檀香木从古至今都是珍稀昂贵的木材,属于古老的国际贸易货品。地理大发现后,商品的全球化流通时代莅临,檀香是肇其发端的重要货品。16世纪末开始,檀香木的国际贸易渐渐改由西人主要经营,先是葡萄牙人,继为荷兰人、英国人,然后是美国人,大批量运送世界各地的檀香木来到中国。清代中期以后,破坏性的砍伐导致盛极一时的檀香木贸易渐次衰落。

Sandalwood has been a rare and expensive wood since ancient times，belonging to the ancient international trade in goods． After 1500，sandalwood became an important commodity in international transaction．But the major traders for this oriental product were Westerners，Portuguese，Dutch，British，and later the Americans，who shipped bulk of the world sandalwood supply to Ming and Qing China． In the mid Qing Dynasty，the sandalwood trade gradually faded due to the destructive cutting of this precious wood in many of its producing places all over the world．