Traditional Chinese Incense Culture

Incense culture is a refined aspect of traditional Chinese lifestyle art, with a long and storied history. It was particularly popular among the ancient Chinese nobility, scholars, and literati. Through processes such as discerning fragrances, engaging the six senses, presenting incense techniques, and practicing incense methods, all within a relatively standardized procedure, it allows individuals to experience life and gain insights into existence. This high-quality form of cultivation is also needed in the hustle and bustle of modern urban life. Placing an incense burner in the living room, lighting a stick of incense, closing one's eyes to rest, and quietly sensing the wonderful feelings brought by the fragrance can be quite beneficial. Incense can also help to refresh the mind, eliminate fatigue, and calm a restless heart.

Incense is an aromatic substance extracted from plants. It not only pleases the nose and nurtures the body and mind but also has the ability to purify and heal, as well as to nourish the spirit and promote well-being. The human fondness for incense is an innate trait. Incense, in its delightful aroma, arouses the spiritual agility of the mind, and in both tangible and intangible ways, it regulates breathing, clears the nasal passages, opens the orifices, and harmonizes the body and mind, with endless wonderful uses.

Incense Types

Incense is categorized by shape into coil incense, stick incense, and incense beads.

Coil Incense (Ring Incense): This refers to a type of incense shaped in a coil. Generally, there are distinctions in size and thickness. Large coil incense is thicker and can be hung vertically to burn or supported by an incense rack within an incense burner, commonly used in temples, Taoist monasteries, or ancestral halls. Smaller coil incense is often used for personal cultivation, health preservation, or entertainment.

Stick Incense: These are linear incense products made from various formulas, with specific regulations in thickness and length. Stick incense first appeared during the Yuan Dynasty and was also used as a unit of time measurement, hence the term "incense inch." Incense Beads: Made from a variety of fragrant medicinal materials, these spherical incense products can be worn or burned. They can also be strung together with a cord to form an incense necklace, which has the effects of calming the mind, focusing energy, and relieving stress.

Incense Quality

High-quality incense typically has the following characteristics in its aroma: it is refreshing and invigorating without causing dizziness even with prolonged use; it is mentally stimulating and pleasing without causing restlessness; the fragrance is mellow, neither too strong nor too weak, and does not feel irritating even when inhaled deeply; even if the scent is rich, it does not feel cloying, and if it is subtle, the fragrance remains clear and discernible; incense made from natural materials often has a slight astringent taste and medicinal flavor amidst the pleasant aroma.

• Color: High-quality Chinese incense materials usually have pure and bright colors. For example, cloves are deep red, cinnamon is light brown, and benzoin is pale yellow. Observing the appearance of the incense materials can provide a preliminary judgment of their quality.
• Smell: High-quality Chinese incense materials emit a rich and lasting fragrance. By smelling them, one can perceive the aromatic characteristics, such as the warm and elegant scent of sandalwood and the fresh and pleasant aroma of patchouli. 
• Texture: High-quality Chinese spices usually have a fine texture and are free of impurities. For example, benzoin is fluffy, Angelica dahurica is smooth, and agarwood is hard. Touching the spices can help determine their purity.
• Origin: Different regions in China are known for their characteristic incense materials, such as Sichuan pepper from Guizhou, dragon's brain incense from Yunnan, and bletilla from Guangdong. Understanding the origin helps in identifying the regional characteristics of the incense materials. 

Incense Effects

Good incense not only has a pleasant fragrance that brings joy but also helps people reach a state of tranquility and agility, achieving calmness amidst a relaxed and cheerful state of mind. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, aromatherapy is a form of external treatment known as "olfactory therapy." Various woody or herbaceous aromatic medicinal materials, when burned, can produce effects such as immune enhancement, evil-avoidance, sterilization, mental awakening, intelligence enhancement, lung moistening, and heart calming 

Traditional Chinese incense materials include sandalwood, musk, agarwood, and dragon's brain incense, each with its unique fragrance and uses. They are often used for incense burning, aromatherapy, and medicinal purposes. Using a single type of incense material does not fully utilize its flavor and health benefits, so it is common to blend multiple incense materials to create compound incense. 

