Incense Boxes

What is an Incense Boxes?

The incense boxes are the box that contains the spices, also known as the “round bamboo ware for incense”, “xianghe”, “the incense letter”, and “the incense case”. Incense boxes come in various shapes, round, square, large, small, long, short and so on. Usually made of wood and lacquer, there are also ceramic and metal, and the common shape is flat and round. There are big incense round bamboo ware and small incense round bamboo ware. Originally it was one of the instruments used for offering Buddhas, and later generations were used for tea banquets and other occasions, and the shape also changed.

The ancient Chinese even burned different incense according to different seasons and environments. In summer and autumn, more natural wood incense was burned, and in spring and winter, incense powder or other mixed and refined incense was burned, in order to prevent the essence of the incense from volatilizing, so there is a container such as an incense box.

What Types of Incense Boxes are there? What is the Structure Like?

The small round incense box is the predecessor of the sachet. It is divided into two parts: the box body and the box cover. The size is usually the size of the palm, and the materials are bamboo, wood, ivory, lacquer, metal, jade, porcelain, etc. The box contains spices, which can also be used as pendants, waist chains and necklaces.

The box with a square body and a round cover or a long strip is also called a lying incense burner. One side of the box is equipped with holes for inserting incense sticks, which are made of wood, copper, stone and other materials. When it is used, it is placed horizontally on the table, and the incense sticks or horizontal incense sticks are ignited horizontally. The aroma will float upward through the patterned holes on the upper cover, so it is also called a horizontal incense burner.

The horizontal incense burner is made into two layers, the upper layer is where the incense is burned, and the lower layer is used for storing incense, so it is very convenient to take the incense. You can also put sand and put incense on it. Some incense boxes are equipped with fireproof cotton at the bottom of the box. After the incense is ignited, the whole incense, incense wood chips or refined incense can be directly put into the box, and the lid can be closed.

In the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties (1271-1912) of China, a complete set of incense utensils was popular, and most of them were a combination of "burner, bottle and box", that is, the incense burner was equipped with an incense box, and the incense bottle was a shovel for processing incense powder and an incense stick (chopsticks) for mixing incense ashes.

How to Place the Incense Box? What's the Point of Smelling Incense?

Because the incense floats upward, when tasting the incense, do not place the incense burner too high or too close to the person smelling the incense. It can be placed in a position parallel to the head of the incense person, or lower than the head position. The incense box is placed correctly. After that, don't get close to smell it, and don't touch other objects with strong fragrance before smelling the incense, so that you can feel the fragrant mist, lingering charm and artistic conception.

What are the Advantages of Incense Boxes?

1. It is more conducive to the cleaning of incense ash. The incinerated incense ash is carried on the asbestos, which avoids the phenomenon that the incense ash is scattered everywhere due to the influence of the surrounding environment.

2. The ornamental value of burning incense has been increased. The cigarettes of incense sticks or incense pieces float out from the lids of the lying incense boxes carved with different patterns, and the shapes of the smoke are different, which is also a kind of beauty.

3. Extend the burning time of incense sticks. Since the incense stick is not directly exposed to the air, on the basis of the original burning time of the incense stick, the lying incense box can make the stick incense burn for a longer time.

4. The incense sticks can burn 100%. When using the incense stick lying in the incense box, the incense stick can be completely burned, reducing waste.

5. Reduce the safety hazards after the fag end of a burned incense stick falls. As we all know, asbestos is used as a heat-resistant, fire-resistant and corrosion-resistant material. Using this material to place it in a lying incense box greatly increases the safety in the process of burning incense.

6. Having strong decorative nature. The lying incense boxes are mainly made of wood, and the lid can be decorated with patterns.

However, the incense boxes have the disadvantage of being inconvenient to carry compared to the simple incense stick inserting. Since the length of the incense box needs to meet the agarwood incense stick, the volume of the incense box is relatively large regardless of the thickness of the incense box. In addition, for the convenience of use, the lids of the incense sticks and lying incense boxes are mostly not fixed, which increases the inconvenience of carrying.

Nevertheless, no matter the past or the present, the incense boxes have collection value, of course, the incense box with exquisite craftsmanship and high artistic value is more popular in the collection circle. If there is no need for collection, the incense box is also a good gift.