• The origin and function of incense

Archaeological data show that the history of the use of spices in ancient Egypt, ancient China, ancient India, and ancient Babylon, the four ancient civilizations of the world, can be traced back to 5000 years ago, and its early uses were mostly related to activities such as offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors. China has a long history of the application of aromatic substances. According to the record of "The use of incense from ancient times" in the book of Ding Jin Gong -- Tian Xiang Biography, we can know that the ancient Chinese people had a long history of the use of spices. Since ancient times, spices have played an important role in the process of food seasoning, medicine and health care, smoking clothes and makeup, perfuming the environment, religious sacrifice, etc. The fun in clothes, the joy in wine, the love in tea, and the taste in dishes are inseparable from fragrance. Incense clothes, wine, tea, food, medicine and other fragrances add a lot of flavor to People's Daily life and provide a lot of help.

By summarizing the customs and traditions of burning incense in ancient times, it is found that its purpose and function are mainly in the following aspects: offering sacrifices to gods to nourish emotions, health care to cure diseases to preserve health, perfuming environment to nourish nose, and perfuming clothes for recreation to nourish sex. This is because natural science is not developed, so burn incense to pray for the gods. The word perfume in English comes from the Latin perfumum, meaning "through smoke", indicating that the ancient Western use of spices is also through the method of incense.

• Aromatherapy effect 

It boils down to the main functions of incense as follows.

Beautify the environment: Good spices are used for incense, which can produce a very fresh and elegant aroma, which has a very obvious role in removing room odor and beautifying the indoor environment.

Pleasing to God and pleasing to the heart: Aloes, sandalwood, musk, ambergris and other high-quality incense products used to smoke incense is the first push of incense products produced by the smell of alcohol, elegant, refreshing, not only can beautify the environment, but also can give people add some life interest.

Meditation practice: The beautiful aroma has the function of calming the mind and opening the mind, which can assist the practitioner to achieve purification and positive determination.

Sacrificial offerings to the gods: there are few high-quality incense products specially used for sacrificial offerings, and some incense products made of natural spices to assist cultivation and edifying the mood can double as sacrificial incense. Most of the common "sacrificial special incense" are only marked on the sacrificial theme in the packaging and name. For example, some indicate the gods they worship: offering Buddha incense, Guanyin incense, the god of wealth incense; Some indicate the content of worship: praying incense, auspicious peace incense and so on; Some indicate the location of incense: Wutai Mountain, Putuo Mountain and so on. As for the quality of incense, good and bad are mixed.

Health and cure diseases: the raw materials of incense products are natural spices and Chinese herbs, which can be subdivided into different types according to the different effects, and each incense product has a corresponding specific formula and production process. Health care and disease class incense focus on the formula, materials and production process, as for the shape can be a variety of, non-prescriptive. For example: incense to prevent the plague: mostly incense incense or pan incense; Incense to improve sleep: it can be filled with special incense pillow, sachet, or incense for burning thread, pan incense.

• Incense and perfumers

The invention and application of incense incense has a long history, and the famous Boshan furnace in the Han Dynasty was designed for incense. Incense burner, also called incense burner or incense burner, was originally made of bronze.

In ancient society, incense was widely used in the life of nobles and literati. After the Song Dynasty, it was popularized to the people. Many people used various spices to smoke clothes, eliminate fatigue and disperse mosquitoes. After the Han Dynasty, the material of incense burners gradually enriched, the Song Dynasty appeared porcelain Boshan furnace, and later appeared jade incense burners, jade incense burners, etc., some even became furnishings or ornamental objects to play with.

Ancient incense burners were mainly made of metal or ceramic, with exquisite patterns on the outside. Carbon fires were lit inside, and spices or loose incense were sprinkled every now and then. With the development of science and technology, in recent years, there has been an electronic incense burner, which usually refers to an electrically heated ceramic incense burner. Electronic incense burner is not only suitable for a variety of spices (powder, crumb, block, etc.), but also for essential oils. For various spices, the essence was extracted by dry distillation. For essential oils, distillation can be used. According to the function, the electronic incense burner can be divided into constant temperature type, temperature control type and timing temperature control type. Thermostatic type generally refers to the core temperature can only be maintained in a narrow range; Temperature control type can adjust the temperature according to various flavor characteristics; Timing temperature control type can not only adjust the temperature, but also has the function of time control. According to the place of use, the electronic incense burner can be divided into ordinary type and vehicle type, the ordinary type is suitable for indoor use, and the vehicle type is suitable for use in the car. Electronic incense burner has many advantages such as pure taste, safety, energy saving and environmental protection.

