The history of the development of incense culture?

Western Han riding animal figures Boshan stove Spring and Autumn to Han Wei: the initial development of incense culture

Human use of natural spices has a long history. From the existing historical data can be known, the Spring and Autumn and Warring States, China has been a wide range of spice plants have been utilized. Due to geographical limitations, the climate of the Middle Kingdom is cool, not very suitable for the growth of spice plants, the use of incense wood and vanilla is not as diverse as later generations. Mostly used are Ze orchid (not spring orchids), cymbidium (cymbidium), pepper (pepper tree), Gui (Gui tree), Xiao (Artemisia absinthium), Yu (tulip), dahuric acid (Angelica dahurica), thatch (lemongrass) and so on. At that time on the use of incense wood herb has been very rich, there have been smoked (such as cymbidium, wormwood), wear (scented pouch, fragrant flowers and herbs), boiled soup (Zelan), boiled ointment (orchid ointment), into the wine and other methods.

The Classic of Poetry, Shangshu, Rituals, Zhouli, Zuozhuan, and the Classic of Mountains and Seas have a lot of related accounts.

People on the fragrant wood and vanilla not only take the use of, and song of the song, to the allegory. Such as Qu Yuan "Li Sao" there are a lot of wonderful aria: "Hu Jiang Li and open the Yan Ruoxi, sewing the autumn orchid to wear"; "drink Mulan's dew, and eat the autumn chrysanthemums of the fall of the Ying", "Household service to Ai to surplus to be Ruoxi, the orchid is not to be worn! ", "What is the grass of the past, now straight for this Xiao Ai also", "Pepper special sycophants to slow rice Ruoxi, wood kill and want to fill the Pei Doudou".

The Qin and Han Dynasties, with the unification of the country, the expansion of the territory, the southern hot and humid areas of spices gradually into the Middle Kingdom. With the "Land Silk Road" and "Maritime Silk Road" active, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Europe, many spices have also been imported into China. Incense, suhexiang, chicken tongue incense in the Han Dynasty have become the princes and nobles in the furnace. The prevalence of Taoist thought in the Han Dynasty and the introduction of Buddhism also promoted the development of incense culture in this period to a certain extent.

In the early Western Han Dynasty, incense was popular among the aristocracy before Emperor Wu of Han. The Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha unearthed a pottery smoker and smoked herbs.

Smoking incense was especially prevalent in the two southern regions. Han Dynasty smokers even spread to Southeast Asia, in Sumatra, Indonesia, has been found engraved with the Western Han Dynasty, "the first four years," the words of the ceramic stove.

"Boshan stove" in the Western Han Dynasty to the Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties of the seven hundred years has been widely popular.

With the widespread use of incense burners, the practice of incense smoking became more common. To the emperor's official to play the first incense (burning incense and clothes), play the matter also mouth "chicken tongue incense" (the buds of the clove tree produced in the South Seas, used to incense the mouth).

The Han Dynasty also appeared in the clothing can be placed directly in the incense "smoked cage", as well as can be covered in the quilt "was in the incense burner", that is, "smoked ball". (By the two hemispherical hollow metal sheet buckle together, hanging in the center of a cup-shaped container, in the container can be burned incense, even if the incense ball in the hands of the swaying shake, the container of incense will not be poured out.)

Incense utensils such as smokers (including Boshan burners) and incense cages were also common burial objects in the tombs of Han Dynasty kings.

The rapid development of incense culture in the Han Dynasty was greatly contributed by Emperor Wu of Han. During his reign, he opened up the borders on a large scale, opened up the Western Regions, unified the South Vietnamese, and opened up the sea routes, which facilitated the exchange between the East and the West while also facilitating the introduction of spices from the hot and humid regions in the south and from overseas. Emperor Wu himself had a very fine gilt-silver incense burner, so perhaps he also loved incense.

Wei-Jin and North-South Dynasties, although the war, but the incense culture still gained greater development.

The incense is more common in the upper class. At the same time, Taoism and Buddhism flourished, both advocate the use of incense.

This period, people have a deeper study of the role and characteristics of various spices, and the extensive use of a variety of spices to create a unique blend of aroma, the concept of "incense". Recipe for a variety of rich, and the emergence of many specialized in the treatment of disease medicinal incense.

