Zunsheng Bajian (Eight Discourses on Respecting Life) · On Incense
Gao Lian's Zunsheng Bajian (Eight Discourses on Respecting Life) is grounded in health cultivation; its "Yanxian Qingshang Jian" chapter is devoted to incense matters, treating incense as belonging to leisurely appreciation and health cultivation.
Author: Gao Lian, a native of Qiantang in the Ming Dynasty, authored Zunsheng Bajian (Eight Discourses on Respecting Life) on health cultivation and leisurely appreciation.
Where incense is discussed: The book's "Yanxian Qingshang Jian" chapter includes a "Xiang Jian" section, recording incense types, incense formulas, and methods of appreciation, advocating that incense gladdens the heart and cultivates one's nature.
Orientation: Consistent withThe Ten Virtues of Incenseand its intent of cultivating the mind, placing incense within the life aesthetics of "leisure, appreciation, and cultivation."
Textual Location
"Zunsheng Bajian" (Eight Discourses on the Art of Living) is a representative work of late Ming life aesthetics, alongsideEssential Historical Texts on Incenseand literati leisure-appreciation literature within it.