Why do you want to burn candles when worshipping Buddha?

Burning incense is an important event in China's folk life, and it has three characteristics that are extremely noticeable. First of all, it is universal. Han people burn incense, so do most ethnic minorities. From south to north, from east to west, it is almost everywhere. Second, it has a long history. The existing documents "The Book of Songs" and "Shangshu" are all recorded, and their origins are definitely earlier than the era of poetry and calligraphy, that is, the Western Zhou Dynasty. Third, universality, almost everything should be burned: for ancestors, for gods and buddhas of heaven and earth, for animals, for mountains, rivers, trees and stones; Burning in the temple, burning in the toilet; Burn on holidays, usually burn; As a feeling of life, it is called burning incense to the moon, flowers and beauty, which rhymes quietly and beautifully. As a kind of family status, the so-called place where people drown their cigarettes, feast guests and fight for incense to show luxury; Burn incense when you are pious, burn incense to play the piano, burn incense to read; Burn it when it is cold, ward off evil spirits, remove filth and smell; If there is something to burn, there is nothing to burn. Burning itself is a thing, and it is addictive. It is called "incense addiction", just like modern people smoking and drinking tea.

Interestingly, burning incense is not only in China, but also in many nationalities and countries in the world. The English writing of incense and incense can be found in the concise encyclopedia of Britain, which contains the following contents: The ancient Egyptians introduced spice trees from the Arabian Peninsula and the coastal areas of Somalia, and regarded incense as an important item in religious ceremonies. Babylonians often burned incense during prayer and divination. Incense was introduced before the Israelites were exiled to Babylon (586-538 BC). By the 5th century BC, some altars were used to burn incense. Shamanism, especially Shiva, should burn incense in formal sacrifices and family sacrifices; Buddhism burns incense in festival worship, adult worship and daily worship. Japanese Shintoism also burned. From the 8th century BC, the Greeks burned wood and resin to worship gods and drive away demons. The Romans first burned incense wood, and later introduced incense. Incense burning is becoming more and more important in public and private sacrifices and worship of the emperor.

The history of burning incense in China can be roughly divided into three periods. Taking Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty as the boundary, the first period came first, which can be called the initial period. In the meantime, there are the following kinds of incense burned: firewood, jade, carcass, Artemisia, millet and so on. Burning incense has a unique function and is used for sacrifice. Burning incense is controlled by the state and carried out by priests.

People in the Zhou Dynasty held cigarettes to worship heaven, which was called "blessing" or "blessing sacrifice". "Poetry Zhou Song Wei Qing": "Wei Qing captures Xi, which is the classic of Zhao Qi, the king of literature." Note: "King Wen was ordered to start offering sacrifices to heaven." In other words, this ritual system began in Zhou Wenwang.

The specific method of sacrifice is: put sacrifices and jade on firewood, and burn firewood to raise smoke, which means to tell heaven. "Li Zhou Guan Chun Da Bo": "Sacrifice the Heaven Emperor with a coffin, sacrifice the sun, the moon and the stars with real wood, and sacrifice the life of the middle school secretary with a sigh. Teacher Feng and Teacher Yu. " Note: "The words of cigarettes." "The three sacrifices are all piled with firewood, or there are jade, which burns and smokes, and is reported to Yang." Sparse: "incense sacrifice." It can be seen that the so-called sacrificial ceremony, one is to light the smoke, and the other is that the smoke is the aroma. Sacrifice a cigarette to the gods, then this is the so-called "burning incense" in later generations.

This issue of incense has the following characteristics: first, incense is a primitive, unprocessed natural thing, not a "spice" in the formal sense of later generations (processed from resin); Second, the fire rises naturally, and there is no need for later "incense burners" and other utensils; Third, the sacrifice is dedicated, and the sacrifice is controlled by the state, that is, burning incense has not yet become a kind of life and a kind of folk. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhou Jia's "Fragrant City" quoted Ding Wei's "Tianxiang Biography" in the Song Dynasty, saying: "Fragrance has been used for a long time. So worshipping the gods can achieve purity. After three generations of worship, Xin's recommendation was the first to bear the brunt, but the drowning person didn't smell it. It is very heavy and rough. "

The second period, from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, can be called the lead-in period. It is of special significance for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to develop incense in China.

First, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty worshiped immortals in order to live forever, breaking the monopoly of "offering incense to heaven".

Secondly, by the time of Liang Wudi, incense products gradually became practical, such as placing pepper rooms to store favorite concubines and official playthings. It broke the monopoly of offering sacrifices with incense and made incense enter daily life.

