Cinnabar

Cinnabar (硃砂) (Vietnamese: chu sa, thần sa, đan sa, or xích đan) is a kind of red or red-brown mineral that often becomes smooth upon being ground. The red color of cinnabar used to be harnessed in the making of wax for Annamese women, according to Lê Quý Đôn’s Classified Discourse From The Library, Chapter Items, Section 126: “It is the Southern country’s custom to cut wax into small pieces, mix them with sesame oil, heat them gradually to a fixed temperature, let them cool down, knead them into bars, and scent them with flower. The wax bars serve an important function in women’s make-up. In the process of heating, mixing the wax with cinnabar would redden the bars, and adding tallow to the combination would lighten the color. We use the wax as gifts for the Great Qing’s emissaries.” To the people in the Northern country (China), cinnabar was utilized as a component in traditional Chinese medicine, especially in the “An cung ngưu Hoàng hoàn” (安宫牛黄丸) remedy for strokes - a well-known remedy since the Qing Dynasty of China (1). Furthermore, from this mineral, people could create vermilion pigments utilized in Asian lacquerware dating back from the Song (2), paintings of the Renaissance, and sindoor powder applied as a dot on a woman's forehead in India (3). <!> It should be noted that cinnabar, which is mainly composed of mercury sulfide, is extremely toxic. According to herbalists, cinnabar would become poisonous if taken overdose or used for a long period of time (4). Due to the mercury’s toxicity, the mining of cinnabar and extraction of mercury have caused mass poisoning in history (5).

*Sources: (1) An cung ngưu Hoàng hoàn: http://www.thaythuoccuaban.com/bai_thuoc_chua_benh_viem_dau/Ancungnguuhoang.html (2) Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of their History and Characteristics (Elisabeth West FitzHugh, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), page 159. (3) A lacquer dish from the Song Dynastry on Christie’s: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/a-rare-mallow-form-red-lacquer-dish-song-5633785-details.aspx?pos=1&intObjectID=5633785&sid&page=1&lid=1 (4) Chu sa (Cinnabar): http://www.thaythuoccuaban.com/vithuoc/chusa.htm (5) Gleaming and deadly white: Toxic cosmetics in the Roman world (Susan Stewart, 2014):http://www.academia.edu/8421616/Gleaming_white_and_deadly_Toxic_cosmetics_in_the_Roman_world_In_Wexler_P_ed_History_of_Toxicology_and_Environmental_Health_Volume_2 Written by Minh Châu and An Phương Translated by An Phương Photo taken by Nguyễn Hoàng, retouched by Chi Trịnh