Bai Juyi's most moving writings on incense are from around his seventieth year, when he retired to Luoyang. He does not write of evening banquets; he writes of waking up.
First, let's clear up the misunderstanding in the title: the "red clay small stove" warms wine, not incense.It comes from "Ask Liu Shijiu"—"Green ant new brew, red clay small stove. At dusk, the sky threatens snow; can you drink a cup?"—the entire poem has nothing to do with burning incense. Bai Juyi's true incense is elsewhere: the morning incense in the bronze censer at dawn, the incense-offering procession at the temple, and a stick of jiangzhen incense while dwelling in abstinence. According to statistics from the Complete Tang Poems, the character "incense" appears over 180 times in Bai Juyi's poems; the incense density of this Xiangshan Hermit ranks among the highest among Tang dynasty poets.
Key points
- "Red clay small stove" comes from "Ask Liu Shijiu"; it is about warming wine, not burning incense—a common misreading.
- Bai Juyi's daily incense matters: "Morning Rise"—"Add morning incense to the bronze censer"; "Occasional Work while Dwelling in Abstinence"—"Casually add a stick of incense"; "Sitting Alone at the Daoist Ritual Ground"—"A bottle of autumn water, a censer of incense."
- In his later years at Xiangshan Temple in Luoyang, he "formed an incense-fire society" and called himself Xiangshan Hermit; his poems frequently mention the Buddhist temple "incense-offering procession."
- The incense materials he burned were not limited to agarwood; "To Daoist Zhu"—"Only burn a stick of jiangzhen incense"—is direct evidence of Tang dynasty Daoist incense use.
- Bai Juyi's incense is "daily incense": unostentatious, not showing off wealth—a censer of incense paired with Daoist scriptures, with the qin, with congee.
Roosting birds stir in the front grove, morning light climbs the east house.Add morning incense to the bronze censer, blow out the remaining candle in the gauze lantern.
—Bai Juyi, "Morning Rise"
Birds stir in the grove, morning light shines on the east house; add a censer of morning incense to the bronze censer, blow out the leftover candle in the gauze lantern.The handover from one incense to one candle is the handover from night to morning.In this line there is no allusion, no ornate diction—just the first thing a person does upon waking.
Another similar one:
The boy prepares the stove fire, casually adding a stick of incense. The old man holds a fly-whisk, sitting and brushing half the bed.
—Bai Juyi, "Occasional Work while Dwelling in Abstinence"
The young boy sets the stove fire and casually adds a stick of incense; the old man holds a fly-whisk and brushes half the bed. The latter half of this poem is even better—"Sweet fresh new cakes and fruit, steady and warm old clothes. Knowing contentment brings peace in life, leisurely joy in the field of one's nature," finally settling on"No need to worry about old age and illness, the heart is its own healing king."。
Incense here is the fixed star of life.It doesn't cure illness, but it opens up the day.
Bai Juyi believed in Buddhism, studied under Foguang Ruman, lived in Xiangshan Temple in Luoyang in his later years, and called himself the Hermit of Xiangshan. He wrote of fasting and sitting alone:
Tidying clothes and kerchief, brushing the clean bed, a bottle of autumn water, a censer of incense.
Whatever the vexations, first they must go; even bodhi is meant to be forgotten.
—Bai Juyi, "Sitting Alone in the Dojo"
"A bottle of autumn water, a censer of incense" is perhaps the cleanest line among all his incense poems. A bottle of clear water, a censer of incense—that is the entire furnishing of the dojo.Clear water faces incense: one colorless and odorless, the other fragrant and formless; the two together make up a person's inner chamber.
There is another poem that writes in the whole day's routine:
The pond shines with the first dawn, wind-blown bamboo drifts the lingering mist.
Rising at dawn facing the censer's incense, seeking two scrolls of Daoist scripture. Sitting at evening, brushing the dust from the qin, playing a round of autumn thoughts.
—Bai Juyi, "Idle Verses on Rising Early on a Winter Day"
In the morning, facing the censer's incense, he reads two scrolls of Daoist scripture; in the evening, he brushes the dust from the qin and plays a tune.Incense, scripture, qin—the day's three things, with incense first.
Among Bai Juyi's incense matters there is one type unique to the Tang dynasty:xingxiang。
Xingxiang originates in Buddhist ritual, beginning in the Southern and Northern Dynasties; originally it meant burning incense to scent the hands or scattering incense powder; after the Tang it evolved into holding a censer and circumambulating the dojo or streets; by the Ming and Qing it referred to officials burning incense and bowing on taking office or on the first and fifteenth of the month.
He wrote "Returning from Xingxiang":
Going out as a xingxiang devotee, returning like a monk in summer retreat.
Before the bed a pair of straw sandals, beneath the eaves a gauze lantern.
—Bai Juyi, "Returning from Xingxiang"
Going out, he is a devotee off to xingxiang; coming back, he is like a monk in summer retreat. A pair of straw sandals before the bed, a gauze lantern beneath the eaves. Written extremely plainly, yet that feeling of "one trip out, and the heart is quiet" is accurate.
