The incense burners used in various dynasties include incense burners of different shapes such as Boshan burners, hand-hold burners, incense bowls, lying burners, incense tubes, as well as incense balls, incense holders, incense trays, incense boxes, incense clips, incense chopsticks, incense shovels, incense spoons, incense tubes and incense bags. The materials used include copper, ceramics, gold and silver, bamboo and wood, enamel and jade.
Incense burner
The incense burner is the most common incense burner for burning incense, but it is not known when it originated. It is generally believed that the modern incense burner originated from the bronze vessels used for cooking in ancient times, or the sacrificial vessels used for ancestral temple sacrifices. The Boshan furnace that appeared in China's Han Dynasty is the ancestor of the modern incense burner.
Generally speaking, the materials of incense burners are diverse. The most common ones are ceramic incense burners. The plastic ceramic clay can be made into various shapes, and can even imitate the shape and color of bronze ware, but most of them are round; some are even carved with patterns or decorated with lotus-shaped bases, which are suitable for burning various shapes of incense such as petal incense, standing incense, tower incense, coil incense, incense powder, lying incense, etc. In use, it is generally necessary to place incense ash, quartz and other insulating sand at the bottom of the furnace to prevent the furnace wall from overheating and bursting. In addition, there are precious incense burners such as gold, silver, copper, or jade, ivory, agate, etc. that need to be formed in one piece, and if there is a slight damage, all the previous efforts will be wasted.
The design of the incense burner is not only related to the material of the incense and the way of burning incense, but also due to the different cultural atmospheres of the past dynasties, the appearance of the incense burner has various changes, such as Boshan shape, tripod shape, tripod shape, fire house shape (double-layer shape, with cover), tower shape, etc.
Horizontal incense burner
The horizontal incense burner is a square body with a round cover or a long strip. Usually, a small hole for inserting incense sticks is set on one side. It is generally made of wood, copper, stone, etc. When used, it is placed horizontally on the table, and the incense sticks or horizontal incense sticks are lit horizontally. The fragrance will float upward through the patterned holes on the upper cover, so it is also called a "horizontal incense burner". Now some horizontal incense burners are made into two layers, the upper layer is for burning incense, and the lower layer is used for storing incense, which is very convenient for taking incense.
When using a horizontal incense burner to burn incense, in addition to inserting the small hole on one side to let the incense sticks burn in the air, you can also first put a layer of incense ash on the incense slot at the bottom of the box, and then place the horizontal incense sticks on the incense ash, which can also be lit.
Incense holder
Incense holder, also known as "incense holder", is a tool designed to hold incense sticks, incense sticks or coils to prevent the incense from falling or directly contacting the incense burner. Most of them are a base with a hole. In addition, Y-shaped, gourd-shaped, lotus-shaped, etc. are also common. The materials include metal, jade, clay, etc. The height, size and number of holes of the incense holder are not fixed. Different designs are available for different lengths and thicknesses of incense.
Incense tray
Incense tray refers specifically to the flat tray for burning incense prints, also called incense table or regular incense tray. Incense trays are generally made of hard wood, ceramics or metal into a dish shape, with shapes such as square, round, bodhi leaf, etc.
There are two ways to use incense trays. One is to press the incense powder into a continuous character shape in the tray, such as the word for longevity or some Sanskrit characters, and then directly ignite and burn it. In addition, because some incense trays have small holes for inserting incense sticks, or you can place incense holders on the incense tray and then securely insert the incense sticks or coil incense on the incense holders, the ash from the burned incense will fall steadily into the incense tray. At this time, the incense tray serves as an incense holder to receive the incense ash after the burning incense sticks, so that the incense ash will not scatter everywhere and affect the cleanliness of the environment.
Incense box
An incense box is a container for long and thin incense such as incense sticks and incense sticks. It is also called incense box, incense box, incense box, etc. Incense boxes are generally made of wood, but they can also be made of pottery or metal. They are mostly flat round boxes or square boxes. The size is not fixed, depending on the habit of the incense user. The exquisite and elegant incense box is a container for incense, and it is also an item for decorating incense tables and rooms.
In addition, some people now call an upright incense burner or a lying incense burner introduced from India or Tibet, China, which is hollowed out on all four sides and made into a square or octagonal box-shaped "incense box". Here, we are talking about the incense box for storing incense mentioned above.
Scented sachets
Scented sachets are what we call "scented bags" today. Small and exquisite sachets are generally made of embroidered silk cloth into a bag shape. When used, various incense powders, dried flowers and other incense products are directly placed in the bag to be worn or carried with you, and the fragrance is naturally emitted. Sometimes the sachet is also placed in a hollow small box made of jade, gold and silver. The top of the sachet is usually tied with a silk thread or a necklace, which can be hung directly around the neck. Depending on the different incense products in the sachet, the sachet also has medicinal, calming, and sleep-aiding functions.
Electric incense burner
Since the 20th century, with the initial development of electronic technology, some manufacturers have begun to try to apply electronic components to the improvement of traditional incense burners. The original electric incense burner mainly imitated the traditional incense burner in appearance, using a simple heating device to simulate the temperature and smoke effect when burning incense. The function was relatively simple and could only achieve basic heating and timing functions.
By the mid-2010s, the rapid progress of electronic technology promoted the development of electric incense burners. The heating technology has been improved, and a more precise temperature control chip has been used to simulate the optimal burning temperature required for different incense products, making the fragrance more natural and rich. At the same time, a variety of fragrance options have been added, and the switching of different fragrances has been achieved through built-in incense tablets or aromatherapy essential oils. In terms of appearance design, it is also more diverse, integrating modern simplicity and traditional classical styles.
So far, users can control the switch, temperature, timing and other parameters of the incense burner through the controller, and can also set personalized aromatherapy modes according to different scenes and personal preferences.
Electric incense burners have evolved from simple heating devices to aromatherapy devices that integrate multiple functions, constantly meeting people's needs for quality life and traditional cultural experience.
