HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

is the art of appreciating
Japanese incense The burning of incense in Japan began during the 6th century (the Asuka period) with the introduction of Buddhism, which uses incense during rituals and ceremonies. Agarwood was imported into Japan from China via Korea. From that point on, ince ...
, and involves using incense within a structure of codified conduct. ''Kōdō'' includes all aspects of the incense process, from the , to activities such as the incense-comparing games and . ''Kōdō'' is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement, along with ''
ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...
'' for flower arrangement, and ''
chadō The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or lit. 'Hot water for tea') is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . The term "Japanese tea ceremony ...
'' for tea and the tea ceremony.


Etymology

The word 香 ''kō'' is written with the Chinese
Kangxi The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ye ...
radical 186, which is composed of nine strokes (although it can be expanded up to 18 strokes 馫). Translated, it means "fragrance"; however, in this context, it may also be translated as "incense". The word 道 ''dō'' (written with the same character as Chinese ''tao''/''dao'') means "way", both literally (street) and metaphorically (a stream of life experience). The suffix -道 generally denotes, in the broadest sense, the totality of a movement as endeavor, tradition, practice and ethos. In the search for a suitable term, translations of such words into English sometimes focus on a narrower aspect of the original term. One common translation in context is "ceremony", which entails the process of preparation and smelling in general, but not a specific instance. In some instances, it functions similarly to the English suffix ''-ism'', and as in the case of
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...
(''chadō/sadō'' 茶道), one sees ''teaism'' in early efforts to illustrate ''sadō'' in English by focusing on its philosophy and ethos. Conversely, the English phrase ''the way of X'' has become more
productive Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...
.


History

According to legend,
agarwood Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood, gharuwood or the Wood of Gods, commonly referred to as oud or oudh (from , ), is a fragrant, dark and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small Woodworking, hand carvings. It forms in the heartwood of ...
(aloeswood) first came to Japan when a log of incense wood drifted ashore on Awaji island in the third year of
Empress Suiko (554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō''): She introduced Buddhism in Japan and built many Buddhist temples, but she held the balance between Buddhism and Shintoism. Under her rule, Japan ...
's reign (595 CE). People who found the incense wood noticed that the wood smelled pleasant when they put it near a fire. Then they presented the wood to local officials. Japan was the eastern end of the
Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
. Incense was brought from China over Korea and developed over 1000 years. The history starts in the 6th century CE when
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
arrived during the
Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...
. Agarwood is known to have come along with the supplies to build a temple in 538 CE. A ritual known as ''sonaekō'' became established. ''Kōboku,'' fragrant wood combined with herbs and other aromatic substances, was burned to provide incense for religious purposes. The custom of burning incense was further developed and blossomed amongst the court nobility. Pastime of ''takimono'', a powdered mixture of aromatic substances, developed. Fragrant scents played a vital role at court life during the
Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
, robes and even fans were perfumed and poems written about them, it also featured prominently in the epic ''
The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...
'' in the 11th century. ''Samurai'' warriors would prepare for battle by purifying their minds and bodies with the incense of ''kōboku''. They also developed an appreciation for its fragrances. In the late
Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...
in the 16th century, this aesthetic awareness would develop into the accomplishment known as ''kōdō'', which is the art of enjoying the incense of smouldering ''kōboku''. The present style of ''kōdō'' has largely retained the structure and manner of the Muromachi period (during this time, the
tea ceremony Tea ceremony is a ritualized practice of making and serving tea (茶 ''cha'') in East Asia practiced in the Sinosphere. The original term from China (), literally translated as either "''way of tea''", "''etiquette for tea or tea rite''",Heiss, M ...
and the ''
ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...
'' style of flower arrangement developed as well). Expertise concerning tiny pieces of exotic aromatic woods led in the 15th and 16th centuries to the creation of various games or contests. Some depended on the memorization of scents, some involved sequences that held clues to classic poems, and some were merely a matter of identifying matching aromas. Incense games became a "way" (''dō''), an
avocation An avocation is an activity that someone engages in as a hobby outside their main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside their workplaces w ...
. The way of incense eventually spread from elite circles to townsmen. During the Tenshō era in the late 16th century, the master craftsmen Kōju was employed at the
Kyoto Imperial Palace The is the former palace of the Emperor of Japan, located in Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the Emperors have resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, while the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was ordered ...
and practiced incense ceremony. The third Kōju served under
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
, the fourth under
Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
. The eighth Kōju Takae Jyuemon was known as a master of incense of particular note. During this time the were formulated, which is a traditional listing of the benefits derived from the proper and correct use of quality incense: # 感格鬼神 : Sharpens the senses # 清浄心身 : Purifies the body and the spirit # 能払汚穢 : Eliminates pollutants # 能覚睡眠 : Awakens the spirit # 静中成友 : Heals loneliness # 塵裏愉閑 : Calms in turbulent times # 多而不厭 : Is not unpleasant, even in abundance # 募而知足 : Even in small amounts is sufficient # 久蔵不朽 : Does not break down after a very long time # 常用無障 : A common use is not harmful Even today, there is a strong relationship and holistic approach in ''kōdō'' between fragrant scent, the senses, the human spirit, and nature. The spirituality and refined concentration that is central to ''kōdō'' places it on the same level as ''kadō'' and ''chadō''.


