2, the benefits of incense:
1) medicinal
The origin of incense as medicine is very early. Fragrance contributes to human health. For example, a scholar at the Psychophysics Center of Yale University pointed out that the fragrant smell of apples can lower the blood pressure of anxious people and avoid panic. Lavender can promote metabolism and make people alert. University of Cincinnati related tests show that adding fragrance to the air can improve work efficiency. All these make aromatherapy such as essential oil become an extremely popular fitness method. In Song Dynasty, fragrant herbs were also mixed into the diet to make fragrant fruits and fragrant syrups, and borneol and musk were mixed into Huanglong Tea Garden. Mo Ding, which is expensive to produce, often uses borneol and musk.
2) Sacrifice celebration
Egyptians who began to use incense in large quantities initially used incense in complex worship ceremonies. In the process of sacrifice, sometimes even tons of incense are burned, and even a large number of spices and ointments are needed for complicated burial and anti-corrosion methods at death. At the top of the pagoda-shaped building in the ancient Babieta, priests often lit piles of incense to sacrifice to the gods. They think burning incense on the tower will be closer to the gods. In China, there are many records of offering sacrifices and holding ceremonies with incense, such as offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, ancestors and farming ceremonies. During the reign of Renzong in the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the drought in Kaifeng, Henan Province, Renzong burned incense and prayed for rain in the West Taiyi Palace, and burned borneol 17 kg during the ceremony. In addition, for example, in the third year of Xichun in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 176), from ten days ago, the queen, crown prince, crown princess and officials at all levels, as well as palace officials, all paid tribute to celebrate their birthdays in turn.
3) fumigation
As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the custom of burning incense and smoking clothes was recorded, and this kind of incense clothes was also popular among literati in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties. In the Tang dynasty, fumigation became more popular because of a large number of imported incense.
According to the History of Song Dynasty, there was a man named Xun Mei in Song Dynasty who had to burn incense twice in the morning, put on his clothes and put on his sleeves to make the room full of fragrance. At that time, his name was Xiang Mei. When Huizong was in the Northern Song Dynasty, Cai Jing entertained guests and burned dozens of ounces of incense. Xiangyun floated out of other rooms, and the clothes of visiting guests were stained with incense, which lasted for several days.
4) Banquet
In ancient times, incense was also an indispensable scene in banquets and celebrations. In Egypt, when upper-class people attend banquets, the metropolis wears a wax cream cone on their heads, lets it melt slowly, and drops fragrant syrup on their faces and shoulders. On the other hand, the ancient Romans often sprinkled fragrant roses at public ceremonies and banquets. It is very impolite not to have a lot of roses in a carnival program like Dionysus Festival. The ancient Romans even set up a program like "Rose Day". Sometimes, during the banquet, they will sprinkle fragrant rain filled with perfume and petals from the ceiling.
At the banquet of officials in the Southern Song Dynasty in China, incense is essential. Such as spring banquet, village meeting, civil and military officials examination, "same year banquet", birthday banquet, etc., the details are complicated, so the government has specially appointed the personnel of "four departments and six bureaus". There is a so-called "fragrant medicine bureau" in the "six innings" of Meng Lianglu, which is in charge of the affairs of "dragon saliva, brain marrow, harmony, blessing incense, incense stack, incense burner, incense ball" and "filling incense clusters with fine ash", and is in charge of the use of incense.