What Is Incense Burner?

Incense burner is a tool for burning incense and a kind of essential offering in traditional Chinese customs, religious activities, and worshipping ceremony. Since ancient China, incense burners have been widely used and can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. They are in various shapes, and are not only a Buddhist ritual object, but also an essential offering at home.

The use of incense burners can be traced back to ancient times, when people used them to burn spices and herbs to clean the air, expel insects, or as a part of religious rituals. In ancient China, India, and other Southeast Asian countries, the use of incense burners was particularly common and they gradually developed into various shapes and styles.

There are many types of incense burners, and common materials are copper, ceramics, and wood. Incense burners can be classified into various types according to their uses and shapes. For example, incense burners used for Buddhist rituals are usually exquisitely designed, while those used for cleaning the air are generally simpler.

How to Use Incense Burner?

1. Choose a stable place for incense burner, and make sure that there are no combustibles around. A thermal insulation pad should be placed under the incense burner to prevent high temperature from damaging the desktop.

2. Choose an incense based on your needs such as the aroma and burning time.

3. Put the incense into the incense burner. For incense stick, it can be inserted into the hole of the incense burner. For incense coil or powdered incense, it can be placed in the incense plate.

4. Use a match or lighter to light the incense. For incense stick, you can light its one end. For incense coil or powdered incense, you can ignite the charcoal first and then put the incense over the charcoal.

5. The smoke generated by the burning of incense can be discharged through windows or air purifiers. At the same time, attention should be paid to the ventilation around the incense burner to avoid excessive smoke in the air.

6. After burning the incense, it is necessary to clean the incense burner in time, pour out the incense ashes, and wipe it with a soft cloth to keep it clean and beautiful.

Precautions for Using An Incense Burner

As an important tool for burning incense, incense burners play an important role in many religions and cultures. Therefore, when using an incense burner, it is necessary to follow some precautions to show your respect to different cultures and protect personal safety.

1. Incense burner is an important tool for worshipping gods and ancestors, and thus it is significant to avoid it being damaged as much as possible. If the incense burner is damaged, it should be repaired or replaced in time.

2. Choose high-quality incense with no chemical components. Incense with poor quality not only cannot bring good luck, but may also affect the environment and health.

3. The incense burner should be placed somewhere clean and tidy. Make sure that there is good ventilation to avoid bad air circulation, otherwise it may cause excessive smoke, difficult breathing, or even fires.

4. If the incense go bad or the smell becomes unpleasant, it is necessary to replace it in time to maintain a fresh aroma.

How to Maintain The Incense Burner?

1. After purchasing a new incense burner, it should be carefully wiped with a delicate cotton cloth to remove the oil stains and dust both inside and outside the incense burner.

2. Put some incense ashes into the incense burner. You can use the ashes of pine needles, cypress leaves, and lotus leaves, or those of ordinary incense.

3. When using the incense burner for the first time, try to fill it with high-quality incense, and then get the lid on after lighting the incense. Its aroma will slowly permeate the room. After doing this several times, the incense burner would seem to have some spiritual energy.

4. Incense burner should be regularly wiped to keep it clean and beautiful. Dust on the surface of the incense burner will make it lusterless. Therefore, regardless of the material of the incense burner, it is necessary to keep it clean.

5. Incense burner should be handled with care to avoid collision and damage. Its surface should be avoided contact with acidic or alkaline substances. Unused incense burners should be placed somewhere dry or visible so that you won’t forget to clean them at regular intervals.