Burning incense is still; poetry is in motion. The Chinese wrote a wisp of incense into parting sorrow, night sittings, banquets, and longing. The following is compiled by dynasty, with each poem noting its source and incense imagery.
Qu Yuan compared fragrant herbs to the noble man, founding the tradition of “fragrant herbs and beautiful persons.” Below are lines on incense from the Li Sao and Jiu Ge—they are the spiritual source of Chinese incense culture (for explanations of the fragrant herbs, seeFragrant Herbs in the Chu Ci and Shi Jing）。
Draped in jiangli and bizhi, I twined autumn orchid for a girdle.
At dawn I plucked magnolia on the slope; at dusk I gathered su mang from the isle.
Mixed with shenjiao and jun cinnamon—how could it be only twined hui and chai?
Beds of liuyi and jieche, mixed with duheng and fragrant zhi.
Note: Jiangli, bizhi, autumn orchid, magnolia, su mang, shenjiao, jun cinnamon, hui, chai, liuyi, jieche, duheng, and fragrant zhi—all fragrant herbs, symbolizing noble purity. The poet gathers them from dawn to dusk and wears them as a girdle; this is the earliest personification of “fragrance.”
Hui-wrapped offerings steamed, orchid-laid; we pour cinnamon wine and pepper broth.
Note: Wrapping sacrificial meat in hui grass, laying offerings on orchid, pouring cinnamon wine and pepper broth to sacrifice to the gods—incense used in sacrificial rites, coming from the shamanic customs of Chu.
Autumn orchid and miwu spread below the hall. Green leaves and white blossoms—their fragrance wafts over me.
Note: “Their fragrance wafts over me”—the scent comes in waves, an early fine line describing “the assault of fragrance.”
Clad in stone orchids and girdled with duheng, I pluck fragrant blooms to send to the one I long for.
In the boudoir the wind is warm; on the paths the grass is fragrant.
Note: "Grass fragrant" (cao xun) means the scent of grass, depicting a spring outing and parting, where fragrance and the sorrow of separation share the same warmth. In the short rhapsodies of the Six Dynasties, writing about fragrance had already entered daily life.
Faintly the fragrance of hidden orchids rises; she paces hesitantly at the mountain's corner.
Note: The fragrance of hidden orchids depicts the gait of the Goddess of the Luo; fragrance becomes the bearing of the goddess.
The famous flower and the beauty of a nation rejoice together; the sovereign forever looks on with a smile.
Explaining away the boundless sorrow of the spring breeze, she leans on the railing north of the Agarwood Pavilion.
Note: The Agarwood Pavilion (Chenxiang Ting) was a pavilion built of agarwood in the Tang Xingqing Palace. "North of the Agarwood Pavilion" thus became a fragrant place-name associated with the imperial consort and peonies. Agarwood is prized as wood, and the pavilion is named for its fragrance.
Agarwood fire in the Boshan censer; twin smokes as one breath rise beyond the purple clouds.
Note: The Boshan censer is a beast-shaped or mountain-shaped incense burner popular since the Han dynasty; agarwood fire is the smoke of burning agarwood. "Twin smokes as one breath" depicts the love between man and woman as intertwining like incense smoke.
Her rosy beauty not yet old, his favor already cut off; she leans slanted by the incense cage and sits until dawn.
Note: The incense cage (xun long) is a bamboo frame placed over a brazier to scent clothing and bedding. The palace lady sits by the incense cage at night, fragrance and loneliness growing together.
The golden toad bites the lock and incense smoke enters; the jade tiger pulls the silk and the well bucket returns.
Note: The golden toad is a beast-shaped (toad-shaped) incense burner; "incense enters" means incense is burned within. The censer is set against the well windlass, depicting the deep, secluded silence of the courtyard.
In the phoenix-dance mirror case she puts away the faded kohl; in the sleeping-duck censer the evening incense is changed.
Note: Shuiya (sleeping duck), a duck-shaped incense burner; xixun, changing incense in the evening. At the start of the night, changing incense serves as a ritual.
Small hills overlap, golden light flickers; cloudy hair is about to pass over fragrant cheeks white as snow.
Note: Although burning incense is not directly described, "fragrant cheeks" uses fragrance as a metaphor for skin—a customary device of late Tang erotic ci poetry.
In a golden box is held red snow; a fragrant sachet is tied again with flowers on four sides.
Note: Xiangnang, a sachet for holding fragrance, worn by both men and women in the Tang dynasty. Red snow may be a metaphor for fragrant powder.
The lilac's body is soft and weak, its tangled knots on the branch still padded. Fine leaves bear floating hairs, sparse flowers display plain beauty.
Note: Lilac (jixiang, clove) can be used both as medicine and as incense; Tang people used it to hold in the mouth to remove odor, and later it became an image of "knotted sorrow."
Thin mist and dense clouds, sorrow through the long day; ruinao burns away in the golden beast. The festival is again Chongyang; on the jade pillow and in the gauze curtain, the midnight cool first seeps through.
