"Dream Liang Record" Yun: "Burning incense, lighting tea, hanging paintings, and arranging flowers are four idle things, and they are not suitable for the family." "In ancient times, burning incense was a matter of daily life, and among the many Yaxing, incense burning was the most important. From the court to the people, from the inkers to the people, there is a custom of burning incense. The ancients loved incense, not for things, but for the heart. Looking at the Chinese piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, as well as tea tasting, incense burning, and even martial arts and Traditional Chinese medicine, the essence is all for the purpose of meditation and material use.
Incense was widely used by people in ancient times, from the sacrifice of gods to the medicine toilet, all of which reflected the wisdom of the ancients, and the ancients said that burning incense can resist the evil atmosphere, and even attract immortals to visit is true? "Burning incense" is very common, why can people calm their minds and calm their minds? We look at the history to see if it is true or not.
The burning of incense and the rejection of evil in the "Xiangcheng Vol. XI And Xiang Shi Zhi Zhi" records: "The evil breath of the earth is straight up to the sky for forty miles, and people burn "Aoki incense", "smoked land", and "rest incense" in the sleeping place, rejecting the smelly smell, but the fog of evil, so the heavenly people, the jade girl, and the Taiyi come with the aroma." "Here it is said that burning incense can resist the evil qi, and after the demonic qi dissipates, the incense goes straight to the heavenly court to attract the immortals." Burning incense to ward off evil spirits seems to be something that the ancient Chinese people unanimously approved.
However, it is also seen that the ancients burned incense, which was originally mainly used for sacrifice, in order to achieve the peace of mind and heaven and earth. In the Book of Rites, "The most respectful does not enjoy the taste, but the noble smells". When sacrificing to the gods, you don't care about the smell of the objects you offer, but about the smell of the objects. It can be seen that a wisp of fragrance, since ancient times, has been used to ward off evil spirits and seek tranquility. However, the ancients loved incense, not for material purposes, but for the heart.
Chinese has always paid attention to the spirit of "carrying things to the Tao", and the emphasis on materials is not for the value of materials, but because this substance is conducive to cultivating the mind. Looking at Chinese piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, as well as tea tasting, incense burning, and even martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine, the essence is to cultivate the mind. The details of various cultures such as incense, tea, flowers, and qinqi calligraphy and painting were described and recorded one by one, and it was only in the Ming and Qing dynasties that they began to flourish.
Today, it has become a variety of "cultures". Therefore, while enjoying these "cultures", people should not forget the original intention of the ancients, that is, the purpose of the ancients to expound these "cultures" is for the purpose of the Tao and the soul. Otherwise, the cart before the horse is inverted. Burning incense to ward off evil spirits can be established physically, culturally, and spiritually. However, the use of things is in the hearts of the people, and there are thousands of ways to ward off evil, and the root cause lies in the cultivation of a person's personality.
(Figure 2:"Bamboo Stream Incense Burning Map")
The so-called mind is not afraid of the shadow oblique, and the method of cultivating personality can be book, can be Zen, can be any discipline of Confucianism, can be tea, can be incense, can be any kind of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, or even, can not need anything. It is true that incense burning has its use of "warding off evil spirits", but "warding off evil spirits" may not be all about burning incense.
For the ancients, burning incense was not only used for sacrifice, but also for regulating emotions, and also played a very important role in health maintenance and treatment. In the Xiangcheng Vol. XII Xiangshi Bibliography, Xiangzhi's strange illness is recorded: "Sun Zhaozhi was a person with a black face, and he died. Sun Zhizhi said: "Not sick, but because the stool is very smelly, and the smell is not as good as incense, now it is burned in the stove with crushed sandalwood, and the tomorrow's glow of smoke gradually parts the past." ＂
It can be seen here that a simple incense can save the people who are believed to be dead, and it can be seen that the incense has medicinal properties. It is also recorded in the "Dream of the Red Chamber" that Baoyu found out at the wedding that the bride was not the lin sister who was thinking about it, and suddenly fell ill and fainted. The family quickly lit up benzoin and fixed his soul. And we also see from the health books handed down in ancient times that incense has the effect of health maintenance, and burning incense and calming the heart and nourishing qi are often on a par with each other.
Fig. 3 Burning incense to cure diseases
Ming Dynasty physician Li Zhongziri: "Burning incense and meditating, fang can be said to be the same as the fast." It can be seen that when the ancients meditated, they would burn a pot of incense next to them to achieve meditation. In Gao Lian's "Eight Notes on Zunsheng", it is also said that the method of practicing fetal breathing is also said: "Burning a famous incense burner at the head of the bed, and several cases must be set up, and the incense burner must be placed on it... "The elegant breath of incense can not only purify the air, but also soothe nervous tension and anxiety, stabilize emotions, and clear the lungs and calm the mind."
Therefore, burning incense during meditation and pranayama is a common thing for the literati hermits who cultivate the tao, and their cultivators calm their minds.
Fig. 4 Burning incense and meditating
Incense burning has the effect of "warding off evil spirits", medicinal rationality, and purifying the air, and the ancient Chinese nobles have long discovered the magic of incense and expelled odors by smoking spices. According to the "New Language of the World", the toilets of Shi Chongjia's house were beautifully built and declared prominent because of the incense. It can be seen that during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people used incense to cover up odors. It is also recorded in the Eight Notes of Zunsheng: "Burn the incense of the Cangshu when you are in front of the bed, and do not let it be polluted, so as to ward off the ominous." ＂
Burning incense in front of the bed can remove the dirty air around it, thus playing a role in removing evil and avoiding impurities. In fact, it is to use the medicinal rationality of incense and its smell to achieve the effect of avoiding impurities, in the "Shennong Materia Medica Hundred Kinds of Records" Cloud: "The incense is positive, the righteous qi is strong, then it can get rid of evil and move away."
Cover the dirty breath with incense, open the holes of the human body with aromatic things, make the popularity door unobstructed, and once the valve is unobstructed, the function of detoxification and turbidity is naturally enhanced.
Fig. 5 Burning incense to avoid obscenity
Invisibly burning incense makes the external environment fresh at the same time, but also makes the internal environment of the human body smooth, so as to achieve the effect of burning incense to avoid impurities.
epilogue
Whether it is in terms of spiritual and psychological health, or as a home epidemic prevention product. Incense is an important thing in the life of the ancients at home. Burning incense is able to resist the evil spirit, but as for attracting the immortals to visit, it is the comfort of the people's hearts, through the incense sacrifice to complete their filial piety ability, so that the heart is wide, doing things no longer take into account failure, just like divine help, playing their own level beyond the usual days, ancient qi reached the result of wanting the gods to pray.
Therefore, people think that the incense burning sacrifice can be visited by the immortals for a year, and it is the immortal apparition. "Burning incense" in ancient times is a very common thing, just like the modern people light lamp, and why it can make people calm the mind, calm and avoid impurities, that lies in its institutional raw materials and the effect of blending, ancient to this day, there are many types of incense, and the raw materials of incense are more, mixed by perfumers according to the use, can be matched with thousands of different kinds of incense, such as soothing light incense, cypress incense, let people breathe through the benzoin and so on.
Therefore, the burning of incense is simple in behavior, but behind it contains the craft culture and pharmacology culture of the broad spirit of incense.
bibliography
"XiangCheng, Volume XI, Ande Notes on Incense"
Shennong Materia Medica Hundred Varieties
Etiquette
"Eight Notes on Zunsheng"