Wei Zhuang has a poem that says:
"It is difficult to accompany the incense high stride, and the crane has not returned to Qingxiao."
Chinese Aixiang is already an indisputable fact. During the Spring and Autumn Period, China's incense culture began to ferment. In ancient times, flowers and plants were usually used as raw materials for making incense, and most of them were tools for boudoir girls to entertain. And the process of making incense is also very cumbersome and complex, from flower picking, screening, grinding, drying and other processes need to be extremely careful and meticulous. Therefore, for the deep girl who cannot be literate and martial, it is a very good self-cultivation leisure.
And the ancient Chinese incense culture is reflected in all aspects of life, clothes, room incense, sachets, living utensils, sacrifice supplies, etc. are inseparable from the figure of "incense". To some extent, the gradual development and fermentation of incense culture can also show the national culture, traditional aesthetic concepts, spiritual cultivation, ideological logic of the Chinese nation to a certain extent, and also reflect the superb precision of the traditional craft of incense making.
Tracing the development process of Chinese incense culture, spring and autumn are the source, and it is the initial development from the Western Han Dynasty. The incense culture of the Han Dynasty developed and prospered, and the ancients also pursued a high quality of life.
1. The exchange and integration of cultures under the background of Qin unification provides conditions for the development of Hanxiang
As far as the incense culture extends to the entire human society, its historical origins are even more profound. From the spring and autumn, the mainland began to have the intention of spices. Qu Yuan's reference to pee-zhi, qiulan, vanilla and other things in "Leaving the Troubles" confirms that the high-class people in society at that time had begun to use spices extensively. However, due to the limitations of the social production environment and technology at that time, the types of spices were not particularly rich.
It was not until after the Qin Dynasty and the Six Kingdoms achieved great unification that a vast area of state rule was formed. Exchanges between the North and the South also began to be frequent. At this time, the production of incense products in the southern region, where flowers and plants were multiplied, began to enter the Central Plains widely. With the frequent interaction of business exchanges, spices are also sold throughout the country. Thus began the spread of incense culture nationwide.
2. You use incense as a status symbol
Because from the beginning of the Spring and Autumn to the Han Dynasty, spices were very rare and expensive. Therefore, it is generally widely used in the group of princes and nobles, and the occasions used are also like some major interest sacrifices or wedding festivals. The people of the city are almost unable to touch the influence of incense culture. The Han Dynasty Cui Yu's "Four People's Moon Order" mentions:
"At the beginning of the first lunar month, the eldest children, grandchildren, women, and children in the noble family need to be like the elders in the family to toast the wine, as a beautiful allegory, hoping that the man's career will be successful and everything will go smoothly."
Judging from this historical data, spices have become a derivative of the noble status of the family clan at that time. In the most famous tomb pile of the Han Dynasty, the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, a large number of burials closely related to incense have been excavated. According to the research of archaeologists, there are more than a dozen pieces of vessels containing spices unearthed in Mawangdui.
Yingman pepper, Peilan, Maoxiang, Xinyi, galangal, Duheng, cinnamon
And other flowers and trees of incense
Sacs, herb bags, incense pillows, smokers, smokers, lacquer
It's even more dazzling. It can be seen that the ancients were very careful about the acceptance of incense.
Different incense vessels have different functions. For example, placing soothing spices such as Perrin in a pillow can calm the mind and help sleep. The sachet worn by the woman is both beautiful and exquisite, and intoxicating. The incense burner used as a house decoration can also be used as an incense burner to put in the owner's favorite fragrance, which can also glimpse the temperament taste of the host's home. As a kind of "protective cover" covering the outside of the smoker, the smoking cage can not only prevent the charcoal fire inside the smoker from burning to the clothing, but also make the clothes stained with fragrance, which is practical and reflects the elegant taste of the upper class.
Second, the type and function of incense
1. Characteristics of the types of Han Dynasty incense
From the remnants of Han incense unearthed from Mawangdui, it is not difficult for us to distinguish several major types of spices at that time. In fact, most of the spices of the Han Dynasty were indigenously produced incense. Although at that time, through the establishment of friendly relations with the Western Regions and the active opening of the "Silk Road", to a certain extent, the transmission and trade of spices in the Central Plains and other regions were promoted. However, according to historical records, most of the spices flowing into the western region were introduced in the form of tribute.
In this way, only the royal family and the family ministers were eligible to enjoy it, and for more ordinary people, they would not have access to this foreignly imported spice. It can be seen from this that the spices of the Han Dynasty were still mainly spices produced in their own countries.
