Hong Family Incense Manual
Hong Chu's Xiangpu (Incense Manual) was compiled around the Northern Song dynasty; it discusses incense by category and is one of the earliest extant specialized manuals of incense culture(香学).
Author: Hong Chu, courtesy name Jufu, a native of Nanchang in the Northern Song, and a nephew of Huang Tingjian.
Structure: Divided roughly into sections such as "Incense Grades," "Incense Matters," and "Incense Methods," recording the origins, properties, anecdotes, and production methods of incense.
Significance: Earlier than the Chen and Zhou manuals, it is an early representative of incense culture(香学) catalogues and initiated the format of "discussing incense by category."
Position in the Lineage
Hong's manual (Northern Song) → Chen's manual (late Song to early Yuan) → Xiangcheng (Ming): the line of transmission is clear; seeEssential Historical Incense Manuals。Hong Chu also sawIncense Culture (香学) Sageslineage.