Incense Burning: An Ancient Method to Expel Pathogenic Qi

Today, our understanding of incense is mostly limited to its use in religious rituals, where smoke coils in sacred spaces, or to its domestic function of scenting and purifying the air. However, tracing back the history of incense use among the ancients, we discover that its applications were far more extensive.

Nurturing Healthy Qi with Fragrance, Expelling Pathogenic Qi through Scent

In ancient times, incense burning was widely integrated into daily life as a method employed by our ancestors to inhibit mold and dispel foul vapors. From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), incense burning falls under "aromatherapy" within the category of external therapies.

The disease prevention method of "expelling illness through fragrance" has a long history in China. The Shennong Bencao Jing (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica) states: "Fragrance is the essence of Qi. When healthy qi flourishes, it dispels evil and eliminates impurities." From a TCM viewpoint, incense can bolster Yang energy, expel pathogenic factors and impurities, invigorate blood circulation and Qi, unblock meridians, and open the orifices. Consequently, it serves to prevent illness, nurture health, treat diseases, and cure ailments. Within TCM, incense is known as "fragrant medicine" (Xiang Yao).

As early as the Han Dynasty, the famous physician Hua Tuo made sachets from cloves and baibu(Stemona root) to hang in dwellings to prevent tuberculosis. Modern popular health products like medicinal pillows are contemporary versions of this traditional aromatic therapy. The Ming Dynasty physician Li Shizhen also used incense sticks to "fumigate various sores and ringworm."

The raw materials used in incense making are predominantly aromatic herbs derived from woody or herbaceous plants. The scents emitted through burning can boost immunity, ward off evil influences, sterilize and disinfect, refresh the mind and enhance intelligence, and nourish health and wellbeing.

The Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) by Li Shizhen records numerous fragrant medicines and many incense formulas or prescriptions primarily based on fragrant medicines. These were used to dispel impurities, prevent epidemics, calm the spirit and improve mood, enhance sleep, and treat various diseases. Methods of application included "burning for smoke," "inhalation," "bathing," "pillows," and "wearing."

Examples include:

·       Musk: "Burning it wards off epidemics."

·       Agarwood (Chenxiang), Sandalwood (Tanzhang): "Burning them produces smoke that dispels malignant qi and treats pestilential sores."

·       Dalbergia wood (Jiangzhenxiang): "Wearing it;" Benzoin (Anxixiang): "Burning it" can "expel malignant qi."

·       Evodia fruit (Wuzhuyu): "Steaming it hot for a pillow, or bathing the head with it, treats headaches."

·       During the Dragon Boat Festival: "Gather mugwort (Ai) and hang it above the door to ward off toxic qi."

Pure Yang Energy, Condensed into Fragrance

Viewed through the lens of Yin-Yang theory, fragrant medicines are born imbued with pure Yang energy; they are pure Yang substances possessing the power to support the healthy (Zheng Qi) and expel the pathogenic (Xie Qi), as well as to generate and uplift Yang Qi. When the fragrance enters the body, through the dispersing function of Lung Qi, it invigorates the body's healthy Qi, harmonizes the functions of the five Zang organs (Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lung, Kidney), promotes the smooth flow and abundance of Qi and Blood, and balances Yin and Yang.

Fragrance has a special efficacy in nourishing the "Yangming Meridian." The Yangming Meridian is considered the sea where Yang Qi is generated and the main thoroughfare for its circulation, often referred to as the body's "dragon meridian." "When Yangming is deficient, pathogenic qi easily invades." The mouth and nose are the orifices of the Yangming Meridian and serve as the primary gateways for the body's defense against disease.

Incense, acting through the mouth and nose, helps achieve immune defense, ward off evil influences, and dispel foul vapors, enabling the Yangming Meridian to reach a healthy state and maintain its ability to resist "external pathogens." History also records many instances of fragrant medicines being used to prevent infectious diseases like influenza and plagues.

The health-nurturing effects of traditional incense products stem primarily from the aromatic herbs used as their main ingredients. Traditional incense employs hundreds of different fragrant medicines, with several dozen commonly used. Major fragrant medicines include: Agarwood (Chenxiang), Yellow Agarwood (Huangshuxiang), Jian Xiang (a type of agarwood), Sandalwood (Zhantan), Red Sandalwood (Zitan), Yellow Sandalwood (Huangtan), Dalbergia wood (Jiangzhenxiang), Storax (Suhexiang), Borneol (Longnao), Benzoin (Anxixiang), Spikenard (Gansong), Dahurian Angelica (Baizhi), Prepared Aconite (Fuzi), Frankincense (Ruxiang), Liquidambar resin (Fengxiang), Rue (Yunxiang), Sweetgrass (Maoxiang), Lysimachia (Linglingxiang), Costus root (Matixiang), Musk (Shexiang), etc.

Just as a single precious medicinal herb does not necessarily constitute a good medicine on its own, a single high-quality fragrant material does not necessarily make good incense. For example, regarding sandalwood, the ancients clearly stated: "Sandalwood burned alone and uncovered easily causes qi to float upwards aggressively, disturbing the spirit over time."

The ancients were well aware of the limitations of single-ingredient incense, leading to the development of the concept of combining multiple fragrant materials. Thus, since ancient times, the mainstream of incense use has not been single-note fragrances, but rather He Xiang (和香), or composite incense. This refers to incense products created by blending various fragrant materials according to specific needs.

The Xiang Cheng (Compendium of Incense) records 437 ancient Chinese incense formulas. These all involve grinding various fragrant materials into fine powders and mixing them. Most involve "refining honey to blend incense" (錬蜜和香) – heating honey to make "ripe honey" which acts as a binder to amalgamate the fragrant materials. The resulting incense products were primarily formed into incense pellets (Xiang Wan).

The art of composite incense reached its zenith during the Song Dynasty. Adhering to the traditional Chinese concept of "harmony between heaven and humanity" (天人合一) in health cultivation, and based on an understanding of the medicinal properties of fragrant herbs, a unique system developed for formulating health-nourishing incense that varied according to the annual climate, seasons, and specific solar terms. The ancients regarded these as precious medicines valued like gold and as beneficial companions aligned with one's inherent nature.

Through the aura of fragrance, gather and nurture Yang Qi, making both the inner and outer self feel profoundly warm and comforted. May you also embrace a life befriended by "incense."