• Agarwood： Agarwood is the dried woody part of the Aquilaria sinensis plant from the Thymelaeaceae family, containing resin. Natural agarwood is extremely rare and valuable, considered a top-grade incense in the culture of incense. It is mainly used for calming the mind and purifying the air.
• Sandalwood：Sandalwood is the heartwood of plants from the Santalaceae family, evergreen small trees that can grow 6 to 9 meters tall with parasitic roots. Sandalwood can purify the body and eliminate odors, as well as have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, helping to prevent skin diseases. It has the effects of refreshing the mind and soothing emotions.
• Musk： Musk is a secretion from the glandular sac located between the navel and genital organs of the male musk deer, which dries into granules or lumps. Musk is a central nervous system stimulant and can be used externally for pain relief and swelling reduction. In incense culture, musk is mainly used for awakening the mind and promoting blood circulation. Pregnant women should not use it.
• Dragon's Brain Incense
• Dragon's brain incense is the resin of plants from the Dipterocarpaceae family, shaped like ice flakes, hence also called ice brain incense. It has the effects of calming the mind and clearing heat and detoxifying. Pregnant women should not use it. 

Incense Accessories

• Incense Burner

The incense burner is the most common incense accessory, available in various shapes such as Bosan shape, Huo She shape, Jinshan Temple shape, Octopus feet shape, Ding shape, and three-legged shape. Materials are often ceramic, stone, or metals like copper. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, copper incense burners have been popular due to their heat resistance and diverse shapes. Other material burners usually have quartz or other heat-insulating sands at the bottom to prevent the walls from overheating and cracking.

• Handheld Incense Burner

A hand warmer is a small portable incense burner that can be held in the hand or carried around, similar to a heating stove. It comes in various shapes such as round, square, octagonal, and petal-shaped; the surface is perforated and carved into patterns like floral grids, auspicious designs, landscapes, and figures; the material is often ceramic or brass.

• Incense Censer

An incense censer, also known as a long-handled hand furnace, is a small incense burner with a long handle, commonly used for Buddhist offerings. The handle often features carvings of lotus flowers or auspicious animals. Incense censers were already popular during the Tang Dynasty and frequently appear in Dunhuang murals. They typically burn granular or pellet-shaped incense.

• Incense Tube

An incense tube is an indoor utensil used in ancient times to purify the air. It usually contains specially made incense or fragrant flowers, and the fragrance escapes through holes in the tube wall and lid. It was a practical item for ancient nobility. Its shape resembles the chopstick holders used by the common people in ancient times. Since it holds incense sticks for worshipping deities and ancestors, it is made and decorated with care, often adorned with auspicious patterns to show reverence to the divine and ancestors. Materials vary, with boxwood being the most common, but it can also be made from rosewood, bamboo, etc., with very particular material choices and exquisite craftsmanship, often featuring pierced carvings. Classic patterns include the Four Old Men of Shangshan, the Five Old Men of Huishan, the Six Recluses of Zhuxi, and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.

• Lying Incense Burner

A lying incense burner, also known as a horizontal incense burner, is used for burning stick incense horizontally and can be carved with auspicious patterns or mantras. Materials are often copper or silver, but nowadays alloys, wood, and ceramics are also used. 

• Incense Ball

An incense ball, also known as a perfume ball, is an ingenious device used in ancient times to perfume clothes and bedding. It is spherical with a long chain, and the sphere is hollowed out and divided into two halves that are connected by a mortise and ten on joint. Inside the sphere, there is a small cup suspended by an axis in the center. No matter how the incense ball rolls, the small cup always remains level, and the incense inside will not spill out. Due to this ingenious design, even when placed in a quilt, it will not overturn and extinguish, hence it is also called a "quilt incense burner," and its principle is the same as that of a modern gyroscope. Silver incense balls were commonly used in the lives of the Tang Dynasty nobility.

• Incense Holder

An incense holder is a base with holes used for holding stick incense. The base height, hole size, and number of holes come in various styles to accommodate stick incense of different lengths and thicknesses.

• Incense Platform

An incense platform, also known as an incense tray, is a flat plate used for burning incense, often made of wood or metal.

• Incense Box

An incense box is a container for holding incense, also known as an incense basket, incense case, incense letter, or incense chest. It is usually flat and round or square, made of wood, and comes in various sizes. The incense box serves not only as a container but also as a decorative item for the incense table or living room.

• Incense Bag

An incense bag is used to hold powdered incense or dried flowers, making it convenient to carry or hang. It is often a embroidered silk bag, and sometimes the embroidered bag is placed inside a hollow box made of stone, jade, gold, or silver; it has a silk cord and can be worn around the neck, also known as "wearing incense."

• Incense Seven-Piece Set

- Incense Chopsticks: Also known as "incense tongs," usually made of copper.

- Incense Press: Used to flatten incense ash.

- Incense Broom: Used to sweep away excess incense ash.

- Incense Spoon: Used to scoop powdered or pellet incense.

- Incense Shovel: Often used to handle incense ash, usually made of copper.

- Side Flat Press: A tool for pressing incense ash into different shapes.

- Silver Leaf Tweezers: A tool for placing silver leaf into a smelling cup.