdui Han Tomb, Lady Xin Zhui, is buried in the No. 1 coffin chamber.

02

This "ebony" is not that "ebony"

Because most of the dark wood is black when it is dug out, it is also called "ebony" in the folk. However, the "ebony" of dark wood is not the same as the "ebony" mentioned in the national standard of rosewood (GB/T 18107-2017) . The ebony in the national standard of rosewood refers to some tree species with black wood in the Diospyros family, and their wood is black inside and out. The "ebony" of dark wood is only black on the surface. Although its internal color is generally darker than ordinary wood of the same type, it is not necessarily black.

For example, nanmu is generally light yellow to golden yellow. If nanmu becomes dark wood, it will often be brown or green. The dark wood described by Yuan Mei in "Zi Bu Yu" as "dark green and with patterns like brocade" is probably nanmu. Golden nanmu dark wood was once one of the most "hyped" woods in the collection market. Each ton of golden nanmu dark wood was once "hyped" to more than 100,000 yuan.

Nanmu, the right side is the gloomy Nanmu. Image source: taken by the author

So, is the dark wood still valuable in today's collection market? The answer is: No.

03

Tens of thousands of yuan per kilogram? Exaggerated!

Although the practical value of sunken wood is indeed higher than that of ordinary wood of the same type, and its quantity is relatively scarce, its market price naturally has room for negotiation compared to ordinary wood of the same type, but it cannot be said to be worth a fortune.

Today, most types of dark wood can be sold by the ton, which is about several thousand yuan per ton. Good quality nanmu is more expensive. However, some news media reported the news about Chongqing dark wood, saying that it can be worth tens of thousands of yuan per pound, which is too exaggerated.

When reading this news, everyone can't help but think of some legal issues. For example, if someone finds a piece of dark wood in the farmland contracted by his family, who should own the ownership of the wood? If he sells the dark wood, will it be illegal?

At present, there are different opinions in the academic community about the legal attributes of sunken wood . Some people argue that it should be classified as ownerless property, some believe it should be classified as buried object, and some believe it should be classified as natural interest - similar to how you can naturally obtain wool by raising sheep, and the income from the wool is considered natural interest.

These different characterizations will lead to different approaches to judicial practice, and there is currently no clear legal provision or judicial interpretation. It is no wonder that after receiving feedback from enthusiastic citizens, the local management department of the Jialing River in Chongqing felt that they could not manage it because they could not find any laws and regulations that put the dark wood under their jurisdiction - this is not shirking responsibility, but the fact is.

Fortunately, although this piece of sunken wood is large, its scientific research value and economic value may not be very high, so there is no need to worry too much about it .

Author: Desert Porcupine

Review｜Zhao Hu Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm

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