Material

In ''kōdō'', a small piece of fragrant wood is heated on a small
Mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into fragile elastic plates. This characteristic is described as ''perfect basal cleavage''. Mica is co ...
plate (''Gin-yo''), which is heated from below by a piece of charcoal that is surrounded by ash. All this is held in a small ceramic censer that can look like a cup. It is not usual for wood or incense sticks to be burned because that would create smoke; only the essential aromatic oils should be released from the wood through the heat below it. Aloeswood, also known as , is produced in certain parts of southeast Asia such as Vietnam. The trees secrete an aromatic resin, which over time then turns into . One particular grade of ''kōboku'' with a high oil content and superior fragrance is called . Another important material is , which originates primarily from India, Indonesia, southern China or other parts of southeast Asia. Sandalwood trees need around 60 years to produce their signature fragrance that can be deemed acceptable to be used for ''kōdo''. Other materials used are cinnamon bark (桂皮 keihi),
chebulic myrobalan ''Terminalia chebula'', commonly known as black- or chebulic myrobalan, is a species of ''Terminalia (plant), Terminalia'', native to South Asia from Pakistan, India and Nepal east to southwest China (Yunnan), and south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, a ...
(诃子 kashi),
clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...
(丁子 choji), ginger lily (sanna),
lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean ...
,
licorice Liquorice (Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...
(甘草属 kanzō),
patchouli Patchouli (also spelled patchouly or pachouli; ; '' Pogostemon cablin'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, commonly called the mint or deadnettle family. The plant grows as a bushy perennial herb, with erect stems reachin ...
(廣藿香 kakkō),
spikenard Spikenard, also called nard, nardin, and muskroot, is a class of aromatic amber-colored essential oil derived from '' Nardostachys jatamansi'', a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family which grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. T ...
(匙葉甘鬆 kansho), camomile,
rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...
(大黄 daioh),
safflower Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is one of the world's oldest crops; today, it is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds. ...
(紅花 benibana),
star anise ''Illicium verum'' (star anise or badian, Chinese star anise, star anise seed, star aniseed and star of anise) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarps harvested just before ripen ...
(大茴香 dai uikyo) and other
herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...
.
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
fragrances (貝香 kaikō) and other animal-derived aromatic materials are also used. Raw materials such as agarwood are becoming increasingly rare due to the depletion of the wild resource. This has made prime material very expensive. For example, the cost of lower grade ''kyara'' is about 20,000 yen per gram. Top quality ''kyara'' costs over 40,000 yen per gram, or many times the equivalent weight of gold (as of late 2012). Though it can only be warmed and used once for a formal ceremony, it can be stored for hundreds of years. If the particular piece of incense wood has a history, the price can be even higher. The highest regarded wood, ''Ranjyatai'' (蘭奢待), dates back to at least the 10th century and is ''kyara'' wood from Laos or Vietnam, and was used by emperors and warlords for its fragrance. It is said to contain so much resin that it can be used many times over. The wood is kept at the
Shōsōin The is the wikt:treasure house, treasure house of Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara, Nara, Nara, Japan. The building is in the ''azekura'' (log-cabin) style with a raised floor. It lies to the northwest of the Great Buddha Hall. The Shōsō-in houses arti ...
treasury in Nara, which is under the administration of the Imperial Household. The high costs and difficulty in obtaining acceptable raw material is one of the reasons why ''kōdō'' is not as widely practiced or known compared to the art of flower arrangement or the tea ceremony. One of the oldest traditional incense companies in Japan is Baieido, founded in 1657 with roots going back to the Muromachi period. Other traditional and still operating companies include Kyukyodo (1663, Kyoto) and Shoyeido, founded in 1705.
Nippon Kodo Nippon Kodo () is a Japanese incense company that traces their origins back over 400 years to an incense maker known as Koju, who made incense for the Emperor of Japan. The Nippon Kodo Group was established in August 1965, has acquired several oth ...
is also a major supplier of incense material.


