Chuantong Incense Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The Qingyuan traditional incense-making craft has a long history; the Republic-era Qingyuan County Gazetteer records the Qingyuan traditional incense-making craft and its raw materials. The Qingyuan traditional incense-making craft blends traditional incense scholarship and incense-ritual culture, containing and extending the incense-ritual cultural values that originate from nature, blend into life, and contribute to health.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Qingyuan traditional incense-making craft is a traditional handicraft that uses aromatic herbs and natural plant spices as raw materials to make incense products; it is one of the representatives of China's traditional incense-making craft, mainly disseminated in Weicun Town, Ranzhuang Town, and Yangcheng Town of Qingyuan District, Baoding City, Hebei Province, and surrounding areas. Qingyuan District of Baoding City, Hebei Province, lies in the heart of the Jing-Jin-Shi triangle on the Central Hebei Plain and has a temperate continental seasonal climate. The region has a great variety of trees and luxuriant vegetation; its sticky plants such as elm, poplar, and wild hibiscus are the optimal raw materials for incense making. Qingyuan incense uses Chinese medicinal herbs, natural floral fragrance materials, edible spices, agarwood, sandalwood, and cliff cypress as incense materials, is made entirely by hand, and demands strict craftsmanship. It adopts unique secret incense formulas, follows the principle of 'monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy' in compounding, uses tools such as the roller, the incense-strip measure, the incense-cutting blade, and the incense-pouring jar, and after precisely and strictly proportioning the incense herbs, wood powder, and binders according to a certain ratio, goes through multiple processes such as blending, shaping, airing, and cellar-storage to produce incense products with different effects such as air purification, sterilization and deodorization, health preservation, and calming the mind. In making incense, according to the use of the incense and the characteristics of the incense herbs, multiple factors such as the incense's efficacy, aroma characteristics, and method of use are comprehensively considered, and the raw materials are processed accordingly; the various steps are closely linked, and the requirements for manual skill are exquisite and strict. The incense products are fine in quality, flexible without breaking, easily flammable without collapsing, and have a fresh and elegant scent. 'Bronze banks, iron bottom, golden-thread river—incense smoke curls upward to the ninth heaven.' Its products are widely welcomed by consumers at home and abroad, promoting the international exchange and dissemination of Chinese incense culture. Moreover, the incense-making industry has long been a pillar industry of Qingyuan County, with high public participation, and plays a positive role in promoting rural revitalization and social harmony.
Documented Process Records
It adopts unique secret incense formulas, follows the principle of 'monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy' in compounding, uses tools such as the roller, the incense-strip measure, the incense-cutting blade, and the incense-pouring jar, and after precisely and strictly proportioning the incense herbs, wood powder, and binders according to a certain ratio, goes through multiple processes such as blending, shaping, airing, and cellar-storage to produce incense products with different effects such as air purification, sterilization and deodorization, health preservation, and calming the mind.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The finished incense products are divided into multiple categories according to their aroma characteristics, functional uses, shape features, and the quantity of spices used.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Chuantong Incense Making Craftsmanship · Chuantong Incense Making Craftsmanship · Chuantong Incense Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The superior production and living environment of the Baoding area, its convenient transport location, and its rich cultural accumulation have promoted the transmission and development of the Qingyuan traditional incense-making craft. At present, the transmission of this item's craft and culture is mainly realized by incense enterprises and workshops through the master-leading-apprentice mode.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Shiliang 05-2901
- Huang Ou 05-2902
- Lin Wenxi
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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