Su Shi: Literary Giant, Calligrapher and Painter
Su Shi (Northern Song), one of the key figures in the history of Chinese incense culture(香学).
Su Shi · Northern Song
Identity:Literary giant, calligrapher and painter
Representative incense works / incense practices:Spring Message in the Snow
Su Shi not only loved incense but also took part in making it. Legend has it that he visited Meihua Ridge in Wenzhou and derived the concept of "Spring Message in the Snow," gathering with literati such as Huang Tingjian and Wang Xian to enjoy incense. His poetry and prose extensively wrote about incense ("Burning incense draws one to secluded walks, sipping tea opens a pure feast"), expanding incense burning from worship of Buddhas and gods into a spiritual practice for literati, laying the foundation for the Song dynasty's refined tone of incense as one of the "four leisure pursuits."
and Chinese incense culture(香学)
Seen through Su Shi, 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 sages can one understand the weight of the wisp of incense in one's hands today.
Representative incense formulas · Incense poems · Incense treatises
Incense Formula·Spring Message in Snow
Su Shi, in winter, took snow water from plum blossom stamens and blended it with agarwood, sandalwood, clove, and fennel, naming it "Spring Message in Snow", a metaphor for the message that plum blossoms are about to bloom in the snow. See the records in Xiang Cheng and Chen's Xiang Pu.
Incense PoemsTwo Poems on Burning Incense, in Reply to Huang Luzhi
"Four lines of gatha on burning incense, spreading with the fragrance across the southeast; beyond the reach of literary thought, let the nose contemplate first." He also wrote in Fan Xiang Ling, "Again by the small window the incense has just been burned, incense dust stirs, wind at the sleeve tip"—Dongpo brought incense into Zen and used incense to write of leisure.