Spring Message in the Snow: Restoring Su Shi's Famous Incense Formula

Spring Message in the Snow is a famous incense blend attributed to Su Shi, whose name means "spring's message has already arrived amid the snow"—when the lingering snow has not yet melted, the plum has already bloomed.Volume 16 of the Xiang Cheng records: "Spring Message in the Snow is made with agarwood, sandalwood, borneol, and musk, taking the meaning of plum's message amid the snow. It was a favorite of Mr. Dongpo." That is to say, the backbone of this blend is agarwood, sandalwood, borneol, and musk, with its imagery pointing to seeking plum blossoms in the snow. This article discusses its origins, the variant texts handed down, and offers a set ofmodern, workable restoration ideas。

Important notice: the proportions and procedures below are "restoration ideas," not a verbatim transcription of the original formula.Records of Spring Message in the Snow differ among the Xiang Cheng, the Chen Family Incense Manual, and later notebooks; the wording is slightly different and the quantities vary from text to text. This site does not pose as an authoritative edition; based only on its "sovereign, minister, assistant, envoy" structure and its aromatic imagery, it offers a version that can be made today.

Key points

• Source: Xiang Cheng, Volume 16, "Incense Matters 5 · Spring Message in the Snow"; the original text says it is "made with agarwood, sandalwood, borneol, and musk, taking the meaning of plum's message amid the snow; it was a favorite of Mr. Dongpo."
• The meaning of the name isspring's message has already arrived amid the snow—the lingering snow is nearly gone and the plum's message arrives first; this is the Song people's ingenuity in "matching incense to the season."
• The later widely circulated story of "collecting snow water from plum blossoms" is a very widespread account,not found in the original text of Xiang Cheng, Volume 16, and should be regarded as cultural legend.
• The core of the restoration is not to gather all four ingredients, but to restore"warmth within coolness, about to emerge yet not yet emerged"aromatic structure.
• The musk in the ancient formula isalways replaced with synthetic musk or omitted; all musk deer species are listed in CITES Appendix, and China's six musk deer species are national first-class protected animals.
• The entire process involves open flame, high temperatures, and flammable incense powder,Must be ventilated, kept away from combustibles, and extinguish the fire when leaving。

1. Why Dongpo blended this incense

Su Shi was banished three times in his life—to Huangzhou, Huizhou, and Danzhou—each farther than the last. In Huangzhou he wrote, "A straw cloak in mist and rain, I live my life as I please"; in Huizhou, "Three hundred lychees a day"; and when he reached Danzhou, he could still write, "Though I may die nine deaths in the southern wilds, I bear no grudge—this journey is the most wondrous of my life." This man had a knack:In the coldest of circumstances, he could always smell the news of spring first.

The name "Spring Tidings in Snow" is the product of this temperament.

The blended incense of Northern Song literati was not about the price of materials, but aboutthe imitation of artistic conception. Huang Tingjian had "Yike"; Han Qi had "Rich Plum"; Su Shi's blend was called "Spring Tidings in Snow"—snow is cold, spring tidings are warm, and plum is that faint, elusive sweetness between the two.For a burner of incense to evoke the feeling that "winter is almost over"—this is the refined taste that only Song people had.

For Su Shi's incense pursuits, this site'sIncense Culture(香学) Sages · Su Shipage offers a more complete account; in his "Rhapsody on the Agarwood Hill" he wrote that agarwood is "firm as gold and smooth as jade, with crane bones and dragon sinews." That understanding of incense comes from the same heart as "Spring Tidings in Snow."

2. The original text and variant readings: first, let us clarify the matter of the "definitive edition"

The compiled original text of "Xiang Cheng", Volume 16, "Incense Matters 5 · Spring Tidings in Snow", reads as follows:

Huang Taishi's "Incense Register": Spring Tidings in Snow is made with agarwood, sandalwood, borneol, and musk, taking the meaning of plum tidings in snow. Mr. Dongpo was fond of it.