Secondly, a very typical feature of Chinese incense culture is the combination of spices and Chinese herbal medicines. Many spice production raw materials are added with Materia Medica ingredients with a certain medicinal effect, and the spices excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb are combined with traditional Chinese medicinal materials. In the literature, there are also a large number of articles that achieve a certain physiological effect through the combination of incense and medicine, which is called the combination of incense in history, which is an aspect that must not be ignored in the study of Chinese incense culture.
2. The role of incense
(1) Ornamental decoration
At the beginning of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, the aristocratic class had begun to be extensive
Popular incense
This is a taste. There are many smokers and incense sticks unearthed in the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha. And because the geographical environment and climatic factors in the south are suitable for the production of spices, incense is more popular in the Jiangnan region.
With the favorable position of the coast and the open trade exchange attitude of the imperial court, the merchants in the south carried out the appearance of smoking stove trading. The custom of incense has also been introduced to Southeast Asia. With the improvement and development of the smoker, the atmosphere of incense is more common. Not only would the nobles burn incense and bathe in the face of the Heavenly Son; even the homes of ordinary people would certainly have an incense burner. The appearance of smokers was also missing from the funerary products of the Han Dynasty.
(2) Dietary needs
"The people take food as the sky, and food takes taste first."
On top of China's vast territory, there are many kinds of delicious dishes. Chinese has been very particular about eating since ancient times, and the addition of spices must be an indispensable part of American production.
(3) Scented body needs
We often say
"Smell the Woman"
The visible fragrance can also become a symbol of a person. In fact, in ancient China, the ancients were very fond of using spices to make the body become fragrant. Like the rose bath and the petal bath, they are all bathing methods that have been handed down at that time.
There are also a large number of records of ancient people's use of incense in the Chu Ci, such as "Hu Jiang Li and Zhi Zhi Xi, Sewing Qiulan Thought to Be Pei", "Making Qi Lotus Thought it was Dressed, Ji FuRong Thought it was Clothing" and so on. In addition to bathing, the way of the ancient people's scented body is also through wearing sachets, adding fragrances to cosmetics and even taking spices in a variety of ways, which shows the ancients' love for incense.
(4) Anti-corrosion needs
A very important reason for the incorruptible body of Lady Xin Chai unearthed in the tomb of Mawangdui Han is the addition of spices. You know, the reason why spices emit a strong fragrance is because there are a lot of oil substances in the ingredients it contains.
In the records of Traditional Chinese medicine, one of the characteristics of oil substances is that they have the effect of bacteriostatic and insecticidal. Because of this, it is endowed with a lot of spice antiseptic functions. Therefore, it is precisely because of this effect of spices that in ancient times, in keeping the body intact, spices were often used to clean the body for embalming. And the ancients who loved incense for a long time took incense-containing drugs and used spices to play a certain role in the human body, which is also an important reason why many of the corpses of the tomb owners who have been excavated now have not decayed for thousands of years.
(5) The need for ritual sacrifices
In the "Biography of Xiangpu Tianxiang" written by the famous scholar Song Hongjiao, it is said:
"Spices can connect the ancient heavens and the earth, and it has the characteristics of purity and purity, so it can be used to worship the gods."
Therefore, in ancient societies, spices often appeared frequently as an offering in major sacrificial activities or religious ceremonies. When you go to the temple to worship the Buddha and make a wish, you need to burn incense and bathe. Buddhism believes that incense can wash away the filth and thoughts of people. Purify people's bodies and minds. Therefore, the sacrificial use of incense was also laid down.
epilogue
In the Han Dynasty, as the initial development stage of incense culture, the varieties of spices in this period were still relatively limited, and the production of spice utensils was relatively single. However, although the sparrow is small and complete, it has initially laid the foundation of Chinese incense culture in the Han Dynasty. From this period onwards, incense culture began to show a rapid development momentum, and has a rich role in people's lives.
Among the various spices, the elegant pursuit of the quality of life and the positive attitude towards life of the ancient Chinese people are even more touching. The hazy and misty incense silk-filled scene originally had a unique charm, which was very much in line with the beautiful ideal of trance-like fairy world that Chinese pursued.
Therefore, the sweet taste of the nose and the vision of the beautiful hope contained in it are also one of the important reasons why spices have been loved by Chinese since ancient times. The unique charm and connotation of Chinese incense culture also show the taste and ideological realm of the Chinese nation. It still has far-reaching influence and significance in contemporary society, and it is worth inheriting and carrying forward.