Curious indeed, but enormous by reason of it infinity of tradition and
detail. I am afraid even to think of the size of the volume that would
be needed to cover it…. Such a work would properly begin with some
brief account of the earliest knowledge and use of aromatics in Japan.
I would next treat of the records and legends of the first introduction
of Buddhist incense from Korea,—when King Shōmyō of Kudara, in 551 A.
D., sent to the island-empire a collection of sutras, an image of the
Buddha, and one complete set of furniture for a temple. Then something
would have to be said about those classifications of incense which were
made during the tenth century, in the periods of Engi and of
Tenryaku,—and about the report of the ancient state-councillor,
Kimitaka-Sangi, who visited China in the latter part of the thirteenth
century, and transmitted to the Emperor Yomei the wisdom of the Chinese
concerning incense. Then mention should be made of the ancient incenses
still preserved in various Japanese temples, and of the famous
fragments of _ranjatai_ (publicly exhibited at Nara in the tenth year
of Meiji) which furnished supplies to the three great captains,
Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Iyeyasu. After this should follow an outline
of the history of mixed incenses made in Japan,—with notes on the
classifications devised by the luxurious Takauji, and on the
nomenclature established later by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who collected one
hundred and thirty varieties of incense, and invented for the more
precious of them names recognized even to this day,—such as
“Blossom-Showering,” “Smoke-of-Fuji,” and “Flower-of-the-Pure-Law.”
Examples ought to be given likewise of traditions attaching to
historical incenses preserved in several princely families, together
with specimens of those hereditary recipes for incense-making which
have been transmitted from generation to generation through hundreds of
years, and are still called after their august inventors,—as “the
Method of Hina-Dainagon,” “the Method of Sentō-In,” etc. Recipes also
should be given of those strange incenses made “_to imitate the perfume
of the lotos, the smell of the summer breeze, and the odor of the
autumn wind_.” Some legends of the great period of incense-luxury
should be cited,—such as the story of Sué Owari-no-Kami, who built for
himself a palace of incense-woods, and set fire to it on the night of
his revolt, when the smoke of its burning perfumed the land to a
distance of twelve miles…. Of course the mere compilation of materials
for a history of mixed-incenses would entail the study of a host of
documents, treatises, and books,—particularly of such strange works as
the _Kun-Shū-Rui-Shō_, or “Incense-Collector’s
Classifying-Manual”;—containing the teachings of the Ten Schools of the
Art of Mixing Incense; directions as to the best seasons for
incense-making; and instructions about the “_different kinds of fire_”
to be used for burning incense—(one kind is called “literary fire,” and
another “military fire”); together with rules for pressing the ashes of
a censer into various artistic designs corresponding to season and
occasion…. A special chapter should certainly be given to the
incense-bags (_kusadama_) hung up in houses to drive away goblins,—and
to the smaller incense-bags formerly carried about the person as a
protection against evil spirits. Then a very large part of the work
would have to be devoted to the religious uses and legends of
incense,—a huge subject in itself. There would also have to be
considered the curious history of the old “incense-assemblies,” whose
elaborate ceremonial could be explained only by help of numerous
diagrams. One chapter at least would be required for the subject of the
ancient importation of incense-materials from India, China, Annam,
Siam, Cambodia, Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and various islands of
the Malay archipelago,—places all named in rare books about incense.
And a final chapter should treat of the romantic literature of
incense,—the poems, stories, and dramas in which incense-rites are
mentioned; and especially those love-songs comparing the body to
incense, and passion to the eating flame:—
Even as burns the perfume lending thy robe its fragance,
Smoulders my life away, consumed by the pain of longing!
….The merest outline of the subject is terrifying! I shall attempt
nothing more than a few notes about the religious, the luxurious, and
the ghostly uses of incense.