In just over twenty characters, the information is quite dense:

• Huang Taishirefers to Huang Tingjian; "Taishi" was an official post he once held. This shows the formula was already recorded in the Song dynasty.
• Agarwood, sandalwood, borneol, musk—agarwood, sandalwood, borneol (bingpian), and musk: the four pillars.
• Plum tidings in snow—this specifies the artistic conception.
• Mr. Dongpo was fond of it—Su Shi liked it; it says "fond" rather than "created," a very restrained choice of words.

Three points need to be noted:

1. This formula is said to have been created by Su Shi, but the original text of Xiang Cheng only says "what Master Dongpo liked", so authorship should be treated with caution.
2. The formula is recorded in Chen's Xiang Pu and Xiang Cheng,with minor differences in wording, and the quantities vary across later editions.
3. The widely circulated story that "Su Shi collected snow water from plum blossoms, stored it in a cellar for three years, and only then blended this incense" belongs to later legend,and is not found in the original text of Xiang Cheng, Volume 16, so this site does not cite it as historical fact.

This section may seem like a bucket of cold water, but it is actually the first lesson in reconstruction:only by first separating legend from documentation can you know what you are actually reconstructing.

III. The reconstruction approach for Xuezhong Chunxin: define the mood first, then the proportions

The shopkeeper's habit when reconstructing ancient formulas is to work backward: first look at what this incenseshould smell like, then deduce the proportions.

The mood of Xuezhong Chunxin can be broken down into three layers:

The structure is:Jun is agarwood (sets the base note, provides sweet aftertaste), Chen is sandalwood (provides warmth and moisture), Zuo is plum blossom and clove (provides floral note and slight sourness), Shi is borneol (provides cooling and diffusiveness). Musk in ancient formulas is an enhanced version of 'Shi'; today it is omitted or replaced with synthetic musk.

Reconstruction formula ratio (not verbatim original)

This ratio is a reconstruction concept, not the original formula.Its logic is to use floral materials to pull the classical framework of "agarwood, sandalwood, borneol" toward the imagery of "plum blossom in snow"—the ancient formulas contain no plum blossom, but the four characters "plum blossom in snow" point precisely to this scent. If you want to stay closer to the four-ingredient framework of the original text in Xiang Cheng, remove the plum blossom, clove, zero陵香, and spikenard, raise the agarwood-to-sandalwood ratio to 60%/30%, and borneol to 5%–8%, making a "pure ancient framework" version; smelling the two burners side by side will be very interesting.

IV. Reconstruction process: six steps

Step one: ingredient preparation and processing.Grind agarwood and sandalwood into powder and sift through 100 mesh; grind dried plum blossom separately and sift through 80 mesh (floral materials have more fiber, and too fine a powder burns easily); roast clove, spikenard, and zero陵香 to remove moisture before grinding into powder.

Step two: processing.Roast sandalwood at low temperature (60–80°C, 20 minutes) to remove dryness; clove may be soaked in yellow rice wine for half a day; plum blossom is not processed, to avoid loss of aroma; borneol is added last and does not participate in any heating step.

Step 3, blend the powders.Except for borneol, mix all powders evenly in proportion. In this step, you need tosift twice, to ensure even distribution—if the floral materials are unevenly distributed, burning will produce a disjointed effect of "a burst of floral then a burst of wood."

Step 4, refine honey and blend the mixture.Simmer white honey over low heat until "a drop forms a bead," cool to 40–50°C, mix into the powder, and knead into a dough. Use less honey rather than more; start with 20% and add more if needed.

Step 5, add borneol.After the dough is kneaded, work the borneol powder in gradually.Be sure to wait until the honey dough has cooled to room temperature before adding, otherwise the borneol will volatilize from the heat and be wasted.

Step 6, shaping and aging.Roll into incense pills the size of Gordon euryale seeds, dry in the shade for 3–7 days, then place in a jar, seal, and age for at least 14 days, ideally 21–30 days. Open the jar once a week to smell and record the changes in aroma.