The meaning of "incense" also changed, no longer only refers to "a single spice", but also often refers to "by a variety of spices in accordance with the aroma formula and made of incense", that is, later known as "combined". Later known as the "combined incense". From a single spice evolved to a variety of spices composite use, which is an important development of incense. Western Han Dynasty riding animal figures Boshan stove

Sui-Tang period: the maturity of the incense culture and complete

Sui-Tang period, although the upper class to the incense is highly respected, but a lot of suitable for burning spices, especially high-level spices are not produced in the interior, but from the border or outside the region, so the total amount of available spices is less, even for the upper class is rare, even the level of the slightly lower level of the official is difficult to enjoy, which largely restricts the use of incense, and the use of the spices to the upper class, and even the lower level of the government officials can hardly enjoy. This largely restricts the development of incense culture. And after the Tang Dynasty, the situation is completely different.

With the Tang Dynasty became an unprecedentedly rich and powerful empire, its foreign trade and domestic trade are unprecedentedly prosperous. Large quantities of spices from the western regions arrived in China via the Silk Road, which spanned the Asian hinterland. Although the Anshi Rebellion, the north of the "land silk road" was blocked, but with the improvement of shipbuilding and navigation technology, after the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the south of the "maritime silk road" began to flourish, so that there are a large number of spices through the two provinces of Guangdong, Fujian into the north. The prosperity of the spice trade, so that the Tang Dynasty also appeared a lot of specializing in the business of spices and spices. Social affluence and the growth of the total amount of spices, for the comprehensive development of incense culture has created extremely favorable conditions.

In the Tang Dynasty, a large number of literati, pharmacists, physicians and Buddhists, Taoists involved, so that the research and use of incense has entered a refined, systematic stage. The origin, properties, concoctions, effects, and compounding of various spices have been specifically studied, and the recipes for making combined incense are endless.

In this period, the use of incense also has a complete and detailed categorization: incense for guests, bedroom incense, incense for cultivation, etc. are different; Buddhist incense, Taoist incense, Taoist incense, different cultivation disciplines have different incense ...... can be said to be in the Tang Dynasty is a dedicated incense.

Like the previous emperor, many emperors in the Tang Dynasty, such as Emperor Gaozong, Xuanzong, Wu Hou, etc. are ten minutes of spice love, and relying on the strength of the country, in the use of incense in the grade and the number of emperors far more than the previous generation. Emperors through the place, and even to lobster brain, tulip paved the ground.

The prosperity of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty is also an important promotion of incense culture. Buddhist teachings and scriptures on incense is greatly respected, almost in all Buddhist activities to use incense. Not only to honor the Buddha to incense, but also in the monks on stage before the statement to burn incense; in the then widely popular bathing Buddha will be, to the top of the incense soup bath Buddha; in the Buddha Hall, the altar and other places are often splashed with perfume. Most of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty believe in Buddhism, the royal family Buddhist activities are frequent, the number of incense can be imagined.

In the Tang Dynasty incense, a large number of gold, silver, jade, even if imitating the style of the previous dynasty Boshan furnace, the appearance is more gorgeous.

Smoke ball (already appeared in the Han Dynasty), incense bucket and other incense tools began to be widely used. (Smoking ball by two hemispherical hollow metal sheet buckle together, hanging in the center of a cup described as a container, the container can be burned incense, even if the swaying and shaking, the incense will not be poured out. The incense pipe is a small incense burner with a long handle that can be held in the hand, clear

The filigree enameled incense plugs are mainly used for offerings to Buddha.)

Colorful Tang Dynasty incense burners such as incense buckets and boshan burners can often be seen in Dunhuang murals.

Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties: the prosperity and popularization of incense culture

After the Song Dynasty, not only Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism advocate the use of incense, but also incense has become a part of the daily life of ordinary people. In the living room hall incense, all kinds of banquets and celebrations and also want to burn incense, and there are people responsible for burning incense affairs; not only incense burning, there are all kinds of exquisite scented bags can be hanging wear, making snacks, tea, ink and other items will be adjusted into the spice; bazaar has a special incense store, people can not only buy incense, but also can be asked to come to the door for incense; rich and noble family of the women travel, often have The rich family of women traveling, often have maids with incense ball accompanied by around; literati not only use incense, but also hand-made incense, and call friends, appreciation and evaluation.

From the Song Dynasty history books to the Ming and Qing novels can be seen, after the Song incense and people's lives have been very close relationship.

This period, the formula of the increasing variety of incense, the production process is more sophisticated, but also more colorful in the shape of incense. In addition to incense cakes, incense pills, thread incense, etc., but also has been widely used "seal incense" (also known as "seal incense", with the mold to mix the powder pressed into the ring back and forth pattern or text), not only to facilitate the use of incense, but also added a lot of fun. In many places, seal incense is also used as a timekeeping tool.

