The Way of Incense – Fragrance Through the Ages | Yi Chen

Discover the latest incense insights, ancient rituals, and spiritual crafts from Yi Chen — where tradition meets tranquility

香道始于先民燔柴祭天的虔敬。
Xiangdao—the Way of Incense—originated from the ancient reverence of our ancestors, who burned sacred wood in sacrifice to Heaven.

舜帝岱岳燎祭，青烟通神明；《诗经》“取萧祭脂”，馨香达九霄。
Emperor Shun offered fire at Mount Tai, where rising smoke carried prayers to the divine. The Book of Songs records “gathering mugwort and fat for sacrifice”—scented offerings rising to the Ninth Heaven.

战国屈原纫兰为佩，以香草喻君子之德；
In the Warring States period, Qu Yuan wove orchids into his garments, using fragrant herbs to symbolize a gentleman's virtue.

汉代博山炉中沉香氤氲，寄托羽化登仙之思。
During the Han dynasty, agarwood burned in Boshan censers, its curling smoke embodying dreams of transcendence and immortality.

至宋代，黄庭坚作《香之十德》，陈敬著《香谱》，隔火熏香成为文人“四般闲事”之首。
By the Song dynasty, Huang Tingjian composed The Ten Virtues of Incense, and Chen Jing compiled the Incense Manual. Incense burning over indirect heat became the foremost of the literati’s “Four Elegant Pastimes.”

千年香火，从祭祀的燎焰化为案头的青烟篆字，终凝成华夏礼乐文明中敬天法祖、修身养性的精神图腾。
Across a thousand years, ritual flames evolved into the coiling smoke on the scholar’s desk. What once served Heaven became a spiritual totem of Chinese civilization—honoring ancestors, refining the self, embodying the heart of ritual and harmony.

朱熹《香界》云：“灵芬一点静中通”——这缕穿越时空的幽香，正是中华人文精神在烟火中的仪式化表达。
Zhu Xi wrote in The Realm of Incense: “A single trace of fragrance opens the way through stillness.”
This drifting wisp that transcends time is the ritual embodiment of the Chinese spirit—manifested in smoke, yet rooted in the eternal.

Master Chang