Popular in society, "incense" is an advanced form of incense development, especially in Japan, "incense" has the same status as "tea ceremony", and it is very common in folk applications. "Incense" is the use of incense to pleasant, nourishing, spiritual health, however, the specific operation process of incense is generally more exquisite.

From the point of view of the equipment used in the incense, there are mainly the following types:

1. Incense burner. It is a common incense utensils, and its appearance is various, such as Boshan shape, fire house shape, Jinshan Temple shape, octopus foot shape, tripod shape, and so on. The material is mostly ceramic, stone or copper and other metals. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, copper incense burners have been popular, and copper burners are not afraid of heat, and their shapes are changeable. For other incense burners, quartz and other heat-insulating sand are placed at the bottom of the furnace to avoid overheating and cracking of the furnace wall.

2. Hand stove. It is a small smoker that can be held in the hand or carried around (with a beam), similar to a space heater. Most are round, square, hexagonal, petal shape, etc.; The surface is hollowed out, carved into patterns, auspicious patterns, landscape figures and other patterns; The material is mostly brass or white copper.

3. Incense hopper. Also known as the long handle hand stove, it is a small incense burner with a long handle, mostly used for offering Buddha. The handle head is often engraved with a lotus flower or auspicious animal. Xiangdou was already popular in the Tang Dynasty. Most of the incense burned in the incense pot is in the form of pellets or pellets.

4. Perfume cone. It is a incense appliance for vertical incense burning, also known as a "incense cage" (to distinguish it from a small cylinder for inserting incense). The shape is mostly a long and straight cylinder, with a flat top cover, a flat socket under, the outer wall is hollow-out into various patterns, and a small intubation tube is arranged in the cylinder to facilitate the placement of incense. It is mostly made of bamboo, wood, jade or ivory.

5. Horizontal furnace. Used for horizontal lighting incense, also known as horizontal incense. It's like a perfume cone, but in different directions.

6. Incense spoon. Used to hold powder or pellet perfumes.

7. Incense stick. It is a base with a jack for inserting and releasing incense. Base height, jack size, jack number has a variety of styles, in order to apply to the length and thickness of different specifications of thread incense.

8. Incense tray. Also known as the incense table, it is a flat tray for burning incense, mostly made of wood or metal.

9. Incense box. It is a container for placing incense products, also known as incense 筥, incense, incense letter, incense box, etc. The shape is mostly flat round or square, the material is mostly wooden, and the size varies. Incense box is used as a container, but also decorative incense table, living room items.

10. Incense clips. Used to pick up perfumes.

11. Fragrant chopsticks. That is, "fragrant chopsticks", mostly made of copper.

12. Incense spatula. The shovel is often used to dispose of incense ash, mostly made of copper.

• Place of use

There are many suitable places for incense, without any restrictions, and it can also be divided into several types:

• Use it at home

Home incense can effectively improve the home environment, so that every corner of the room is full of fragrant breath, living in such an environment is conducive to our health, but also helps to set off the warmth and harmony of the family.

• Use it at office

Office incense can refresh the mind, eliminate inner tension and irritability, so that you are more full of spirit into the work, in addition, incense helps to stimulate people's inspiration, make your work efficiency become better, easy to live every day. Of course, if you can share this aroma with your colleagues, the kind of and happy working environment is really better.

• Use it at tea house

"Incense" and "tea ceremony", like a pair of twin brothers, are both activities with deep cultural significance. Ancient literati often combine incense fighting, tea tasting, illustration, etc., to create a colorful artistic activity. Incense helps to create an elegant environment, add an artistic atmosphere, and let people get the purification of the mind and emotional sublimation between the breath and breath. Therefore, using incense in the teahouse will bring people a more culturally meaningful emotional experience.

• Use it at the club

The club is a comprehensive and advanced recreational service facility with the owners of the property as the main service objects. In such an occasion, incense will bring people a sense of elegance and grade, in the fragrant breath, people's inner all kinds of good feelings will be stimulated, the mood becomes quiet, thoughts are sublimated. In order to leave a good and deep impression.