Incense
Incense was burnt to counteract or obscure malodorous products of human habitation, but was widely perceived to also deter malevolent demons and appease the gods with its pleasant aroma.
Brought to Japan in the 6th century by Korean Buddhist monks, who used the mystical aromas in their purification rites, the delicate scents of Koh (high-quality Japanese incense) became a source of amusement and entertainment for nobles in the Imperial Court during the Heian Era 200 years later.
During the 14th-century Ashikaga shogunate, a samurai warrior might perfume his helmet and armor with incense to achieve an aura of invincibility (as well as to make a noble gesture to whoever might take his head in battle).
It was not until the Muromachi period during the 15th and 16th century that incense appreciation (kōdō, 香 道 ) spread to the upper and middle classes of Japanese society.
[19] Local knowledge and tools were extremely influential on the style, but methods were also influenced by migrations of foreigners, such as clergy and physicians.
In the West, the best known incense materials of this type are the resins frankincense and myrrh,[citation needed] likely due to their numerous mentions in the Bible.
Moxa tablets, which are disks of powdered mugwort used in Traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion, are not incenses; the treatment is by heat rather than fragrance.
[24] Among ethnic Chinese and Chinese-influenced communities these are traditionally burned at temples, before the threshold of a home or business, before an image of a religious divinity or local spirit, or in shrines, large and small, found at the main entrance of every village.
[25][26] The raw materials are powdered and then mixed together with a binder to form a paste, which, for direct burning incense, is then cut and dried into pellets.
This form of incense requires the least skill and equipment to manufacture, since the blanks are pre-formed in China or South East Asia.
It is then cut into small cubes, coated with clay powder to prevent adhesion, and allowed to fully harden and dry.
Indirect-burning incense is burned directly on top of a heat source or on a hot metal plate in a censer or thurible.
[35] In Japan and China, a similar censer called a egōro (柄香炉) in Japanese, or a shǒulú (手爐) in Chinese, is used by several Buddhist traditions.
The bakhoor is usually burned in a mabkhara (Arabic: مبخر or مبخرة), a traditional incense burner (censer) similar to the Somali dabqaad.
[38] The first known record is by poet Yu Jianwu (487–551): "By burning incense we know the o'clock of the night, With graduated candles we confirm the tally of the watches.
In some states, such as Taiwan, Singapore, or Malaysia, where they celebrate the Ghost Festival, large, pillar-like dragon incense sticks are sometimes used.
Chinese incense sticks used in popular religion are generally odorless or only use the slightest trace of jasmine or rose, since it is the smoke, not the scent, which is important in conveying the prayers of the faithful to heaven.
[citation needed] They are composed of the dried powdered bark of a non-scented species of cinnamon native to Cambodia, Cinnamomum cambodianum.
Sites belonging to Tzu Chi, Chung Tai Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain,[41] Xingtian Temple, or City of Ten Thousand Buddhas do not use incense.
Each thurible consists of a censer section, chains to hold and swing it, a perforated lid, and a crucible in which burning charcoal is placed.
[50] Ketoret (Hebrew: קְטֹרֶת) was the incense offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and is stated in the Book of Exodus to be a mixture of stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense.
These devices can range from a simple trail of incense material calibrated to burn in a specific time period, to elaborate and ornate instruments with bells or gongs, designed to involve multiple senses.
[citation needed] Incense made from materials such as citronella can repel mosquitoes and other irritating, distracting, or pestilential insects.
This use has been deployed in concert with religious uses by Zen Buddhists, who claim that the incense that is part of their meditative practice is designed to keep bothersome insects from distracting the practitioner.
Many people burn incense to appreciate its smell, without assigning any other specific significance to it; this is in the same way that certain items can be produced or consumed solely for the contemplation or enjoyment of the aroma.
Such use was common in Judaic worship[51] and remains in use for example in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, Taoist and Buddhist Chinese jìngxiāng (敬香, 'offer incense [to ancestors/gods]'), etc.
[55] Research carried out in Taiwan in 2001 linked the burning of incense sticks to the slow accumulation of potential carcinogens in a poorly ventilated environment by measuring the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzopyrene) within Buddhist temples.
The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held when the researchers weighed other factors, including cigarette smoking, diet and drinking habits.
"[59] In 2015, the South China University of Technology found toxicity of incense to Chinese hamsters' ovarian cells to be even higher than cigarettes.
[60] Incensole acetate, a component of frankincense, has been shown to have anxiolytic-like and antidepressive-like effects in mice, mediated by activation of poorly-understood TRPV3 ion channels in the brain.
