Chinese incense culture is an ancient and brand-new proposition.
Fragrance, smart, noble yet unpretentious; mysterious, profound yet approachable. It has accompanied the sages of the Chinese nation through the vicissitudes of five thousand years, and embarked on the glorious journey of Chinese civilization shining on the world. It inspires talents and great virtues, nourishes the minds and bodies of people with lofty ideals, and builds a golden bridge between the wisdom of man and nature. It is an important catalyst and promotion for the nurturing of the Chinese humanistic spirit and the formation of philosophical thoughts.
Human beings’ preference for fragrance is an innate nature, just like butterflies love flowers and trees love the sun.
Fragrance mobilizes the spirituality of the mind in the joy of joy, regulates the breath, clears the nose, opens the mind, and harmonizes the body and mind, both tangible and intangible. It has endless wonderful uses. It is precisely because of their deep understanding of this principle that emperors, generals, ministers, literati and poets in the past dynasties all cherished fragrance as much as gold and became addicted to it.
Fragrance can not only be leisurely in the study and piano room, but also be ethereal at the altar of temples; it can be used to reflect silently in a quiet room, and it can also be used to entertain people during the banquet; it can soothe the mind and enlighten the mind in the air. , and can actually cure diseases; it is both an elite culture and a mass culture. In fact, there is no fixed label for its origin, but its beauty comes from nature. Chen Qufei's poem "Burning Incense" in the Song Dynasty can, to a certain extent, represent the ancient Chinese's evaluation of incense:
The bright window stretches the quiet book, sitting silently to eliminate the dust;
It is about to be infinite. I mean, this is a stick of smoke.
At that time, I was precepted, calm and wise, and my wonderful offerings were both human and heavenly;
Don’t I know my friend, now my heart is clear.
The smoke from the furnace is solitary and green, and thousands of clouds are falling;
Leading into the sky leisurely, the mist is returned with the wind.
Things in the world have come and gone, and their nature has not changed;
It should be like the moon in the water, its waves are still round.
Human beings are naturally fond of incense, but the exact time when people began to use incense is difficult to verify. Judging from the existing historical data, the history of incense use in China can be traced back to before the Spring and Autumn Period. During the Han Dynasty, incense burners were widely used, and incense and lavender were popular in the upper class. The technology of blending various spices also appeared, and incense culture began to take shape. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the literati began to use incense more often. During the Tang Dynasty, incense made great progress in many aspects. During the Song Dynasty, incense culture reached its peak and was completely integrated into people's daily lives; thereafter, it was maintained and developed steadily in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The development of Chinese incense culture can be summarized as follows: it began in the Spring and Autumn Period, grew in the Han Dynasty, was completed in the Tang Dynasty, and flourished in the Song Dynasty.
Since modern times, the Chinese nation has had an unfortunate fate, and the development of incense culture has also been greatly hindered, and it has gradually been limited to temples and altars. Even today, many people regard incense as a corner of religious culture, and even include it in the category of feudal superstition, which is really a pity of the times.
From Liu Xiang, Li Shangyin, Li Yu, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian to Zhu Xi, Wen Zhengming, and Ding Wei, literati in the past dynasties have handed down a large number of poems about incense, from "The Book of Songs" to "A Dream of Red Mansions", from "A Dream of Red Mansions" to "A Dream of Red Mansions". From "Famous Doctors" to "Compendium of Materia Medica", classic works of all dynasties have records about incense...
Chinese incense culture has gone through thousands of years of ups and downs, leaving a rare wealth to the nation and history.
Looking at her today makes people worried, but what is exciting is that the Chinese people who have gone through the turbulent 20th century are beginning to look at traditional culture with a clearer vision. The merits and demerits of the book should be repaid with more intelligent love and cherishment of its brilliant essence; there are also many people who know, like and enjoy fragrance, and people who are interested in traditional culture, who are all concerned about her development; and involving The Chinese fragrance culture that has crossed the river of thousands of years should make people full of confidence that it will be able to overcome one or two twists and turns and once again show its charming brilliance.
You can also believe that he is not an old man who is conservative and alienated from the times, but a young man in his prime, with a jade tree in the wind and a transcendent world.
About the definition of incense culture
The word "culture" in Chinese first appeared in "Shuo Yuan" by Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty: "The sage rules the world first with virtue and then with force. . The reason for the rise of martial arts is because of disobedience; if the culture does not change, then it will be punished. "In ancient Chinese, "culture" refers to "civilization and enlightenment" and "enlightenment of the world with principles."
However, the word "culture" used in the vernacular today does not come directly from the "culture" mentioned in "Shuo Yuan", but is a translated word derived from the Latin "cultura". "Cultura" in Latin means cultivation, breeding, and domestication.
For many years, Eastern and Western scholars, whether philosophers, sociologists or archaeologists, have not been able to give a clear definition of the word "culture" because it has too many meanings. , unified definition. In fact, it is not only difficult to insist on a very strict essential definition, but also will destroy the inherent richness of "culture". However, there are still some views that are widely recognized, such as:
The first is a broad understanding. Interpret culture as the sum of material and spiritual achievements created by a certain ethnic group, and believe that culture is a whole social lifestyle, which is embodied in a set of traditional utensils, goods, technologies, ideas, habits, values, etc. For example, Arabic culture, Mayan culture, Chinese culture, etc.