Third, and most importantly, Liang Wudi has expanded its territory on a large scale. During this period, the real "spices" were introduced into China from the Western Regions. In volume 35 of Shuo Ba, it was quoted as "A Random Record of Changing Zhai": "According to the story of Hanwu, the evil king killed Xiutu and surrendered with the people. Get the Golden Man God and buy the Ganquan Palace. Jin people are all dragons, so they don't have to sacrifice cattle and sheep, but only burn incense to worship. However, burning incense has disappeared from Korea. " In addition, Liang Wudi also sent envoys to the rest country (now Iran). The second volume of "Xiang Qi" quoted Han Shu as saying: "Xi Guo goes to Luoyang for 25,000 miles, and the north reaches Kangju. Its fragrance is bark gum, which burns gods and makes people evil. " Bark gum, that is, resin, is a real spice.

Because of the real spices, incense became particularly prosperous when Liang Wudi was in office, and unofficial history's notes were repeated in later generations. In Chang 'an, we burned "Yuezhixiang" to solve the plague (Xiangcheng, Volume 8), and the Empress Dowager "Baihexiang" (Hanwu legend), and used Dong Fangshuo's "dreaming" vanilla to meet Li Furen in a dream until burning "dying for love" brought Li Furen back to life-this legend also spread to Japan.

Incense flourished and incense vessels came into being. Soon, the first incense burner in China was also invented, which was called "Boshan Furnace". Legend also has Liu Xiang's inscription: "Jia is king, and the situation is like a mountain." Passing through Taihua, carrying a copper coin. Among them are Song Yan. "(see" Xiangcheng "volume 38). Liu Xiang was born in Xuan Di. Since then, the incense products have been matched with incense burners, and the incense in China has entered a new stage.

However, since the introduction of spices from the western regions during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it spread to the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms. During these 300 years, the use of incense was limited to the court and the upper nobility, which was extremely rare and rarely entered the homes of ordinary people. "Xiangcheng" Volume II quotes the five-color line: "With Zhuge Liang Shuyun, I'd like to present five pounds of chicken tongue to show my gratitude." It's a gift. There is also "Incense Ride" Volume 7 quoting "The History of the Three Kingdoms": "Wei Wu said: The world is certain, and incense is forbidden in my house." It shows that even in court, burning incense is still a luxury.

The third period is the popularization period. It was after the Sui and Tang Dynasties that incense became popular. There are two reasons for its popularity: First, "western (regional) incense" has been replaced by "southern (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan) incense". "In addition to the night of Emperor Yang Di, there are countless volcanoes burning and sinking, and all the incense in Hainan has been burned out." The influx of Nanxiang lowered the price of Nanxiang and provided material preparation for popularization. Second, Buddhism and Taoism have developed greatly since the Six Dynasties, taking turns to rank among the supreme national religions; The second religion is still fragrant, "returning to the soul, out of Taoism; Sandalwood is a prosperous state. " It leads to aggressive believers and prominent atmosphere, which leads to the popularization of burning incense. However, at this time, the inherent Confucianism is still quite contradictory to the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism. The resistance of traditional scholars to Buddhism, especially Buddhism, slightly reduced the prosperity of incense.

In the Song Dynasty, the three religions merged to burn incense and walked against the wind, which was admired by everyone. Scholars also burn incense when they worship Confucius. This leads to the situation mentioned at the beginning of this article. Ming Longtu concluded: "The benefits of incense are the thinnest. What is hidden outside, sitting on morality, burning it can purify the heart and please God. The waning moon at four o'clock is fun and sultry, and it can be used to relax when burned. Sunward windows collapse, dust waves, reading lights at night, burning away from the sandman. It is said that Gu Yue can also accompany him. Tea is on the side, confide in private affairs, hold hands to support, and ignite the heart. It can also be said that scholars help each other. Dust and rain close the window, take a nap at the beginning of the day, read books on the case, sip tea lightly, and the first stove is hot, fragrant and sultry. It is better to wake up the guests with a banquet. The moon is bright and the night is clear, the ice strings are dragging their fingers, the sky is whistling, the Cangshan Mountain is extremely eye-catching, the furnace is not hot, and the incense mist is faint around the curtain. You can also eliminate evil spirits and do whatever you want. "

Fragrance and beauty have been integrated, and a large number of poems are devoted to fragrance. Here's an example of Chen burning incense in the Northern Song Dynasty (with the same name as Huang Tingjian and Huang Tingjian): opening a window to prolong the quiet book, sitting quietly to eliminate dust. I want infinity. I want to smoke this cigarette. At that time, I was cautious and wise, and I was wonderful to everyone. I am not a good friend, but I am sober now. The stove smells lonely and blue, and thousands of clouds fall. Long volley away, ethereal with the wind. Things have happened, but the smog has not changed. It should be the moon in the water, and the waves will be round.

Infinite feelings are contained in a cigarette, and the joys and sorrows of life and even metaphysical questioning and exploration have all found their way out here, so it is no wonder that things have changed and the smell of smoke has not changed. Hey! The fragrance has completely penetrated and internalized into the human spirit; This penetration was so deep that Lin Yutang talked about it during the Republic of China.