Let me give the answer first: in Gao Lian's "Zun Sheng Ba Jian", incense is not in the medicine drawer, but in the "Yan Xian Qing Shang Jian" (Leisurely Enjoyment of Elegant Things). The book has eight sections and nineteen volumes, discussing cultivating the mind, regulating health, daily life, preventing illness, diet, leisurely appreciation, elixirs, and reclusion. Incense is placed in the sixth section, "Yan Xian Qing Shang"—defined in one phrase: incense is a thing for delighting the emotions and nurturing one's nature, belonging to the three words "leisure, appreciation, nourishment"; it is not medicine, nor a ritual vessel. What he records are specific moments: the study, rainy days, the arrival of guests, sitting at night. He advocates burning incense for its fragrance, not its smoke. This line of thinking is the most direct record of daily incense use by Ming dynasty literati.
Key points
- "Zun Sheng Ba Jian" has eight sections and nineteen volumes; incense belongs to the sixth section, "Yan Xian Qing Shang Jian", and together with Wen Zhenheng's "Zhang Wu Zhi" it represents late Ming lifestyle aesthetics.
- Gao Lian advocates that "incense delights the emotions and nurtures one's nature", in the same lineage as Huang Tingjian's "Ten Virtues of Incense" with its orientation toward cultivating the mind.
- Ming dynasty literati incense burning emphasized "fire separation": charcoal buried in ash, a silver leaf separating the fire, taking the fragrance rather than the smoke; temperature control is the core.
- Incense utensils must be used as a set—censer, box, spoon and chopsticks, charcoal, ash; missing one item and you are all thumbs. This corroborates Tu Long's "Seven Essentials of Burning Incense".
- To put it into practice today, only three things are needed: control temperature, control quantity, ventilate. Incense matters belong to lifestyle aesthetics, not medical advice.
Gao Lian was from Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou) in the Ming dynasty; his birth and death years are unknown, and he was mainly active during the Wanli era. He wrote the chuanqi play "Yu Zan Ji" and also books on health preservation; "Zun Sheng Ba Jian" is the representative work of the latter. The two characters "zun sheng" come from Laozi's meaning "following the Dao and living"; the whole book unfolds around one proposition: how a person can live comfortably, long, and with flavor.
The order of the eight sections itself contains logic:
| Section order | Section name | What it discusses |
|---|---|---|
| One | Qing Xiu Miao Lun Jian | Maxims on cultivating the mind and dealing with the world |
| Two | Si Shi Tiao She Jian | Daily routine in accord with the four seasons |
| Three | Qi Ju An Le Jian | Living Environment and Implements |
| Four | Prolonging Life and Warding Off Illness | Daoyin, Massage, and Health Maintenance |
| Five | Drink and Food | Diet and Food Therapy |
| Six | Leisurely Appreciation | Appreciation, Incense Matters, Flowers and Trees, and the Scholar's Studio |
| Seven | Numinous and Secret Elixirs | Prescriptions and Medicines |
| Eight | Transcending the Dusty World | Recluses and Hermits |
Incense is placed in the sixth chapter, and its position is very telling—It is neither under "Warding Off Illness" nor under "Elixirs," but under "Leisurely Appreciation". In other words, Gao Lian does not let incense serve a curative function; he returns it to life itself.
According to this site's"Eight Discourses on the Art of Living · On Incense"page compilation, the contents of the incense chapter fall into three parts: recording incense types, recording incense formulas, and recording methods of appreciation.
Incense Typesis about identifying materials. Agarwood, sandalwood, borneol, musk, zerling, and spikenard—their respective origins, properties, and criteria for judging quality follow the same approach as volumes one through seven of the Xiang Cheng, but the account is more concise, leaning toward "just enough is fine."
Incense formulais the blending of ingredients. The formulas collected in the Xiangjian are smaller in scale than those in the Xiangcheng, but they are chosen for practicality: mostly for daily personal use, entertaining guests, and scenting clothes, rather than grand court formulas.
The method of appreciationis where Gao Lian truly puts pen to paper. He discusses when to light incense, which burner to use, how to control the heat, and how incense works with the environment. This part is the most full of everyday life, and the most worth following today.
Restoring the contents of the Xiangjian to a single day probably looks like this.
Morning in the study.Before reading, wash hands first, tidy the desk, light a burner of incense, and open the book only after the fragrance rises. The scent is not just pleasant; it is asignal to begin work—when you smell that fragrance, your mind draws inward.
Sitting idly on a rainy day.On rainy days it is not suitable to go out; it is the best time to burn incense. The sound of rain suppresses outside noise, and the layers of the fragrance become clearer instead. Ming dynasty literati wrote many lines about burning incense in the rain, and this is not affectation: when humidity is high, fragrance diffuses slowly, and the sense of smell indeed distinguishes it better.