V. Test burning: how to judge that it is "right"

To tell whether Snow Among Spring Messages is successful, check three points:

1. The top note should be cool, not icy.At 120°C on the heater there should be a hint of crisp clarity, but it should not be as sharp as mint—that means too much borneol.
2. The middle section should have a floral character but not be cloyingly sweet.As the temperature rises to about 150°C, the slight sourness of plum blossom and clove should surface, coexisting with the warm smoothness of agarwood and sandalwood. If there is only sweetness and no sourness, the proportion of plum blossom is insufficient.
3. The finish should return sweetness.At 180°C as it ends, the sweet-coolness of agarwood should hold together, and the lingering fragrance should remain in the room for more than ten minutes. If the tail turns bitter or scatters, the aging time is insufficient.

For test burning, an electric incense heater is the most reliable; for flame tasting, please use the indirect heat method (bury charcoal in ash, place a mica sheet on top),do not burn the incense pills directly—a honey-based blend will scorch on direct contact with open flame.

VI. Safety notes

• Open flameIndirect-burning incense keeps the aromatic material isolated from the charcoal; the incense goes out when the person leaves, and keep away from curtains, paper and other flammable items.
• VentilationOpen a window throughout the incense session or maintain airflow; do not burn for long periods in small enclosed spaces.
• FlammableIncense powder, dried flowers, resins and refined honey are all flammable: store them away from heat sources; do not pulverize them near open flames.
• PeopleUse with caution in spaces with pregnant women, infants and young children, people with respiratory sensitivity, and pets; floral materials may cause allergies—those with sensitive constitutions should first do a small test.
• ComplianceWild populations of Aquilaria are listed in CITES Appendix II; cross-border trade requires a permit certificate; replace musk with artificial musk or omit it.

7. One Last Word on a Burner of Incense

Two winters ago, a gentleman in his sixties came into the shop, saying he wanted to recreate Xuezhong Chunxin, because his late mother had loved this name most of all. He had bought two different “ancient-formula ratios” online, and neither came out right, so he came to ask the shopkeeper which one was authentic.

The shopkeeper told him:“Neither is ‘authentic,’ because there simply is no definitive text that matches word for word.But both can make good incense, because the ‘sovereign, minister, assistant, and envoy’ structure is correct.” He later made his own version based on his own understanding, replacing plum blossom with dried wintersweet flowers from his own courtyard and scenting it for a full month. The day he opened the jar, he called and said that when he smelled it, he remembered how his mother used to pick plum branches on snowy days and arrange them in a vase.

This is the meaning of recreating ancient formulas—what you recreate is not a formula on paper, but the frame of mind of the person who smelled this incense back then.

Want to make a burner of Xuezhong Chunxin yourself? You can come to the shop and blend it with the shopkeeper; the shop has all the materials. If it is inconvenient to go out, call400-809-1913to ask for the complete material list for the recreation approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Xuezhong Chunxin created by Su Shi?

The wording in Volume 16 of Xiangcheng is “what Master Dongpo delighted in”—it is “delighted in,” not “created”; the original text states that this formula came from Huang Taishi’s Xiangpu. So the more prudent statement is: a famous incense traditionally attributed to Su Shi’s preference and closely associated with him. The story, widely circulated in later times, that “Su Shi collected snow water from plum blossoms and cellared it for three years” is not found in the original text of Volume 16 of Xiangcheng and should be regarded as cultural legend rather than historical fact.

Must musk be used to recreate Xuezhong Chunxin?

No, and it should not be. All species of musk deer are listed in the CITES appendices; in China, six species—forest musk deer, alpine musk deer, Siberian musk deer and others—are national first-class protected wild animals, and natural musk must not be bought or used. In ancient formulas, musk is the “envoy,” whose role is to release and lift the fragrance, and it can be entirely omitted; if greater penetrating power is needed, artificial musk (synthetic muscone), borneol, frankincense or benzoin can be used instead.

Why does the Xuezhong Chunxin I make have only sweetness and no floral character?

There are three common reasons: first, the proportion of floral materials is insufficient or the quality of the dried plum blossoms is poor (10%–15% is recommended, using dried fragrant flowers such as green calyx plum); second, the floral material is ground too fine and releases fully in an instant when burned—80 mesh is recommended; third, too much borneol has been added, so the “cool” overwhelms the “floral” and covers the faintly sour floral character. In addition, insufficient jar-aging (less than 14 days) can also prevent the various aromatic materials from blending, making the scent smell disjointed in layers.

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