Mao Xiang: A Literatus
Mao Xiang (late Ming to early Qing), one of the key figures in the history of Chinese incense culture(香学).
Mao Xiang · Late Ming to Early Qing
Identity:Literatus
Representative incense works / incense practices:Reminiscences of the Plum Shadow Studio
In Mao Xiang's Reminiscences of the Plum Shadow Studio, he records his beloved concubine Dong Xiaowan making incense: using yellow ripe aromatic wood and agarwood to make "warm incense" and "hot incense," which were heated over a fire barrier on cold nights, bringing spring into the room. This single piece of reminiscence writes the incense practices of late Ming literati with lingering tenderness—it is the most moving text on incense's relationship with life and with emotion.
And Chinese incense culture(香学)
Seen through Mao Xiang, Chinese incense culture(香学) is not an isolated craft, but a process in which generations of literati and artisans continuously documented, systematized, and spiritualized olfactory experience. Only by understanding these pioneers can one understand the weight of the wisp of incense in one's hand today.
Representative incense formulas · incense poems · incense discourse
Incense MattersRecollections of the Plum Shadow Hermitage
Mao Xiang (courtesy name Pijiang)Recollections of the Plum Shadow HermitageDetailed record of beloved concubineDong Xiaowan making incense: Various varieties such as 'Daughter's Incense', 'Warm Incense', 'Boiled Agarwood', and 'Mixed Orchid Snow', stored for years and with unique fire control, are the most delicate true record of late Ming literati incense culture(香学).
Incense Formula·Dong Xiaowan making incense
Xiaowan blended agarwood and sandalwood with various floral dews, slowly and carefully infused over low fire, creating 'Warm Incense' that dispels cold and 'Daughter's Incense' that is elegant and suitable for the boudoir. Mao Xiang said, 'Accustomed to incense, one eventually forgets cold and heat.'