The incense burner, which has been loved by literati and inkers since ancient times, seems to be far away from the world in the smoke.
The earliest incense burner, the original shape is the spring and autumn Warring States period copper stove. However, the main function of the copper stove at that time was to burn carbon for heating and grill food, so it could not be called an incense burner.
Xuande chestnut brown copper furnace Qing imitation Tibetan Palace Museum
Lavender stoves for the purpose of producing incense first appeared in the Han Dynasty. Boshan furnace is the most representative of the Han Dynasty one of the lavender furnace varieties, it began to be popular from the Han Dynasty, the influence on the later generations of incense burner creation is quite far-reaching.
The morphological characteristics of the Boshan furnace are that the furnace body is mostly bean-shaped, and the lid of the furnace is carved into a mountain undulating shape, most of which are carved with rare birds and strange animals or strange people looming in the mountains. When the spices were burned, the incense mist rose from the hollowed out stove lid, and under the mist, the distant mountains and the beasts also seemed to move.
Gilded gilded silver copper bamboo smoker Han Tibet Shaanxi History Museum
From the Wei and Jin dynasties, religious incense promoted the development of incense burners, and with the continuous import of precious spices from overseas, people's demand for lavender stoves also began to increase. The Wei and Jin Dynasties period was also the beginning of the era of Chinese porcelain, because ceramics had advantages that could not be compared with other materials, so they gradually replaced metal lavender furnaces as the mainstream varieties.
Boshan Furnace Southern Dynasty to Early Tang Dynasty National Palace Museum in Taipei
The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's feudal social development, and incense culture and incense burners began to flourish in an all-round way during the Tang Dynasty. Incense activities not only permeate everyday life, but also become a necessary procedure in various rituals. The categories of ceramic incense burners in the Tang Dynasty are much richer than those of the previous generation, and the more representative varieties of incense burners are Tang Sancai incense burners, Yue kiln celadon incense burners and Xing kiln white porcelain incense burners.
Gongyi kiln hanging tire three-legged furnace Tang Zang Palace Museum
In the history of incense culture and incense burners, the achievements of the Song Dynasty have also become an insurmountable peak for future generations. The ceramic incense burners of the Song Dynasty had a wide variety of varieties, diverse shapes, and more diversified decorations. In the Song Dynasty, the northern and southern kiln systems all fired a large number of incense burners, with the Dingyao kiln system, yaozhou kiln system, Cizhou kiln system, and Jun kiln system in the north, and the Longquan celadon system and the Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain system in the south. In addition, there were also Ru kilns, Ge kilns, and official kilns that fired tribute porcelain for the court, and thus the development of ceramic incense burners in the Song Dynasty reached its heyday.
Shadow green string pattern three-legged furnace Song Stored in Taipei National Palace Museum
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the incense culture, which was respected by elite culture, evolved into a civilian culture and a city culture after entering the Ming Dynasty. The popularity of incense culture has also promoted the prosperity of incense burners. The incense burners fired by the folk kilns represent the culture of the common people and the culture of the city, and together with the incense burners of the official kilns, they jointly construct the characteristics of the ming dynasty incense burners and the common appreciation of the customs. In addition, religion also contributed to the development of incense burner creation, and in the Ming Dynasty, there were many fixed-burning incense burners, which were displayed in Buddhist temples and Taoist temples.
Qingyu Luduan smoker Mingzang Palace Museum
The incense burners of the Qing Dynasty reached a new glory: the varieties, shapes and ornaments of ceramic incense burners were rich and diverse; the blue and white incense burners, the color porcelain incense burners, and the color glazed incense burners were all passed down. In the early Qing Dynasty, the art of blue and white incense burners was the highest, especially the Kangxi Min kiln blue and white incense burners. The colored porcelain incense burners of the Qing Dynasty are also very valuable, with pastels, five colors, bucket colors, plain three colors, enamel colors and other types, of which the largest number of pastel incense burners is the mainstream variety in the color porcelain incense burners.
Painting enamel flowers three-legged smoker Qing Tibetan Palace Museum
In the past dynasties, the incense burner or people worship the Buddha or the ancestor worship vessel, or become the beloved object of the literati and scholars, placed in the hall or placed in the study desk, when reading a light incense, there is a wonderful mood of "red sleeves adding incense to the night reading". The spiritual incense burner gives people more life and spirituality, it travels through the tunnel of time, chases and appreciates the profound history and culture.