The answer first: the incense formulas in Xiang Cheng are mainly collected in volumes 21 to 27; volume 28 is Zhou Jiazhou's own preface. In addition, some incense-method entries are scattered in volume 8, "Separate Records of Incense Matters," so when searching, you cannot focus only on the latter half. To read an ancient incense formula, follow four steps: look at the formula name (to determine its use), look at the ingredients and quantities (to see which is the main fragrance), look at the preparation method (processing and blending), and look at the usage (incense burning, wearing, burning, or boiling). When you cannot find a formula, search by three paths—"by incense material, by use, by personal name or reign title"—which is much faster than reading through all twenty-eight volumes.
Key Points
- The incense formula section is in volumes 21 to 27; volume 8 also has scattered entries, and volume 28 is the own preface.
- A complete ancient incense formula = formula name + ingredient quantities + preparation method + usage; none of the four parts can be omitted if it is to be read.
- Three search paths: by incense material (agarwood, sandalwood, borneol, musk), by use (for tents, for scenting clothes, for seal incense, for wearing incense), by personal name or reign title (Xuanhe, Lord Li, Consort Wang).
- Ancient and modern quantities need not be forcibly converted: one liang in the Ming dynasty was about 37.3 grams, but ancient formulas are mostly proportions, so converting by "parts" is more reliable.
- The numbers in formula names (such as "Sihe") are explained differently in various editions; when variant readings are encountered, follow the collation notes and do not invent ingredient combinations.
Xiang Cheng has twenty-eight volumes; the first half discusses incense materials and incense matters, and the latter half discusses incense formulas and incense writings. The volume titles for this site's volume-by-volume translation and annotation are as follows, and the incense formula section is clear at a glance:
| Volume | Theme (this site's volume title) | Search Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Volume 8 | Separate Records of Incense Matters | Scattered incense-method and incense-matter entries, easily overlooked |
| Volume 21 | Incense Formulas I (Sihe Incense) | Basic blended-incense formulas; look at the structural framework of the ingredients |
| Volume 22 | Incense Formulas II · Xiaolan Incense | Flower-simulating fragrance family |
| Volume 23 | Incense Formulas 3 (Xuanhe Imperial Incense) | Court incense, searchable by the era name "Xuanhe" |
| Volume 24 | Incense Formulas 4 · Xuanhe Consort Wang's Golden Incense | Personage incense formulas |
| Volume 25 | Incense Formulas 5 · Dihuang Incense | Simulated floral scents |
| Volume 26 | Blended Floral Scents (Lord Li's Bedchamber Incense) | Southern Tang court incense, the most famous batch |
| Volume 27 | Incense Formulas 7 · Wensi Incense | Echoes the "Wensi" allusion of Su Shi |
| Volume 28 | Incense Formulas 8 · Postface (Zhou Jiazhou's own preface) | Not a formula, but the author's own account |
For direct navigation, please useComplete Table of Contents of the Annotated Translation of Xiangsheng, each volume's individual page can be opened.
One caveat: the volume divisions of Ming dynasty classified compendia are not strictly thematic partitions. When Volumes 5 to 7 discuss herbaceous incense materials such as linglingxiang, patchouli, and clove, they often bring in usages along the way; the legendary entries in Volume 11 "Incense Oddities · Strange Tales of Rare Incense" occasionally append preparation methods as well.So the "incense formula section" is a rough range, not an ironclad frame.To truly exhaust it, one must rely on search rather than flipping through volumes.
Ancient incense formulas are written very concisely, but their structure is fixed. When you get a passage, break it into four sections:
The first section, the formula name.The name contains the use, the person, and sometimes the season. "Zhangzhong Xiang" (incense for the bedchamber) is for bedroom use, "Xunyi Xiang" is for perfuming clothes, "Yinxiang" is the incense powder for making seal-script incense patterns, and "Sihe Xiang" is named after a number. The formula name is the first entry point for retrieval.
The second section, ingredients and quantities.This section has two ways of writing: one is to list absolute quantities (agarwood one liang, sandalwood five qian), and the other is to list only the order without quantities. When you encounter the latter, it means the original book treated it as a ratio reference; in practice, just convert it by "parts."
The third section, processing methods.This is the section most easily skipped, and the one that should least be skipped. The ancients were extremely particular about processing incense materials—agarwood must be "chopped" or "ground," sandalwood sometimes must be "stir-fried" to remove its dry heat, musk is "ground separately," honey must be "refined," and it must also be "yin" (sealed and left to rest) for several days.The same formula, with different processing, yields a scent that differs by half.To recreate ancient incense, this section is the key point; this site's"Xiangcheng" Incense Formulas · Sihe Xiangpage preserves a complete processing description.
The fourth section, usage.Whether it is heated over a fire separator, burned directly, worn, or steamed. The usage determines the meaning of all the preceding craftsmanship—if a "Zhangzhong Xiang" formula ends with "burn in the bedchamber," and you take it as a stick incense formula and press it into shape, you are going in completely the wrong direction.