After dusk, holding wine by the eastern hedge, a hidden fragrance fills the sleeves. Do not say one is not utterly transported; when the curtain rolls up in the west wind, the person is thinner than the yellow flowers.
Note: Ruinao is borneol (bingpian); the golden beast is a beast-shaped incense burner. Alone on Chongyang, the ruinao in the burner slowly burns out—incense is time, and also the scale of solitude. In the second stanza, "a hidden fragrance fills the sleeves": the fragrance of chrysanthemums echoes the incense in the burner.
The incense has grown cold in the golden lion, the quilt turns like red waves; I rise and lazily comb my hair myself.
Note: The golden lion is a lion-shaped incense burner; the incense is cold—the incense has burned out while the burner is still warm. Using "incense cold" to write of a person's languor and emotional weariness is extremely delicate and restrained.
The jade duck incense burner idly holds ruinao; the red cherry patterned curtain covers the tassels.
Note: The jade duck is a duck-shaped jade incense burner; ruinao lies idle, borneol set aside and not burned. The incense burner is at hand but the incense is unlit—this is the materialization of "grieving spring."
Four lines as a gatha on burning incense, following the incense to fill the southeast;
It is not something reached by hearing and thinking; for now, let the nose contemplate first.
Ten thousand scrolls by the bright window in small characters; eyes blur and see only mottled spots;
When a stick of incense's smoke fades and the fire grows cold, half a lifetime passes, the body ages, and the heart finds peace.
Note: Dongpo and Huang Tingjian (Lu Zhi) wrote of incense by likening burning incense to Chan meditation—"the nose contemplates first," incense being the gate of awakening; "When a stick of incense's smoke fades and the fire grows cold, half a lifetime passes, the body ages, and the heart finds peace" is the supreme line of the Song literati's delight in incense. (See in detailVarious schools' discussions of incense）
The east wind at night releases a thousand trees of flowers, and further blows down stars like rain.
Fine horses and carved carriages, fragrance fills the road. The phoenix flute's sound stirs, the jade pot's light turns, and all night the fish and dragons dance.
Note: On Lantern Festival night, wherever carriages and horses pass, "fragrance fills the road"—incense is the air of the festival, and also the clue to seeking a person (the second half: "I searched for her a thousand and a hundred times among the crowd").
Cold soaks the rush mat, the iron inkstone is warm; incense burns low in the golden duck, the night about to divide.
Note: Golden duck, a duck-shaped incense burner; incense burning low as the night divides, depicting studying hard on a cold night, incense and the water clock ending together.
Who pities the west wind's solitary chill, rustling yellow leaves close the sparse window, deep in thought about past events, standing in the setting sun.
Do not startle one heavy with spring sleep after wine; betting on books, one savors the fragrance of spilled tea—at the time, we only thought it ordinary.
Note: "Fragrance of spilled tea" alludes to Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng betting on books and spilling tea, using tea's fragrance to write of marital joy; "at the time, we only thought it ordinary" mourns both incense and daily life together.
Sudden snow swirls like willow catkins by the fragrant chamber, a light wind blows to the vase of plum blossoms, the heart-shaped incense has already turned to ash.
Note: Heart-shaped, heart-shaped incense (incense made in the shape of the character for heart); turned to ash, the incense is spent. "Heart-shaped incense turned to ash" is a double entendre for a heart turned to ash—Nalan writes of love through incense, most poignantly.
Incense entering poetry, from the sacrificial rites' "orchid-wrapped delicacies and orchid mats," to the boudoir's "rui nao incense fading in the golden beast," to the literati's "When a stick of incense's smoke fades and the fire grows cold"—the same wisp of smoke, over three thousand years, has changed into three kinds of heartfelt matters.
The following questions and answers are compiled from the content of this site for quick reference; the medicinal properties of incense materials are described from traditional understanding and do not constitute medical advice.
From Li Yu's storax incense in "red silk doubled over the canopy," to Su Shi and Huang Tingjian's extensive incense-burning exchanges, to Li Qingzhao and Lu You's lines on fragrant pillows and fragrant ink, there are exceedingly many famous poems on incense through the ages. This site presents them by dynasty and poet, with brief annotations.
"The Ten Virtues of Incense" praises ten merits of incense: moving gods and spirits, purifying mind and body, removing impurities, awakening from sleep, becoming a friend in stillness, stealing leisure amid dust, not tiring of abundance, sufficing in scarcity, remaining incorruptible after long storage, and being unobstructed in frequent use. It is a classic summary of the Song dynasty literati's aesthetic of incense appreciation.
Official histories rarely record everyday incense use, while poetry contains a large number of first-hand records of incense formulas, incense utensils, and incense practices, which can fill gaps in the literature. Poems praising incense are the most vivid material for reconstructing the incense-using scenes of the ancients.
This article was compiled by Wubaiyi agarwood. Copyright of text and images belongs to Wubaiyi agarwood. Reproduction, excerpting, or mirroring without written authorization is prohibited. The content is compiled based on publicly available ancient texts and research from "Chinese incense culture(香学)". You are welcome to visit the store to appreciate incense and exchange ideas.