In the long history of Chinese incense culture, the Sui and Tang dynasties are undoubtedly a bright pearl. At this stage, with the unification of the country and the prosperity of the social economy, the connotation and form of incense culture have been unprecedentedly enriched and developed, and now the rich Sui and Tang incense culture has been inherited and revived again, which has to mention Mr. Sun Yuhui, who played a big role in this link, he founded the "incense supreme agarwood" in 07 years, uphold the spiritual connotation of traditional incense culture, inherited the Sui and Tang dynasties of agarwood etiquette and agarwood aesthetics cognition, but also told us a lot of stories about agarwood in the Sui and Tang dynasties.
Incense Supreme Tang Palace Moon Banquet Gift Box.
The incense of the Sui Dynasty.
Although the history of the Sui Dynasty was short, its economic prosperity laid the foundation for the luxury of incense culture. Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty showed the unique love of the upper class for agarwood at that time with his extravagant way of using incense. In the Ming Dynasty Zhou Jiaran's "Incense Ride" recorded that every Chinese New Year's Eve, Emperor Sui set up dozens of volcanoes made of agarwood roots in front of the palace, each volcano needed to burn several cars of agarwood, and soaked in nail decoction, the flame was towering, the aroma permeated for dozens of miles, and the huge consumption of agarwood and nail decoction overnight was amazing. In addition, the Sui Dynasty continued the tradition of the Southern Liang Dynasty and also used a large number of agarwood in sacrificial activities, reflecting its noble status and pure yang attributes.
The Tang Dynasty court incense was prosperous.
In the prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty, incense culture entered a highly complete and widely popularized stage, although it did not fully penetrate into the daily life of the people, but among the royal family, nobles and even literati and doctors, incense was ubiquitous.
Fragrance in the royal architecture The "Agarwood Pavilion" built by Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty can be called a model of incense culture in the Tang Dynasty in architectural art. This is not only a place to appreciate the beauty of famous flowers, but also a place to gather incense. Li Bai once described in the poem: "The clouds want to dress and the flowers want to look, and the spring breeze blows Revlon", vividly reproducing the romantic scene of Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei on the agarwood pavilion. In addition, the "Four Incense Pavilion" built by Prime Minister Yang Guozhong is extremely luxurious, constructed with precious spices such as agarwood and sandalwood, showing the peak of the use of spices by the elite class at that time.
The prevalence of spice cuisine In the Tang Dynasty food culture, Hu Shi introduced a large number of spices, such as pepper and other spices were widely used in cooking. This practice of incorporating spices into food not only adds flavor to the dishes, but also reflects the openness and inclusiveness of Tang society and the active cultural exchange.
Incense and Imperial Examination Incense The people of the Tang Dynasty were keen on incense, and they were accustomed to the fragrance of incense, whether it was clothing or residence. Men's lavender has become fashionable, and even become part of officialdom etiquette, and Liu Zhongying is regarded as a symbol of self-discipline and rigor because he does not smoke clothes. At the same time, when the court deliberated and the emperor approved the chapter, incense was set up to burn incense, and Du Fu's poem "The cigarette is full of sleeves, and the poem is a pearl and jade" vividly describes this phenomenon. In the imperial examination, there is also an incense ceremony in the examination room, aiming to create a solemn and quiet atmosphere and help students concentrate on the examination.
The development of delicate incense utensils It can be seen from the archaeological discoveries of silver incense sachets with grape flower and bird patterns that the nobles of the Tang Dynasty generally used delicate smoking balls for indoor incense. Among them, the incense burner used by Yang Guifei is very popular, and the formula of "Yang Guifei Weizhong Yaxiang" developed by her own is still contained in the "Incense Ride", and a variety of precious spices such as agarwood, sandalwood, and musk are mixed, showing the Tang people's extremely high pursuit of fragrance quality.
Incense Supreme·" "The incense of the Tang Kaiyuan Palace."
The spread and maturity of incense culture.
Jianzhen's Eastward Crossing and Japanese Incense The Tang Dynasty Master Jianzhen crossed to the East six times, successfully bringing Chinese incense medicine and incense culture to Japan, and laying the foundation for many traditional cultures such as Japanese tea ceremony and incense ceremony. Among them, various spices such as agarwood and jiaxiang brought to Japan by Jianzhen have played a key role in the development of Japanese incense. In Japan, Jianzhen's contribution is still highly respected to this day, and the temple still retains the "Jianzhen incense" as a commemoration.
The Formation and Development of Seal Incense and Incense In the Tang Dynasty, the incense culture became more and more mature, and Yin Xiang (seal incense) and incense stick (the prototype of incense sticks) began to appear and became popular. The "candles for three embers, incense sold for ten ashes" mentioned in Xu Hun's poem is a vivid portrayal of the use of incense. With the passage of time, in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, the incense stick production process was continuously improved, and gradually became a widely used incense product among the people.
The rise of fire-proof incense In the late Tang Dynasty, the ancient Chinese invented the fire-proof incense method, which is the so-called fire-proof air smoke. This method requires the incense ash to cover the burning smokeless carbon, and put spices on top to heat the flavor to avoid the smoke and dust produced by direct combustion, so that the aroma is more pure and long, which is deeply loved by literati and scholars.
To sum up, the incense culture in the Sui and Tang dynasties reached an unprecedented prosperity, which is not only reflected in the use of spices, the design of incense utensils and the diversity of incense activities, but also in the spread and innovation of incense culture, which has left a deep imprint on the history of incense culture in China and even the world.