象牙是亞洲象的牙齒，一般都是雕刻成美麗的雕刻品，十分珍貴，也可藥用。
早在明朝時，李時珍的《本草綱目》已經記載了象牙的藥用效果，如象牙磨成粉能定驚、安神，還能祛濕解毒。象牙除了藥用外，象牙粉還具有美容的功效。
據說象是陽氣極盛的動物，所以多見於陰邪的地方，有驅邪的功能。象牙又是象身上最堅固的部分，在傳統文化中，它被賦予了風水學上的特殊意義：辟邪、招財、鎮宅、對於體弱多病、事業低沉、精神困擾者助力最大。雖然這些是人們對它的神話作用，但是也得到了很多人的認可。
象牙也經常在佛經中出現，並且在佛教中有著崇高而神聖的地位，因此在牙雕藝術中，以佛教為題材的牙雕藝術品也很受歡迎。
In China and Hong Kong, ivory has equal status as precious gemstones and is used in ornaments and jewellery. It's also sometimes used in traditional Chinese medicine. Some think that owning ivory will bring them good luck. China has the biggest ivory trade in the world and wildlife experts believe that around 70 per cent of the world's ivory ends up there.
This year China agreed to ban ivory tusks and ornaments coming into the country for twelve months.
The government has said it wants to completely ban ivory sales soon but it is still legal to sell older carvings and ornaments. This is a controversy as some feel that carving is a tradition that should carry on but others disagree and many ivory to be banned to protect the elephants.