If a certain part of this cultural whole can reflect the characteristics of the culture, it can also be called culture, such as Buddhist culture, tea culture, poetry culture, samurai culture, etc.
The second is a narrow understanding. Weakening the "object" factor and emphasizing the "heart" aspect, we believe that culture is essentially abstract. It is the spirit and temperament of an ethnic group, and the presentation of the ethnic group's way of thinking, worldview and deep psychological structure. For example, a person's ability to learn to speak is innate, but his or her ability to learn a language is culturally determined.
The third is a metaphorical explanation. Many scholars believe that culture should not be given an essential definition, but prefer to describe it in a metaphorical way. For example, culture is "the personality of a nation", "the form of spiritual expression of life personality", etc. .
With comprehensive reference to these three definitions of culture and related discussions by other scholars, we can make this description:
Chinese incense culture is the long-term historical process of the Chinese nation. , a series of items, technologies, and products that are gradually formed around the production, processing, compatibility, and use of various fragrances and can reflect the uniqueness of the Chinese nation’s spiritual temperament, national traditions, aesthetic concepts, values, thinking patterns, and world views. Methods, habits, systems and concepts.
Fragrance culture permeates many aspects of social life. The study of fragrance culture should also start from many aspects and involve a series of topics, such as the history of fragrance culture; the production, processing and compatibility of spices; and the development of fragrance products. ; The production and use of incense vessels (objects for making incense) and incense utensils (tools for using incense); incense and religion; incense and various cultural and artistic works, etc.
Spring and Autumn Period to Han and Wei Dynasties: The initial development of fragrance culture
Humans have a very long history of using natural spices. In the birthplace of the four major ancient civilizations, the earliest time of using spices was The available history can be traced back to 3000 to 5000 years ago.
It can be seen from the existing historical data that China’s use of spice plants began in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Due to geographical limitations, the climate in the Middle Earth is warm and cool, which is not suitable for the growth of spice plants. Therefore, there are not many types of fragrant herbs used in the Spring and Autumn Period. The main ones are orchid (Adenophora, not Chunlan), Cymbidium (Cymbidium), and Pepper. (pepper tree), Gui (laurel tree), Xiao (mugwort), Yu (turmeric), Zhizhi (Dahurian), Mao (lemongrass), etc. At that time, there were many ways to use fragrant wood and herbs, including burning (mugwort), wearing (orchid), boiling soup (orchid, rhubarb), boiling ointment (orchid paste), and using spices (turmeric). Enter the wine. "The Book of Songs", "Shangshu", "Zuo Zhuan", "Zhou Ji", "Shan Hai Jing", etc. all have many descriptions in this regard. As recorded in the "Book of Rites of Zhou": "The scissors used their palms to remove the kong and attack them, and used the grass to smoke them, which were all things for common insects."
People at that time were not only interested in these fragrant woods and herbs. Take it and use it, sing it and entrust it. For example, there are many wonderful chants in Qu Yuan's "Li Sao": "Hu Jiangli and Pi Yanxi, Ren Qiulan admires it"; "Drinking the magnolia in the morning and the fallen dew, eating autumn chrysanthemums in the evening", "Wearing mugwort at home" "The orchid is so beautiful that it cannot be admired", "The fragrant grass of the past is so fragrant, but now it is so dry", "The pepper is so slow that the rice is so slow, and the wood kills and wants to be used as a husband's drapery".
In the Qin and Han Dynasties, with the unification of the country and the expansion of its territory, spices produced in the hot and humid areas of the south gradually entered the Central Plains. With the activation of the "Land Silk Road" and "Maritime Silk Road", many spices from Southeast Asia, South Asia and Europe were also introduced to China. Styrax, chicken tongue incense, agarwood, woody incense, etc. have become the favorites of princes and nobles in the Han Dynasty. The prevalence of Taoism in the Han Dynasty and the introduction of Buddhism into China also promoted the development of incense culture during this period to a certain extent.
In the early Western Han Dynasty, before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, incense had become widely popular among the aristocracy, and there were incense burners specially used for incense. There are pottery incense burners and incense burners in the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha. Mao unearthed. Incense is particularly popular in the southern Guangdong and Guangxi regions. The incense stoves of the Han Dynasty were even introduced to Southeast Asia. A pottery stove inscribed with the words "Fourth Year of the First Yuan Dynasty" of the Western Han Dynasty was found in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty made a great contribution to the rapid development of incense culture in the Han Dynasty. During his reign, he opened up borders on a large scale and sent envoys to the Western Regions, which made the Silk Road initially formed during the Warring States Period truly smooth. While promoting exchanges between the East and the West, it also facilitated the introduction of spices from the Western Regions. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty seemed to like incense very much, which should have greatly promoted the trend of incense use in the Han Dynasty. According to legend, the "Boshan stove" (a simulation of the fairyland Boshan) is a kind of incense burner sent by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to make it.