With the "burning" incense is different from the "fire incense" method is also more popular: not directly ignite the incense, but the first ignition of a piece of charcoal (or combined charcoal group), most of it buried in the ash, and then a layer of charcoal on the heat-transferring sheet (such as the mica sheet), and finally in the thin layer of the incense. Mica sheet), and finally on top of the sheet put incense (a single spice or modification of incense pills), so slowly "smoked" baking, not only to eliminate the smoke, but also to make the aroma more soothing.

By the Ming Dynasty, incense had been widely used, and formed a mature production technology. All kinds of canonical books have a lot of records about incense, Zhou Jiaxuan compiled "incense multiply" is particularly rich.

Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" also has a lot of incense and spices, such as: incense, "decoction bath rubella, can cure the wind cold and rheumatism"; "frankincense, benzoin, camphor and burn the smoke fumigation, can cure the stroke"; "incense, honey incense, sandalwood, descending incense, suhexiang, benzoin, camphor, soap pods, etc. and burned to ward off the plague".

"Compendium of Materia Medica" also recorded the production of incense technology (extrusion into strips): with dahuric dahurica, Gan Song, Duhong, cloves, patchouli, horn fennel, rhubarb, scutellaria, cypress, etc. for the incense powder, add elm skin surface as a paste and agent, you can make incense "into a strip such as a line".

Index of incense, the Song Dynasty is the most noteworthy natural porcelain. Song Dynasty porcelain burning technology, porcelain kilns all over the world, porcelain incense (mainly incense burners) production is very large. In the shape or imitate the existing copper, or another innovation. Because the porcelain stove than copper stove price bottom, so very suitable for folk use. The most famous official in the Song dynasty, brother, fixed, Ru, Chai five official kilns have produced a large number of incense burners. Although the porcelain furnace can not be as intricately carved as the copper furnace, but the Song Dynasty porcelain furnace has become a simple and simple style, has a high aesthetic value.

In the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, began to popularize incense burners, incense boxes, incense bottles, candlesticks, etc. together with the combination of incense. To the Ming Dynasty Xuande years, Emperor Xuanzong had personally supervised, sent skilled craftsmen, the use of Chenla (now Cambodia) tribute of tens of thousands of pounds of brass, and add a large number of treasury gold and silver jewels and smelting, and manufactured a number of world-class copper incense burner, which is to become a legend of the "Xuande stove". "Xuande stove" has a variety of beautiful qualities, even with the current smelting technology is difficult to reproduce.

Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing literati, incense has become an essential part of life. From Su Shi's mesmerizing aria to the rich and detailed descriptions of Dream of Red Mansions, literary works of this period can be said to be full of depictions of incense.

And from Su Shi, Zeng Gong, Huang Tingjian, Chen Gaofei, Shao Kangjie, Zhu Xi, Ding Wei and others who wrote poems about incense, it can be seen that incense not only penetrated into the life of the literati, but also has been a fairly high grade. Even in daily life, incense is not only fragrant things, but also become a pleasure, aesthetic, enlightenment. Chemical flavor is one of the main raw materials of cosmetics of the wonderful things. Such as Su Shi's "and Lu straight rhyme"

, Zhu Xi's "incense world".

Incense culture in the modern period

Ancient incense, the use of natural spices, and since the modern era, chemical flavorings have become the main raw material for incense production.

Chemical flavorings are one of the main raw materials for cosmetics

Due to the development of the chemical industry, synthetic fragrances (i.e., chemical flavorings) appeared in Europe in the second half of the 19th century. These chemical flavors can not only roughly simulate the flavor of the majority of spices, and raw materials (such as petroleum, coal tar, etc.) easy to obtain, the cost price is extremely low, and can easily produce a very strong flavor. So it quickly replaced natural flavors as the main flavor additive in modern industrial production, and the same is true in the fragrance industry.

Compared with natural flavors, the use of chemical flavors produced by the low price of incense, naturally, manufacturers are willing to make, merchants are willing to sell, incense customers are willing to buy. So now we can see on the market the vast majority of incense is this kind of chemical flavor incense. Name sandalwood, incense, in fact, only the use of "sandalwood flavor" or "incense flavor" of chemical flavor.

Chemical flavorings compared with natural spices, although the fragrance is similar, and even stronger, but on the quality of the fragrance and tranquility, enlightenment, the function of the spirit, the two are not the same. Many natural spices are classified as superior medicinal herbs, while synthetic spices, which are chemical products, are harmful to health when used more often, even though they may smell good at first. Moreover, even in terms of smell alone, chemical flavors are only close to and far from being comparable to natural flavors.