Types of incense

Sasaki Dōyō (1306–1373), who was regarded as a paragon of elegance and luxury and the quintessential military aristocrat during
Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...
, owned many incense woods and named them. ''
Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...
''
Ashikaga Yoshimasa "Ashikaga Yoshimasa" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 du ...
(1436–1490) himself appreciated precious scented woods and collected some or inherited them from Sasaki. In order to properly organise the large collection of incense wood, he appointed the experts of that time Sanjonishi Sanetaka, who became the founder of the Oie School, and Shino Soshin, the founder of the Shino School. They established a classifying system for agarwood called ''rikkoku gomi'', which means "six countries, five scents". * ''Manaban'' comes from the word ''nanban'' which means "southern barbarian", and was brought to Japan by Portuguese traders with unknown origin.


Incense utensils

Incense utensils or equipment is called . A range of ''kōdōgu'' are available and different styles and motifs are used for different events and in different seasons. All the tools for incense ceremony are handled with exquisite care. They are scrupulously cleaned before and after each use and before storing. Much like the objects and tools used in the tea ceremony, these can be valued as high art. The following are a few of the essential components: * , for the incense, new mica plates, and burned out incense with its used mica plate * * , also known as * , where the incense wood is placed to stop it from burning if it were to be placed directly on the ash * , a small, wooden tablet with a flower-shaped mother-of-pearl fittings upon which the small incense pieces on mica plates are kept on top for display after use, normally 6 or 10 in number * white ash ( ''Trapa. Japonica''), but also red ash or other precious ash can be used * , folded paper packet used to keep incense wood chips (themselves in their individual packets), used by the Shino School * , silver box for containing the mica plates * , a special, and nearly odourless, charcoal briquette A , also known as , keeps the : * for handling the square mica plates * ebony chopsticks (香筯), for picking up pieces of incense wood * small spatula (香匙), for transferring incense wood onto the mica plate * , used to move the charcoal * , an object shaped rather like a closed folding-fan, used to gently tamp and smooth the ashes in the censer into a cone around the burning charcoal * , to clean and brush off any ashes * answer sheet holder (鶯), for securing the sheet of paper with answers onto the tatami mat Some other items can be included: * , for keeping incense in, mainly as part of the tea ceremony, or in general * , where fresh ash is kept Most of the utensils could be kept in a special cabinet (''dogu-dana''). Influential families would order elaborate and expensive cabinets made out precious woods and lacquer and goldwork.


Components

The concept of ''Kōdō'' is made of two essential components: ''Monkō'' and ''kumikō''.


''Monkō''

The art of enjoying incense, with all its preparatory aspects, is called , which translated means "listening to incense" (although the 聞 Kanji also means "to smell" in Chinese). The aim is to let the aroma of the material infuse the body and soul and "listen" to its essence in a
holistic Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. Julian Tudor Hart (2010''The Political Economy of Health Care''pp.106, 258 The aphorism "The whole is greater than t ...
manner, as opposed to just reducing it to smelling. ''Monkō'' has been depicted in
Japanese art Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes Jōmon pottery, ancient pottery, Japanese sculpture, sculpture, Ink wash painting, ink painting and Japanese calligraphy, calligraphy on silk and paper, Ukiyo-e, paint ...
, with a well-known depiction by the artist Shinsui Itō (1898–1972).


''Kumikō''

Kumikō is the social activity that results from sharing Monkō. Participants sit near one another and take turns smelling incense from a
censer A censer, incense burner, perfume burner or pastille burner is a vessel made for burning incense or perfume in some solid form. They vary greatly in size, form, and material of construction, and have been in use since ancient times throughout t ...
as they pass it around the group. Participants comment on and make observations about the incense, and play games to guess the incense material. Genjikō is one such game, in which participants are to determine which of five prepared censers contain different scents, and which contain the same scent. Players' determinations (and the actual answers) are recorded using symbols in ''kō no zu'' ( 香の図). The ''kō no zu'' for ''Genjikō'' is ''Genjikō no zu'' (源氏香の図). The geometric pattern of these are also used as ''
mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...
'' (called as ''Genjikō-mon'' (源氏香紋)), for decoration in a number of other areas such as ''
kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...
'',
Japanese lacquerware is a Japanese craft with a wide range of fine and decorative arts, as lacquer has been used in ''urushi-e'', woodblock printing in Japan, prints, and on a wide variety of objects from Buddhist art, Buddha statues to ''bento'' boxes for food. ...
and
Japanese pottery is one of the oldest Japanese crafts and Japanese art, art forms, dating back to the Neolithic period. Types have included earthenware, pottery, stoneware, porcelain, and Blue and white porcelain, blue-and-white ware. Japan has an exception ...
.


References


Further reading

* *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kodo Incense Culture of Japan