Receiving guests with tea.Incense and tea stand side by side (Wen Zhenheng later simply combined the two into one volume, "Incense and Tea"). When entertaining guests, incense comes first and tea after; the fragrance lays down a base layer first, then tea is served, so the two experiences do not clash.
Sitting at night and resting.Incense used in the bedroom should mainly be clear, light, and steady, not showy. Gao Lian classified this kind under "pure appreciation" rather than "warding off illness," an attitude of great restraint.
Last autumn, a fragrance friend, Xiao Chen, asked about something in the shop: he works from home every day and always feels sleepy at three in the afternoon, and drinking too much coffee gives him palpitations. I had him try a clumsy method—at two thirty in the afternoon, light a stick of incense beside the desk, for fifteen minutes, without looking at the phone, just sitting. He kept at it for two weeks and came back saying the sleepiness was still there, but those fifteen minutes felt like pressing a pause button on his brain, and he could stay steady for the rest of the time.Gao Lian speaks of "stealing leisure amid the dust," and in practice this is exactly it: it is not that the incense lifted his spirits, but that the burner of incense carved those fifteen minutes out of his affairs. This kind of feeling belongs to life experience, varies greatly between individuals, and does not constitute medical advice.
In the late Ming of Gao Lian's time, the mainstream of literati incense burning wasindirect heating. Method: fill the burner with ash, burn the charcoal through and bury it in the ash, place a mica sheet or silver leaf on the ash, and put the incense material on the sheet. The heat of the charcoal passes through the ash and the leaf to the incense material, which gives off fragrance under heat without burning.
This approach solved the two problems of direct burning with an open flame: first,too much smoke— with too much smoke, all the nuances of the fragrance get smothered; second,loss of temperature control: the center of an open flame is very hot, and the incense material scorches easily; once a burnt smell appears, there is no saving it. With the indirect-heat method, the temperature the incense material is exposed to can generally be kept below 200°C — the fragrance is released slowly but the layers are clear.The saying "burn incense for its fragrance, not for its smoke" is the theoretical basis of the indirect-heat method, and several Ming-dynasty incense books agree on this point.
By comparison: Tu Long's "Seven Essentials of Burning Incense" discusses "which seven implements you need to have ready" — an object-based perspective; Gao Lian discusses "how incense appears over the course of a day" — a time-based perspective.The former teaches you how to set up a stall; the latter teaches you how to live your days.
You don't need to recreate a Ming-style study — grasp three things and that's enough.
Temperature control.If using an electric incense heater, agarwood powder generally starts at 100°C; to bring out the layers you can split it into two stages: the low-temperature stage for the top notes, the mid-temperature stage for the main notes. The higher the temperature, the faster the fragrance is released, but the greater the risk of a burnt smell,so be careful above 200°C。
Amount control.In a 15–20 m² room at home, 0.1–0.3 g of incense powder or one incense stick is enough for fifteen to twenty minutes. The fragrance can be smelled but does not overpower — that is the right amount; if it hits you the moment you walk in, it is too much.
Ventilation.This is something the ancients did not discuss much but that we must discuss today. Burning incense for long periods in a closed space lets PM2.5 and volatile organic compounds accumulate. The practice is:keep doors and windows closed while burning so the fragrance lingers, and open the windows to air out afterward, burning two or three times a day, no more than half an hour each time.
As for implements, a simplified version of the "three items of the incense table" (stove, bottle and box) is enough to start: one censer, one incense box, one pair of incense chopsticks. If you want to keep it simple, use an electric incense heater — plug it in, control the temperature, easy to clean up; the price is losing the bit of ritual that charcoal fire provides. For specific choices, seeThe Way of Appreciating Incensefor the descriptions of implements, or just call 400-809-1913 to ask what we currently have in stock at the shop.
The incense matters in "Zunsheng Bajian" fall under the "Yanxian Qingshang Jian" chapter, which belongs to the category of life appreciation, not medical formulas. The incense formulas can serve as cultural reference and re-creation practice, but if you are feeling unwell, please see a doctor; everything discussed in this article is at the level of lifestyle aesthetics,not medical advice — for reference only。
The indirect heat method heats the incense material by burying charcoal in ash and transferring heat through a silver leaf, so the material releases fragrance without burning, with very little smoke and controllable temperature, preserving the layers of aroma; direct open flame burns with heavy smoke and scorches easily, blurring the fine details of the fragrance. This is the technical realization of the Ming dynasty literati's principle of "taking the flavor, not the smoke."
Closing doors and windows while burning incense helps retain the fragrance, but be sure to open windows and ventilate afterward. Burning incense for long periods in a sealed space accumulates particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. It is recommended to burn no more than 20-30 minutes per session and no more than twice a day; households with respiratory-sensitive individuals or pets should be even more cautious.
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