Search by incense material.If you want to find all formulas primarily using agarwood, start from agarwood. In this site's annotated translations, Volume One (agarwood-producing countries), Volume Two (sandalwood · frankincense), Volume Three, and Volume Four (borneol · musk) are materia medica records, and Volume Twenty-One onward contains formulas. First clarify the ancient names of incense materials, then return to the formula section to search—this is the most efficient. Be careful with ancient name correspondences: linglingxiang was anciently called "xuncao," and the referents of gansong and huoxiang have also drifted between ancient and modern times.
Search by use.Zhangzhong Xiang, Xunyi Xiang, Yinxiang, Peixiang, Yaxiang, Qingxin Xiang—the use words are the search terms. This path is closest to modern needs: if you want to blend a burner of incense for the bedroom, directly look up the "Zhangzhong" series; if you want to make incense seal-script patterns, look up "Yinxiang."
Search by person names and reign titles.Xuanhe Imperial-Made Incense, Xuanhe Noble Consort Wang's Golden Incense, Lord Li's Zhangzhong Xiang, Duke Han Wei's Nongmei Xiang—a great many ancient incense formulas are named after people. "Xuanhe" is the reign title of Emperor Huizong of Song, and "Lord Li" refers to Li Yu of the Southern Tang. This path suits researching the origins and development of incense formulas, and is also best for storytelling.
Many people, when they get an ancient formula, first look up "how many grams was one liang in the Ming dynasty," and then weigh accordingly. This approach has a pitfall.
In the Ming system, one jin was about 596.8 grams, one liang about 37.3 grams, and one qian about 3.73 grams. The numbers themselves are fine. The problem lies in this:Quantities in ancient incense formulas are often relative ratios, and different manuscript versions may write "liang" as "qian" or omit "fen". If you strictly weigh one liang of agarwood as 37.3 grams, the ratio of the whole burner of incense becomes unbalanced—the problem is not with you, but with the transmitted text.
The reliable approach is two steps: first, read the ratios in "parts"—four parts agarwood, two parts sandalwood, one part borneol, half a part musk—so the skeleton is clear; second, fix the total amount, say 30 grams in all, then apportion each ingredient by the ratio.Read the ratios first, then fix the total amount, and this rule avoids most of the pitfalls in variant texts of transmitted editions.
One more piece of practical experience: in ancient texts, words like "a little" and "an appropriate amount" usually refer toprecious fixative materials(borneol, musk). Their role is to lift and fix the scent; too much will instead overwhelm the main notes. For beginners doing reconstructions, better less than more.
Here is a concrete example. "Sihe Xiang" (Fourfold Blend) is the first formula in Volume 21; the "sihe" in the name is explained differently across editions: one account says it combines four aromatic materials, another says it takes the meaning of fourfold harmony, and as for exactly which four materials, Ming and Qing records do not fully agree.
Our approach is:keep it as originally cited, note the variant readings in the collation notes, and refrain from passing judgment. If readers want to reconstruct, they must first choose an edition and then follow that edition. This is more honest than "I'll give you the standard answer," and closer to how the actual work of collating ancient texts is done. For detailed rules on handling variant readings, see this site'sTranslation Principles: Variant Readings, Collation Notes, and Honest Annotation。
If you really want to try a reconstruction, the shopkeeper suggests starting with a simple combination of "agarwood and sandalwood as the bones, borneol and musk as the function," rather than challenging court formulas right away. If you need materials, call 400-809-1913 to ask what is currently in stock; if you are in Beijing, bring your formula to the shop and we'll go through it together against the original text.
Volumes 21 to 27 of the Xiang Cheng include formulas such as blended incense, stamped incense, bed-curtain incense, and clothes-scenting incense, numbering over four hundred (counts vary slightly across different editions). The annotated translations on this site are arranged by the original book's volume order: Volume 21 marks the beginning of the incense formulas, while Volume 28 is Zhou Jiazhou's own preface, not incense formulas.
In the Ming dynasty, one liang was about 37.3 grams and one qian about 3.73 grams; this can serve as a reference. However, incense formulas are mostly relative proportions, and transmitted editions often contain copying discrepancies. In practice, it is more reliable to first read the proportions in "parts" and then scale by total quantity, rather than converting directly to grams.
Ancient books were transmitted by copying, so variant readings are the norm—differences in units of measure, alternative names for aromatic materials, and additions or deletions of entries all cause discrepancies. This site's approach is to note variant readings in the collation notes and preserve the original text without altering characters; when reconstructing, please first choose one edition and follow that edition.
Explain your specific situation clearly, and we will give corresponding judgments and suggestions—sourcing, personal use, and authentication are all covered.
Consult about agarwood-related questionsCompiled into a booklet from 12 years of incense-selection experience: examine oil lines, smell the aroma, test sinking grade, identify producing regions—4 steps to judge agarwood authenticity yourself, so even beginners can avoid pitfalls. Sent upon WeChat message, free forever.
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