The reason why chemical flavorings are so popular is that most people just burn incense as a ritual. Since they do not smell the incense, do not taste the incense, just burn incense, look at the incense, it is natural to ignore the incense materials, formulations and quality, and only focus on the appearance of the incense products beautiful or flavorful.

The extensive use of chemical flavors and chemical processing technology has also substantially changed the contemporary incense-making process. Although some traditional methods and techniques are still used, but that is only some peripheral, the form of retention, and the selection of spices, concoctions, compositions, fire and other core content have been discarded. One of the consequences of this is the interruption of the process of making incense and the loss of the recipe of incense, so that now there are very few people who are really proficient in traditional incense making techniques.

While chemical flavorings are now the mainstay of incense production, there is still room for those who like to savor incense with natural spices.

Now there are two main types of natural incense: one is the use of a single spice "single product incense" (or basically maintain the original state of the spice, such as blocks, strips or powder; or made of thread, disk incense and other shapes). Its quality is better than the chemical incense, but the direct use of a single spice, its flavor and health functions are not the best play, and many spices, such as sandalwood, in fact, is not suitable for use alone, the ancients have been very clear that "sandalwood single burning, bare burning easy to float on the creation of the gas, for a long time to make the God can not be safe." This single incense is only the original method of incense before the Han Dynasty. After the Han and Tang dynasties, the main use of "incense" (and a variety of spices and become).

The second category is the blend of a variety of spices made of incense, in the shape of incense, disk incense, and so on. The manufacture of traditional incense, not only to have natural spices as raw materials, but also to have a reasonable formula, strict concoctions and production technology. And now on the market can see the few natural spices of incense, according to my knowledge, but also most of the natural spices as raw materials only, and really according to the ancient method of production of authentic incense, a very small number of species.

Today, people ignore the intrinsic quality of incense, as well as chemical flavors and chemical processing technology, etc., have made the technical threshold of incense production has been greatly reduced, so that now the production of incense businessmen are large and small, scattered, the quality of incense also varies. The name of the incense on the shelves more and more fancy, more and more rich shape, more and more gorgeous packaging, and "gold and jade" within the less "incense". Low-quality lit only after the smell of burning grass, or although there is a strong fragrance but vulgar. These so-called incense, can be said to have the shape of incense in vain and spoil the beautiful name of incense. In the face of these fakes, it is no wonder that people are not willing to taste incense and appreciate incense. I wonder if Dong Po could still forget to write poems when he was here? And the gods and Buddha, ancestors, if you can really smell this smoke, and what will do ah?

While the incense and incense culture are inferior to the ancient times, but with the improvement of people's material and spiritual living standards, in recent years there are more and more people like incense, incense, and the quality of incense has higher requirements; at the same time there are more people who love incense, incense began to be committed to the inheritance of the traditional culture of incense and carry forward. Along with the further prosperity of the social economy and culture, China's incense culture is also bound to glow with vigor, in this great era, showing the wonderful charm of the millennium.

The development of modern incense culture since the late Qing Dynasty, the continuous wars and the political situation of the long-term unrest and the spread of Western social trends, so that China's traditional social system has been an unprecedented impact on the Chinese incense culture has also entered a more difficult period of development.

Tasting incense with incense to a large extent is a "luxury", so the development of incense culture especially need a stable and prosperous "prosperous" environment, and the modern social unrest, not only greatly affect the incense bucket trade and incense industry Development, but also make people lose the incense to enjoy the pleasure of leisure.

On the other hand, modern China in science and technology, military lagged behind the Western world, also triggered people's skepticism of the traditional culture, began to widely accept the West's modern cultural trends. The reflection on traditional culture that began at the time of the national crisis was inevitably too radical, and the resulting overkill, campaign-style criticism made many of the best of traditional culture to be mixed with the dregs and rejected, and even such concepts as purifying the mind and cultivating the body were criticized as negative attitudes. In this kind of radical reflection, with a distinctive traditional characteristics of the incense culture is also inevitable.

At the same time, with the transmutation of the literati class in the way of life and values, since the Wei and Jin dynasties have long supported the promotion of the development of the Chinese incense culture of the literati class of the power is increasingly weak. In this situation, has long been integrated into the factory study room and daily living incense culture is also fading away, lost peace of mind and nourishment, beautify life, cultivate the connotation of the spirit, and mainly as a sacrificial rituals are retained in the temple rituals