There are two more places that record xingxiang alongside official business:
Few incense offerings at the official temple, many nights lodging in the monks' quarters.
— Bai Juyi, "Two Poems on Idle Chanting"
Going to the cool autumn temple to offer incense, returning from the warm spring city after the memorial ceremony.
— Bai Juyi, "Impromptu"
"Bai biao" is the ritual of submitting a memorial to the emperor. In autumn he goes to the temple to offer incense; in spring he returns to the city after the memorial ceremony—Religious life and official duties are, in his poems, two matters of equal standing.This is the true state of mid-Tang scholar-officials.
What did Bai Juyi burn? There is one piece of hard evidence pointing tojiangzhenxiang：
All day by the window with nothing else to do, only burning a stick of jiangzhenxiang.
— Bai Juyi, "To Taoist Zhu"
Jiangzhenxiang is formed by resin-bearing wisteria-type plants, also known as jiguxiang,its formation principle is the same as agarwood—resin forms after injury and deposits over time. Daoists regarded it as a spiritual incense for sacrificing to the Heavenly Emperor, saying its smoke rises straight up and can summon immortal cranes. This shows that Tang scholars did not use incense with a single attachment to agarwood, but chose materials according to occasion: offering incense at Buddhist temples, idle conversation with Daoist friends, sitting alone in fasting retreat—each had its own incense.
There is another line about the incense cage:
Tears wet the silk kerchief, dreams will not come; deep in the night the front hall keeps time with song. Her beauty not yet old, favor already cut off,leaning askew by the incense cage, she sits until dawn。
— Bai Juyi, "Palace Poem"
The incense cage is a bamboo frame placed over the censer, used to scent bedcovers and clothes. This line is about a palace lady out of favor, leaning by the incense cage and sitting until dawn—here incense is companionship through the long night, not enjoyment.
A few thoughts from the shopkeeper himself.
Reading Li Bai's incense, it is "agarwood fire in the boshan censer, twin smokes as one breath rising to the purple clouds"—gorgeous, outgoing, full of imagery; reading Bai Juyi's incense, it is "adding early incense to the bronze censer"—plain, inward, without imagery.
The difference lies in:Li Bai treated incense as scenery; Bai Juyi treated incense as life.
Bai Juyi spent his life serving as an official, being demoted, then serving again; after middle age his health was poor, and in his later years he was a devout Buddhist. When he wrote about incense, he never praised its rarity or costliness, never mentioned the origin or price of the materials, and never even described the scent—he only wrote about what the incense was doing: adding a stick, lighting a burner, sitting for a while.
This is exactly the place incense should occupy.Incense is not the protagonist; incense is what lets the protagonist settle down. Many people today who play with incense first ask "what production region is this," "what's the price per gram," "can it sink in water (sinking grade)"—all valid questions, but it's easy to get the order backwards. The order Bai Juyi gives is: first live each day well, and incense is that one small thing that helps you live it well.
If you want to try this "everyday incense" usage, it's actually very simple: when you get up in the morning, put a small spoon of agarwood powder in the burner, set the electric incense heater to 100°C, and turn it off before you leave. The whole house will have a base note all day. This changes the texture of life more than solemnly setting up an incense session on the weekend.
If you have agarwood on hand and aren't sure what temperature suits it or whether it's genuine material, you're welcome to bring it to the shop for a free look, or call 400-809-1913, explain clearly what the material looks like and where it came from, and the shopkeeper will give a preliminary judgment.For beginners avoiding pitfalls, see alsoFive Common Mistakes for Beginners。
No. It comes from Bai Juyi's "Asking Liu Shijiu": "Green ant freshly brewed wine, red clay small stove. Evening comes, the sky threatens snow—can you drink a cup?" The red clay small stove is a small stove for warming wine, unrelated to burning incense. This poem is often misquoted in incense articles, and needs to be distinguished.
In his later years Bai Juyi was a devout Buddhist, studying under Chan Master Foguang Ruman; he often resided at Xiangshan Temple in Luoyang and there "formed an incense-fire society," hence calling himself "Xiangshan Jushi." After his death he was also buried at Xiangshan. This name uses a place name (Xiangshan Temple), but since his whole life was deeply bound up with incense and Buddhist practice, later generations often regard him as a model "incense person."
Xingxiang is a Buddhist ritual that began in the Northern and Southern Dynasties; originally it meant burning incense to perfume the hands or scattering incense powder while walking; in the Tang dynasty it evolved into carrying an incense burner while circumambulating a ritual ground or the streets; after the Ming and Qing it referred to officials burning incense and bowing in temples upon taking office or on the first and fifteenth days of the month. Bai Juyi's poems such as "Returning from Xingxiang," "Two Idle Chants," and "Occasional Composition" all mention xingxiang, and are direct records of the daily Buddhist practice of mid-Tang scholar-officials.
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